Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1895-04-13
A WELL=GROOMED WOMAN


pertinent, and may well devote little
time each day to a cultivation of ex-
quisite personal detail at the expense
of some of your frivolous amusements.
First, do not rise too early. Breakfast
in bed on a cup of coffee, a roll, per-
haps a little fruit, and plan your toilets
for the day"
Up went Mary's eyebrows and sar-
castle smile played about her mouth.
Three children to send to school at 8
o'clock, and breakfast to get before
that! CHANGING up, Mr.. Fenton caught
the smile.
Naturally" he interrupted himself,
''every woman cannot follow this plan
exactly, but the general outline is good.
You'll see."
SO he travelled down the columns of
directions, for the bath with bran bags,
almond meal and orris root, the pedi-
curing, the manicuring, the elaborate
brushing of hair and teeth, the gym
nastics for the development of the fig
ure, the careful examination of each
article of clothing to see if a single
stitch be wanting, the hundreds of
little details which it takes so few min
uteS to write down, so many to carry
out. AS he went on, Mary's natural
sense of fun came to her rescue, and,
beginning to appreciate the abs1Irdity
of the situation, she held her peace,
adding up as they were mentioned in
turn the twenty minutes for this, the
thirty minutes for that, and her hus
band drew a long breath at the end
of the evolution of a lovely creature
Immaculate from top to toe.
cit seems to me-" observed she,
demurely, ''as if cleanliness were get
ting ahead of goodness nowadays.
Well, itmust be delightful to go through
such a thorough process, and yet four
hours seems a long time to devote to
dressing every morning."
"Four hours!' cried Mr.. Fenton,
taken by surprise. "My dear, you
must be mistaken. Why, the half hour
for the bath is the longest item in the
lot"
''Many a mickIe makes a muchle,
papa, DEAR" rejoined Mary, earnestly.
do you think there is ever morning
in the whole years round when could
take four hours for the adjoining of my
own person? Where would your break
fast be, and the children, and the or
ders to the butcher and the grocer?
James, what are you going to do to-
morrow she suddenly asked, and
dimple appeared in her cheek, which
made her look quite young again.
Tomorrow" he repeated, mechan-
ically.
thing special"'
''Why, no. / have a dozen bills to
collect for Mr.. Snow; that's all. Why?"
Because / want to try little ex-
pertinent. It's not at all original In
fact, it's as old as the hills. Promise
me you will do it,
''If 1t is within reason" stipulated
Mr.. Fenton. His wife had not changed
so much after ALL If she had outgrown
her neatness, the old vivacity was still
alive in her.
ooh, yes. This is what 1 want you
to do. Change places with me for one
day. Let me go and collect the bills
for Mr.. Snow. I warrant you that
will get every cent that is due him, and
you stay at home as housekeeper, cook,
nurse, and general factotum."
What perfect nonsense!" growled
the gentleman, taking up his paper
again. 81 should think you were a
schoolgirl of is. You know that's i'm
possible"
But it was not impossible, and Mrs
Fenton proved it, if not to her Spouse's
satisfaction, at least to his conviction.
She had recourse to all her forsaken
arts of coaxing and wheedling, and at
last, quite worn out with arguing and
shutting, he had to give in, and agreed
to make a fool of himself on the NOR
row. The victor went up to bed tri-
umphant, pausing in the nursery to
| leave the big mending basket and to
| lean lovingly for a moment over the
bed where her twin boys lay sleeping
! sturdy lads of 8. In the next room she
| drew aside little MaberS tumbled curls
| and left a kiss on the rosy cheek. and
at length, with deep sigh, she found
herself standing before her dressing
table, taking down the coils of her
hair. Many 4 silver thread had stolen
into the bright brown ripples, but they
still fell to her waist as abundant as
ever, and against the girlish back
ground her face seemed to lose some of
its lines of care. Was it true that she
had been growing careless of her own
appearance? Like a fash there ran
across her mind words about Mrs. Van
Dusen, and, staring earnestly at the
glass, she felt thrill of simple pride
in its assurance that. with such clothes
as adorned that lady. they would be
more on par in good looks than &
casual observer would imagine. ThNS