The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1895-03-23

iostln peu on a cup OF conee. q roll, perhaps a
little fruit, and plan your toilets for the day."
Up went Mary's eyebrows and a sar-
castle smile played about her mouth.
Tire children to send to school at
nine o'clock, and breakfast to get be-
fore 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 column 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 developing of the figure,
the careful examination of each ar
ticle of clothing to see if a single
stitch be wanting, the hundreds of lit
tie details which it takes so few
minutes to write down, so many to
carry out. AS he went on. Mary's
natural sense of fun came to her res
cue, and, beginning to appreciate the
absurdity 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 husband drew a long breath at
the end of the evolution of a lovely
creature immaculate from top to toe.
1T seems to me-" observed she, de-
murely, "as if cleanliness were getting
ahead of godliness nowadays. Well. it
must 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 mickle makes a muckle,
papa, dear" rejoined Mary, earnestly.
do you think there is ever a morning
in the whole years round when could
take four hours for the adjoining of my
WI person? Where would your break
fast be, and the children. and the or
James, what are you going to do to-
morrow" she suddenly asked, and a
dimple appeared in her cheek, which
made her look quite young again.
Tomorrow" he repeated mechan-
ically.
Yes; at the Office, you know. Any
thing especial?"
Why, no. 1 have a dozen bills to
collect for Mr.. Snow; that's all. Why?:"
Because l want t. try a 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 it is within reason" stipulated
Mr.. Fenton. His wife had not changed
so much, after all. If she had out
grown her neatness, the old vivacity
still alive IN her.
oh, yes. This is what l want you
to do. Change places with me for one
day. Let me go and collect the bills
for Mr.. Snow. l warrant you that l
will get every CEN 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. Il should think you were a
of sixteen. You know that's
impossible"
But it was not impossible, and Mrs.
Fenton proved it. if not to her spouse's
at least to his conviction.
She had to all her forsaken
arts of ~coaxing and wheedling, and at
last, quite worn out with arguing
and shuffling, he had to give in, and
The victor went up to bed
pausing in the nursery to
the big mending basket and to
lean lovingly for a moment over the
bed where her twin boys lay sleeping
lads of nine. In the next room
she drew aside little Mabel's curls and
a kiss on the rosy cheek, and at
standing before her dressing
table, taking down the coils of her
Many a 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 hat she
had been growing careless of her own
appearance? Like a fash there ran
her mind those words about Mrs.
Van Dusen. and. staring earnestly at
the glass, she felt a thrill of simple
pride in its assurance that. with such
as adorned that lady. they
be more on a par in good looks
than 4 casual observer would imagine.
Then she thought of her husband and
the experiment that was to be tried
and, laughing softly to herself. she
out the gas and got into bed,
hat unfortunate man in the
cellar below, muttering like the ghost
Of Hamlet's father as he put cual on the
furnace fire.
The memory of the following day is
even now a hideous nightmare to James
Fenton. Never had the Office where he
kept books for a peppery and unrea-
sonable coal merchant involved him in
so many trying situations His wife.
true to the arrangement, had presented
herself at breakfast arrayed in her
walking dress, and offered to make sug-
about curling Mabels hair.
on her pinafore and mending a
brought to her just as the one
maid rang the bell for breakfast. Han
nah was in the secret. for she had al
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