Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-04-04

papa" and the poor man tore h,s
few remaining locks as he bore his
daughter Of to the bathroom for q
complete change OF clothes, involv-
ing the intrlcacies of buttons, strings
and pins all over again.
At $50 Mrs. Fenton returned. A
day spent principally In the open air
had proved veritable tonic and she
was q pleasant sight to see, with a
becoming color In her cheeks and
eyes uLwontedly bright as she tripped
upstairs lightly in spite of her 40
years; bursting into the nursery In
such hustle and stir of good spirits
that 1t grated upon the nerves OF her
husband, PROSTATE upon the sofa
after the exhausting programme OF
his housekeeping.
The fun died out OF her voice,
though not from her glance. as she
bent over him, saying softly: Poor,
dear James, Still in your morning
dressf What does this mean? am
afraid you are getting into untidy
ways"
Mr.. Fenton groaned by way OF re-
ply.
MARY" he murmured, feebly,
after moment, will you accept an
humbled mans apology? i never
dreamed before what never ending
round of work woman's life could
be. Pm perfect wreck-but ! speak
for myself. You will never hear an
other word Of criticism from me IL
you look like a rag Bag
Mary dropped kiss on his fevered
brow. 1t was the seal OF her for
giveness. A quick look about the
room showed her its disorder, but
she kept her amusement to herself
II have had busy day, too" she
pursued, brightly, taking of her
bonnet. First, your bills. The
people who owed them were so as
tonished when a woman walked in
to collect that they handed over the
money without a word, and before IL
o'clock my pocketbook was full.
That was the end of my duty. Bust
ness is rather amusing, James, /
think, and not too exciting, for it left
me good many hours, you see, be-
fore it was time to come home, so l
went to Cousin Lizzie's
James gave start. Cousin Lizzie
was butterfly of fashion, for whom
Mary's tongue was usually lash Of
scorn
Eyes, Cousin Lizzie. And said,
Lizzie, / am not well dressed.
That's no news, says Lizzie. No,
but / want to be, says /. That 8
good news says Lizzie. Put on
your things says /, and take me to
your tailor So she did, and I've
ordered very smart gown, my dear,
which is quite equal to anything OF
any neighbours, a new bonnet and a
cape, gloves and boots and so on.
And / have had some corsets sent
home from Mrs. Van Dusen's own
woman. You shall never have occa-
sion to complain Of me again, James.
We'll groomed.' thank thee, Jim,
for teaching me that word"
AS she went into the closet to put
away her wraps she stole a glance at
her husband. 1t found him in state
Of collapse and in the remote depths
of that closet she broke into little
furry OF laughter only to be heard
by the moth balls among the furs.
Just then the supper bell tinkled.
Comet" called Mrs: Fenton, gay
ly, pulling her husband up from the
sofa. They went and by tacit con.
sent the days doings dropped out Of
the conversation.
James Fenton slept the sleep Of a
penitent sinner that night and the
morrow restored the old regime. But
the seed sown had dropped into good
ground and the next Sunday morning
the head of the housekeeping de-
partment was mysteriously long over
her toilet. When she emerged at
length she was vision of gOred
skirt, huge sleeves, smart cape, wide
bowed bonnet, new boots and gloves.
Her hair shone like satin, and as for
her figure it was as trim and trig as
q fashion plate. Mr.. Fenton opened
his mouth and shut it again. He
was dumb. But the children shrieked
with delight and pirouetted around
the dazzling apparition and Curl
osity.
II say, isn't mamma a daisy?'
cried Tommy, tossing his hat into
the air.
Mabel crept up timidly, fingered
the folds Of the flaring skirt, and
looking up into her mothers vivid
face, she said. hesitatingly:
Are you pretty, mammal"
mo, dear" answered Mary Fen.
ton, demurely. but l am well
groomed, and / possess a very great
charm"
There was small pile OF bills on
Mr.. Fenton's desk the first OF the
month. He counted up the total
with a sigh. made out check and
wrote to the fishing club that he
could not take the trip with them
after all. Then he went round to the
Office of the Evening Comet and
stopped his subscription to that un'
fortunate newspaper.