Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-03-14

bO llOb IISC ~ tdIIys III
bed on a cup of coffee, a roll, perhaps
a little fruit, and plan your toilets for
the day"
Up went Mary's eyebrows and a
~sdrcast:c smile played about her
mouth. Three children to send to
school at 9 O'Clock, and breakfast 70
get before that! CHANGING up. Mr.. Fen
ton 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 f
directions, for the bath With bran ba~s.
almond meal and Orris root, the ped
curing, the manicuring, the elabo" a
brushing of hair and teeth, the gym
nasticS for the developing of the ii :
ure, the careful examination of each
article of clothing to see if a since
stitch be wanting, the hundreds of liz
tie details which it takes 80 few mi
utes to write down, so many to carry
out. AS he went on, Mary's natural
sense of fun came to her rescue, AMI.
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 hus-
band drew a long breath at the end
of a lovely creature immaculate from
top to toe.
at seems to me-" she observed, de-
m IJTn1ry , Eac Sc aIoa,Isao-- zA
ting ahead of godlfness nowadays.
Well, it must be delightful to 20
through such a thorough process, and
yet -four hours seems q 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 morn
ing in the whole years round when |
could take four hours for the adorn-
ing of my own person? Where would
your breakfast be, and the children.
and the orders to the butcher and lthe
grocer? James, what are you going to
do tomorrow" she suddenly asked.
and a dimpia appeared in her cheek.
which made her look young again.
Tomorrow" he repeated. mechan-
ically.
Eyes; at the office, you know. Any
thing ~especial?"
"Why, no. l have a dozen bills to
collect for Mr.. Snow; that's all.
Why?"
Because [ want to try a little AZ
pertinent. It's not at all original N
fact, it's as old as the hills. Promise
me you will do it."
eff 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
was still alive in her.
ooh, yes. This is what I want you
to do. Change places with me for n
day. Let me go and collect the bills
for Mr.. Snow. ] 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. II should think you were a
schoolgirl of 16. 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.
Shn had Ja0pI1pca To oil ho,. Eo,,c, 20,
arts of coaXing and wheedling, and at
last. quite Worn out with arguing and
ShUffling, 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 9. In the next room
she drew aside little Mahel's tumbled
curls and left a kiss on the rosy cheek,
and at length, with a deep sigh, she
found herself standing before her
dressing table. taking down the coils
Of her hair. Many a silver thread
had stolen into the bright brown rip
pies, but they still fell to her waist
as abundant as ever, and against the
girlish background 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 flash there ran across 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 clothes as
adorned that lady. they would be more
on a par in good looks than a casual
observer would imagine. Then she
. thought of her husband and the ex-
pertinent that was to be tried and.
laughing softly to herself. she turned
out the gas and got into bed. hearing
that unfortunate man in the cellar be-
low, muttering like the ghost of Ham
let's father as he put coal on the fur
mace 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 unreasonable coal merchant in
volved him in so any trying situa-
tiOns. His wife, true to the arrange
ment, had presented herself at break
fast arrayed in her walking dress,
and offered to make suggestions about
curling Mabnl's hair, trying on her
pinafore and mending a mitten
brought to her just as the one maid