Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1902-04-24
Margery DanYerS:: Fireman. I
BY CARROLL WATSON RANKIN.

Beyond a doubt the property had
been a marvellous bargain. The land
alone was worth more than the price
asked for the house and lot together,
with carpets and fixtures thrown in.
The former owner had had greater
the world, and having found himself
unable to live in two places at once.
had wisely concluded to convert the
superfluous house into cash. Mr. DAN
vers had bought it for a ridiculously
small sum, and felt that he ought to be
congratulated.
But although good Mr.. Danvers was
jubilant over the purchase, Mrs. DAN
vers, on her first inspection of the
new house, sat down upon the thrown
in carpet and burst into tears.
The moment she beheld the parlor
wall paper she forgot all else and gave
Aerself up to grief.
It was really enough to make one
blivious of other things. Mrs. Dan
woman, who loved pink-and-white
fooms. The late occupant of the house
had been a big red-and-yellow man,
who liked redand-yellow rooms, and
his taste in wall paper was certainly
deplorable. There was only one thing
in the house worse than the paper, and
that was the carpet.
What, don't you like the paper"
exclaimed astonishei Mr.. Danvers.
who was not artistic. why, that's
splendid paper! 1t must have cost So
a roll. Patterns a trifie large, per-
haps; but just think how it'll wear!
1t will last lifetime!"
But, strange to say, this consoling
information only made Mrs. Danvers
weep the more.
There's great stuff in that carpet.
too," said Mr.. Danvers, eyeing it ap
provingly. It'll wear like iron, in spite
of the children running over it. Those
big magenta roses stand out well,
don't they?"
Mrs. Danyers shuddered. The car
pet was a calamity.
Reasonable as the price had been
1t had taken all Mr.. Danvers could
spare to make the purchase, so there
was no money to be foolishly wasted
in replacing the perfectly good paper
and carpet. Poor Mrs. Danvers, cover
ing as much of the ugliness as she
could with her pictures and furniture,
wisely made the best of it, but all her
day dreams for the next ten years GEN.
tered about the repapering of the dis
figured parlor.
Her daughter Margery understood
and sympathized with her mother, and
together they would deplore the dura-
bility of the obnoxious paper and car
pet.
1T would be such pretty ROOM"
Mrs. Danvers would mourn, 'if only
something would happen to that out
rageous carpet and that horrible pa
peri"
Wouldn't it be glorious" Margery
would say, 'if our chimney should get
struck by lightning as the Browns
did? The paper was torn off the din
ing room wall, and SCOT from the chin
ney ruined the rugs. The Browns seem
The Browns selfishly retained their
monopoly of the lightning, and the
hated paper continued to bear q
charmed life. No warning voice was
ever raised when the little Danverses
approached the parlor wall with sticky
fingers; and although Mrs. Danvers
and Margery fairly courted disaster,
none ever came.
At last, when Margery was II. both
paper and carpet showed unmistakable
signs of wear.
do anything you like about it. It's
your house." said Mr. Danvers, gener-
ously, when Mrs. Danvers pointed out
the defects. Yes, get anything you
like; all paper looks alike to me. Hard
wood floors? Ye-es, | don't mind. Still
am little disappointed in that
carpet. l thought it would last for
ever"
$50 did l." said Mrs. Danvers; but
If she felt any disappointment it was
well concealed.
Then came delightful weeks. The
house was all torn up and turned over
to the carpenters and paper-hangers.
Mrs. Danvers and Margery spent all
their days and part of their nights
studying samples of wall paper. Mr..
Danvers spent all his in trying to
dodge the pals of paste and varnish
that lurked in every corner.
At last, however, it was all finished,
to the complete satisfaction of Mrs
Danvers and Margery, who ceased to
covet the Browns share Of devastating
lightning. Indeed, the renovated par
lor became the object of Mrs. Danvers'
tenderest sonclIule, and the little Ian
verses began to see imaginary Keep
off the grass" signs on every side. And
then, when it was no longer wanted,
the disaster came
Just week after the departure of
the last workman Mrs. Danvers went