The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1910-03-17

tatiOn lace collar with her 80 cents.
That money was TO have been spent
otherwisc-1.i cents for supper, 1C
cents fer breakfast. 10 cents for lunch.
another dime was to be added to her
small store Of savings, and ) cents
was 10 be ~Squandertd for licorice drops
the sind that made your cheek look
like The %toothache and last us long,
The l~iCGr;ce was an eXtrayagance-al
most Il carouSe-but what is life with,
Gut pleasures?
Dultie lived in d furnished room
There is This difference between a fur
..i>!lpd room and a boarding house
IA Il furnished room other people dc
1t know it when you go hungry.
E.l!; IL went up to her room-the
,lird dO0r back in a west side brown
t0nc front. She lit the gas. Sclen-
lists tell us that the diamond is the
~::irtlrSt substance known. Their mis-
take. L.andladies know Of a compound
beside which the diamond is as putty.
rhey pack it i'll the tips of gas burn
ers, ard one may stand on a chair and
dig 1T it in vain until ones fingers are
pink and bruised. A hairpin will not
remove it; therefore let us call it i'm
movable.
SO Dulcie lit the gas. In it's one
fourth candle power glow we will OBJ
serve the room.
Couch bed, dresser, table, washstand,
CHARIOT this much the landlady was
guilty. The rest was Dulcie's.
On the dresser were her treasures
a gilt china vase presented to her by
Sadie, a calendar issued by a pickle
works, a book on the divination Of
dreams. some rice powder in Il glass
dish and a cluster of artificial cherries
tied with a pink ribbon.
Against the wrinkly mirror stood
pictures Of General Kitchener, William
Muldoon. the Duchess of Marlborough
and Benvenuto Cellini. Against one
wall was a plaster of paris plaque Of
an O'Callahan in a Roman helmet.
Near it was a violent telegraph of a
lemon colored child assaulting an in
fammatory butterfly. This was Dull
~ , uld JuOS hIOAt LII "a Oul ~ ANN
never been upset. Her rest had never
been disturbed by whispers Of stolen
copes no critic had elevated his eye
brows at her infantile entomologist.
Piggy was to call for her at Z. While
she swiftly makes ready let us dis
creetly face the other way and Cos
sip.
For the room Dulcie paid So per
week. On week days her breakfast
costs 10 cents. She made coffee and
cooked an egg over the gaslight while
she was dressing. On Sunday morn
ings she Toasted royalty on veal chops
and pineapple fritters at "Billy's" res
taurant at a cost of % cents and tip
ped the waitress 10 cents. New York
presents so many temptations for one
to run into extravaganza.
She had her lunches in the depart
ment store restaurant at a cost OF 90
cents for the week. Dinners were
$1.O5. The evening papers-show me
a New Yorker going without his daily
paperi-came to 6 cents, and two Sun
day papers, one for the personal col
umn and the other to read, were 10
cents. The total amounts to $4.76.
Now, one has to buy clothes, and
/ give it up. | hear of wonderful
bargains in fabrics and Of miracles
performed with needle and thread, but
l am in doubt. | hold my pen poised
in vain when l would add to Dulcie's
life some of those joys that belong to
woman by virtue of all the unwritten,
sacred, natural, inactive ordinances of
the equity of heaven. Twice she had
been to Coney Island and had ridden
the hobbyhorses. IT'S a weary thing
to- count your pleasures by summers
instead of by hours.
Piggy needs but a word. When the
girls named him an undeserving stig-
ma was cast upon the noble family
of swine.
The words of three letters lesson in
the old blue spelling book begins with
Piggy's biography. He was fat: he
had the soul of a rat. the habits Of a
bat and the magnanimity of a cat. He
wore expensive clothes and was a con-
noisseur in starvation. He could look
at a shopgirl and tell you to an hour
eaten anything more nourishing than
marshmallows and tea.
He hung about the shopping dis
tricts and prowled around in depart
ment stores with his invitations to
dinner.
Men who escort dogs upon the streets
at the end If a string look down upon
him.
He is a type. l can dwell upon him
no longer. My pen is not the kind in
tended for nim. | am no carpenter.
At ten minutes to 7 Dulcie was
ready. She looked at herself in the
wrinkly mirror. The reflection was
satisfactory. The dark blue dress, fit
ting without q wrinkle. the hat with
it's jaunty black feather. the but slight
ly soiled gloves-all representing self
denial. eve of food itself-were vastly
becoming.
Dulcie forgot everything else for a
moment except that she was beautiful
and that life was about to lift a corner
of it's mysterious veil for her to OBJ
serve it's wonders. No gentleman had
ever asked her out before. Now she
was going for a brief moment into the
glitter and exalted show.
The girls said that Piggy was a
"spender." There would be a grand
dinner and music and splendidly dress
ed ladies to look at and things to eat
that strangely twisted the girls jaws
when they tried to tell about them.
No doubt she would be asked cut