Evening star., 1914-04-05

tag at the wall clock struck the hour
in deep. gentle monotone 1t was =
o'clock She took her coat from the
back of tall mahogany chair with
lot of deep carving upon it. Anna passed
her hand tenderly over the stately frame.
always loved that chair" she said
Il like all your furniture. Louisa. You
haven't piece hardly that isn't an heir
loom have you? You ought to have
nice new house to put it in Well. run
over when you can"
When Lousia had closed the door upon
her she came back to her sitting room,
Anna had praised. thought long and
deeply. The house was very old and in
portions decrepit. II needed a good many
things done to it. 1t was low and shabby
looking on the outside and not so con-
venient it might be inside. She had
lived in it all her life. Before that her
father had lived in ii and her grand
father Anna had been quite right. WHY
SHOULD she not have new house il she
chose" The old house was something
of monumental memorial anyway.
She would not rent it or sell il. No. it
should be left untouched when she left
it for the new house
Even before the Reeds began their new
house Louisa Taylor began hers The
whole town was astonshed. Louisa was
interested and happy. 1t was not long
before one could see that il was going
to be very beautiful house. But it
was much smaller than the old one.
What did she want Of 50 much ROOM She
a spinster living utterly alone? Instead
of the old-fashioned parlor and sitting
room s." would have living room.
All tha spring she and Anna Reed ex
changed criticisms and compliments upon
their respective new houses. Anna vis-
tied Lousas and Louisa visited Anna s.
| The houses We're about the same in size
and in cost. Some of Louisas ideas had
gone into Annals house and some Of
Anna's ideas into Louisas. And each
woman was perfectly well pleased.
However the Reed house was finished
a week before the Taylor house. Louisa
went to help Anna settle her furniture.
Anna had no old things. Her furniture
took its place easily and gracefully: her
rugs were just right; her curtains hung
to advantage The effect was so charm
ing that Louisa hardly could wait to get
into her own house and produce a like
effect.
of the old house into the new. Anna
came to aid her. There were besides a
stout woman and a stout man. Louisa
had her first disappointment when it
came to putting down the carpets They
were much too large, and the roses on
their thick velvet surfaces shrieked de-
fiance at the fashionable frescoes.
You ought to hate rugs really sigh
ed Anna, retiring weary and disheartened
from the struggle.
my carpets?" asked Louisa. Il can't
sell them. l couldn't realize one-tenth
of what they are worth Why, that par
Tor carpet cost S100.''
But the trouble with the carpets was
nothing to the trouble that attended the
placing of the old furniture. The mas
sive high h-headed bedsteads could not be
got up the narrow stairs. even after
screwdriver and wrench had been en-
pioyed upon them. There was no place
in the airy. modern dining room for the
great Hepplewhite sideboard and the
davenport had to be omitted entirely.
Even with these exceptions the new
house looked overf1lled. Louisa could
not make her house look like Anna S
after ALL
1t was very depressing, this disappoint-
ment. One morning Louisa came down
stairs to find that the old tag-at-the.wall
clock had ceased to tick. 1t was like a
heart that had stopped beating. That
gentle wooden knock-knock had counted
off most OF the moments of her life. and
now that It was silent Louisa missed 1t
as she had never missed anything since
her young years. She tried to tinker up
the clock herself and then she asked in
the jeweler. The jeweler did not under
stand the mechanism of old clocks and
was helpless. When, at last. he went
away the clock was as silent as when he
came.
The summer passed somehow. Louisa
did not stay much in her new house. She
paid long visits to far-away friends and
she spent month at the seashore-she
who had scarcely ever before left West
moret
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