The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-12-31

- sss j y N j.
Il know could paper it--and I
think could paint unused Margaret.
Y "AV coorse ysfcud, and it's me that
cud tell y whatever I'd want to-
know
! TO Margaret, the encouragement
and the offer OF help began to seem
more than coincidence; might it not |
be that her prayers for help were be-
ing answered through the friendly old
man whom she recognized as Patrick
McGuffey? She had often noticed him
in church, in the pew Of his fashion
able daughter with whom he lived.
sim going to do it." she decided,
soberly.
"I'll spake to Paulson, the owner,
for We this night. He's me neighbor."
So it came about that Margaret
found herself talking business with
Paulson the next day, and before
evening the shabby little house wass4
hers for four hundred dollars. It was
a three-room house, with city water
in the kitchen. The lot on which the
house stood was lower than these adj
joining, and was strewn with debris
and overgrOWn with coarse weeds;
this was one reason the place was
selling so cheapiy, Paulson told her.
He was unable to rent it in its pres
ent condition and had not the time to
attend to improvements.
tits too bad the yard is lower than
the sidewalk Margaret regretted.
You could have it raised il you
want to go to the trouble 1t would
be worth it, too" suggested Paulson..
There are several large buildings go
ing up this spring. Contract for the
dirt from the excavations it'll cost
little more than the hauling
And I'll tend to the dickering for
y-and see that it's done right" an.
nounced MEG uffey, who was on hand
to see the deal finished.
"Then we'll have the yard graded
UP right away" decided the new own
er, "and then I'll have flower beds and
vines VI.
With restored confidence, Mar
garet decided to make a neat and at
tractive little place of the house she
| had bought; there was more than one
Of the teachers who would be glad to
| share the house ut the same price
that they paid elsewhere for one
room. School was now closed for the
summer, and she was free to give
| all her time to the task she had set
for herself. The hardest part Of her
work, she decided, was to sandpaper
the woodwork, which was painted an
| ugly dark brown. She varied this
task by stripping the paper from the
walls, getting them into condition for
| repapering.
| But the disagreeable work was at
last over and then began the painting
Of the woodwork ivory white
enamel she had chosen for all three
rooms. The kitchen, papered in blue
and white, with blue and white limo
leum on the floor, was finished first,
and with words of praise, the neigh
bors kept dropping in, increasing her
own enthusiasm. They had at first
seemed curious but somewhat doubt.
full now they openly rejoiced that
this house. the. eyesore of the neigh
borhood, Wassfto be restored to re.
spectability. The living room, paper
ed in shades OF bun and cream, made
room of golden tints in the. sun.
shine. In the-littie BEDROOM a rose
tinted ceiling dropped to meet walls
of French gray in "a narrow border
of conventionalized flowers. A WON
an had been hired to scrub the floors
the dark brown paint had been worn
off, but the boards were still sound
That's oak flooring-'tw cfeaI
enough when this was built" McGuf
fly told her, and proceeded to instruc1
| her on the application Of filler" be
| fore applying the varnish that would
be the finish z @A
| The enthusiasm of the women WIFI
had kept watch upon the inside worl
communicated itself throughout thu
entire neighborhood. The grading o.
the lawn had interested the men a.
well as the women. They began tt
inquire into her plans and offer sug
gestions for the painting of the out
side of the house.
II "Of course y can do it yerself
tY'll want scaffold, though; I've go
the markings of one in the She'd" salt
one. 'T'll set it up for We after worl
hours myself"
4 McGuffey supervised the work OF
the yard, and laid out graveled pat
, to the doorway, then supervised Mar
garet's work in the house with ;
growing restlessness. When she be
gan upon the outside work, he az
peared one morning with his old XII
Il of carpentering tools and began teal
ling out the broken boards of tn
, porch. To. all remonstrances tina
! the work was too firing, he would pa,
no heed. "Sure, I'm as good as eve
!, was. Twas doin' nawthin' that wa
KILN me-"
i Indeed, the stoop was almost gon
J from his shoulders and a lively hume
r replaced the old, wistful look. 8
II Margaret consented to his putting i
| d few boards to replace the broke
+ ones. BY putting in new props, tn
j porch was brought back to its vi
right position. Then McGuffey bs
gan painting the pillars and pore
floor.
Margaret had observed all admon
!. items as to getting the best grade 6