Miscellany

"Peter," said my uncle, knocking the ashes from his pipe, and laying il on the corner of the mantlejiiece, and then fixing his eyeson the andirons," Peter, these andirons cost me one tliousand dollars !" "Dear me!" exclaiined iny aunt. "Oh, father!" cried the girls. "True, every word, true. One thousand did I ay ? - yes - two thousand - Pull two thousand dollars." "Well, well," said my aunt, folding iip her knilling for the night'I should iiketo knowwhat you are talkingabout." My uncle bent forward and planted his hands firmly on his parted knees, and with a delibérate air, which ehovved no doubt of his being abie to prove his assertion, he bpgan; "VVell you see, agood many years ago, wo had a pair of common old andi, lons. Your cousin Lotty says one day, 'Father, don't you think those old andirons ni-e getting too shabbyï' Shabby or not, I Ihought they would hold the Wood upas nicely as if they were made of gold. So I paid no attentiun to Letty. I was ifraid she was getting proud. Soon after lint. Peter," continupd my uncle, ':your aunt took it up " "Tliere it goos," interruptd my aunt, "you can't got along without dragging me in." "Your ount took it up, Petei1, and she said 'Our neighbors could affoid brass andirons, ond were no better off than we were,' And she said 'Le'.tv nnd her sister Jane were just getting old enóugh to see company, and the stingy looking old ondirons might hurt iheir market.' I mow tliat wotnen will have their own vav, nnd there is no use in objecting, and so I got the andirons. The price of hem was four dollars and a half ' "Ah, that's more like it," cried my aunt, "I thought you said two thousand dollars" "My dear, I wish you would not ínterupt me. Four and a half. Wel!, the ■ rat night after we had got them, as we 11 sat by the warm fire talking over the matter, Letty called my attention to the ïearth, the stones of which were cracked nd uneven. The hearth was entireiy ut of keeping with the new andirons and thought I might as well have it replnced first as last. The next dny a masón was ent for to examine it. He carne in my bsence, and when I returned home, your unt and your cousins all beset me at nee, to have a marble slab. The masón iad convinced them the hearth would not ook decent without a marble slab, and hey put their heads togethcr." "La m !" exclaimed my aunt, 'there was no putting heads together about it. 'he hearth was a real old worn out thing, ot fit for a pig pen." "They put their heads together, Peter, s I wos suying, and continued till I got marble hearth, which cost me twenty ollars. Yes, twenty dollars, at least, 'hen I thought I was done with expenses ut I thought wroug. Pretty soon 1 gan to hearsly hints thrown out nbout th brick Work arjund the fi re-place not cor responding with the hearth. I stood ou for a mouth or two agáinst your aun and ihe girls, but tliey at lenglh got th better of me, and Í was forced to liav marble instcad of brick. And then the oíd wooden mantle-piece was so out of character that it was necessary to have a marble one. The cost of all this was nearly one hundred dollars. And now that ihe spirit of improvement had got a start, there was no stopping place. The mw marble mantle put to shame the old white washed walls, and they must be pamled, of course, and to prepare them for paint, sundry repairs were neeessarv. Whilethis was going on, youraunt and the girls nppeared to be quite satisfíed, and when it was done, they had no ideo the old parlor Could be mnde to look so spruce. But this was only a short respite. The old rag carpet began to raise a dust, and I found there would be no peace - " "Now, my dear!" said llie old lady, with a pleasing smile, nceompanied with a partinl rotation in the head - "Now, father!" exclaimed the girls - "Til I got a new carpet. That again shnmed the oíd furniture, and i t had to be lurned out and replaced with new. Now, Peter, count up, my lad - fventy dollars for the hearth, and one hundred Tor the mantle piece, and thirty for repairs. - What does that make?" "One hundred and. fifty, uncle." "Well, fifty for paper and paint" - "Two hundred." "Then fifty for a carp"t and one hundred at least for furniture" - "Three hundred and fifty." "Ahem! There's that clock, and the - blinds fifty more" - "Four hundred exactly." My aunt and cousins winked at ench other. "Now" continued rny únele, "so much for this one room. No sooner was the room finishe-J, than the complaints came from all quarters, about the dining room and entry. Long before this I had surrendered at discretion, and handed in my submission. The dining-room cost two hundred more. What does that count, Peter?' "Eight hundred, uncle." "Then the chambers- at least four hundred to tnake ihem rhyme with the down stairs." "Twelve hundred." "The oulside of the house hid to be repaired and painted, of course. Add two hundred for that." "Pourteen hundred." "Then there must be a piaza in fror.l - that cosl two hundred." "Sixteen liundred." He re aunt bfgan to yawn, Lettv to poke the fire, and Jnne to twirl over tlie leaves of a book. "A new carriage carne next, Peter, that cost two hundred dollars.'' "Eigtilee-n hundred." "Then there was B lawn lo be l,1id out and noatly fenced - a servant lo be bired, partios given occasionalíy - bonnets ami dresses at doublé the former cost, and a liundied other little expenses ir. keeping with the new order of things. And all these grew out of those very andirons. Yes, Peter, I was e'ntirely within bounds wlien I said iwo thousand dollars." The opposition was silencec'. My aunt immediately rose and guessed it was bedtirae. I was left alone with my uncle, who was not inclined to drop the subject. Ile was a persevering man, and never gave up what he undertook, till he had done the work thoroughly. So he brought out hisbooks and accounts, and selaboüt making an exact estímale of the expense. He kept me up till after midnight before he got through. His conclusión was that the pair of ündirons cost him hoenly-four