THE HOUSE-WARMING.
Dear reader, fancy now a low-studded room, with crimson curtains and
carpet, a deep recess filled a crimson divan with pillows, the lower
part of the room taken up by a row of book-shelves, three feet high,
which ran all round the room and accommodated my library. The top of
this formed a convenient shelf, on which all our pretty little wedding
presents--statuettes, bronzes, and articles of _vertu_--were arranged. A
fire-place, surrounded by an old-fashioned border of Dutch tiles, with a
pair of grandmotherly brass andirons, nibbed and polished to an extreme
of brightness, exhibits a wood fire, all laid in order to be lighted at
the touch of the match. My wife has dressed the house with flowers,
which our pretty little neighbor has almost stripped her garden to
contribute. There are vases of fire-colored nasturtiums and many-hued
chrysanthemums the arrangement of which has cost the little artist an
afternoon's study, but which I pronounce to be perfect. I have come home
from my office an hour earlier to see if she has any commands.
"Here, Harry," she says, with a flushed face, "I believe everything now
is about as perfect as it can be. Now come and stand at this door, and
see how you think it would strike anybody, when they first came in. You
see I've heaped up those bronze vases on the mantel with nothing but
nasturtiums; and it has such a surprising effect in that dark bronze!
Then I've arranged those white chrysanthemums right against these
crimson curtains. And now come out in the dining-room, and see how I've
set the dinner-table! You see I've the prettiest possible center-piece
of fruit and flowers. Isn't it lovely?"
Of course I kissed her and said it was lovely, and that she was
lovelier; and she was a regular little enchantress, witch, and
fairy-queen, and ever so much more to the same purport. And then Alice
came down, all equipped for conquest, as pretty an additional ornament
to the house as heart could desire. And when the clock was on the stroke
of six, and we heard the feet of our guests at the door, we lighted our
altar-fire in the fire-place; for it must be understood that this was a
pure _coup de théâtre_, a brightening, vivifying, ornamental luxury--one
of the things we were determined to have, on the strength of having
determined not to have a great many others. How proud we were when the
blaze streamed up and lighted the whole room, fluttered on the pictures,
glinted here and there on the gold bindings of the books, made dreamy
lights and deep shadows, and called forth all the bright glowing color
of the crimson tints which seemed to give out their very heart to
firelight! My wife was evidently proud of the effect of all things in
our rooms, which Jim declared looked warm enough to bring a dead man to
life. Bolton was seated in due form in a great, deep arm-chair, which,
we informed him, we had bought especially with reference to him, and the
corner was to be known henceforth as his corner.
"Well," said he, with grave delight, "I have brought my final
contribution to your establishment;" and forthwith from the capacious
hinder pockets of his coat he drew forth a pair of kittens, and set them
down on the hearth-rug. "There, Harry," he said, gravely, "there are a
pair of ballet dancers that will perform for you gratis, at any time."
"Oh, the little witches, the perfect loves!" said my wife and Alice,
rushing at them.
Bolton very gravely produced from his pocket two long strings with corks
attached to them, and hanging them to the gas fixtures, began, as he
said, to exhibit the ballet dancing, in which we all became profoundly
interested. The wonderful leaps and flings and other achievements of
the performers occupied the whole time till dinner was announced.
"Now, Harry," said my wife, "if we let Little Cub see the kittens,
before she's waited on table, it'll utterly demoralize her. So we must
shut them in carefully," which was done.
I don't think a dinner party was ever a more brilliant success than
ours; partly owing to the fact that we were a mutual admiration society,
and our guests felt about as much sense of appropriation and property in
it as we did ourselves. The house was in a sort of measure "our house,"
and the dinner "our dinner." In short, we were all of us strictly _en
famille_. The world was one thing, and we were another, outside of it
and by ourselves, and having a remarkably good time. Everybody got some
share of praise. Mary got praised for her cooking. The cooking-stove was
glorified for baking so well, and Bolton was glorified for recommending
the cooking-stove. And Jim and Alice and my wife congratulated each
other on the lovely looks of the dining-room. We shuddered together in
mutual horror over what the wall-paper there had been; and we
felicitated the artists that had brought such brilliant results out of
so little. The difficulties that had been overcome in matching the paper
and arranging the panels were forcibly dwelt upon; and some sly jokes
seemed to pass between Jim and Alice, applicable to certain turns of
events in these past operations. After dinner we had most transcendent
coffee, and returned to our parlor as gay of heart as if we had been
merry with wine. The kittens had got thoroughly at home by that time,
having investigated the whole of the apartment, and began exhibiting
some of their most irresistible antics, with a social success among us
of a most flattering nature. Alice declared that she should call them
Taglioni and Madame Céleste, and proceeded to tie blue and pink bows
upon their necks, which they scratched and growled at in quite a warlike
manner. A low whine from the entry interrupted us; and Eva, opening the
door and looking out, saw poor old Stumpy sitting on the mat, with the
most good-dog air of dejected patience.
"Why, here's Stumpy, poor fellow!" she said.
"Oh, don't trouble yourself about him," said Bolton. "I've taught him to
sit out on the mat. He's happy enough if he only thinks I'm inside."
"But, poor fellow," said Eva, "he looks as if he wanted to come in."
"Oh, he'll do well enough; never mind him," said Bolton, looking a
little embarrassed. "It was silly of me to bring him, only he is so
desolate to have me go out without him."
"Well, he shall come in," said Eva. "Come in, you poor homely old
fellow," she said. "I daresay you're as good as an angel; and to-night's
my house-warming, and not even a dog shall have an ungratified desire,
if I can help it."
So poor Stumpy was installed by Bolton in the corner, and looked
perfectly beatified.
And now, while we have brought all our characters before the curtain,
and the tableau of the fireside is complete, as we sit there all around
the hearth, each perfectly at home with the other, in heart and mind,
and with even the poor beasts that connect us with the lower world
brightening in our enjoyment, this is a good moment for the curtain to
fall on the fortunes of
MY WIFE AND I.
THE END.
P. S.--If our kind readers still retain a friendly interest in the
fortunes of any of the actors in this story, they may hear again from us
at some future day, in the
RECORDS OF AN UNFASHIONABLE STREET.
SOME GOOD BOOKS
For sale by all Booksellers, or mailed, pre-paid, to any address, on
receipt of the price by the Publishers,
J. B. FORD & CO.,
No. 27 Park Place, New York.
=Full Set: Beecher's Sermons.= First, Second, Third, and Fourth Series,
uniformly bound. Single volumes, each complete, extra cloth, $2.50;
half morocco, $5.
Of the first volume the _Advance_, of Chicago, said:
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Each succeeding volume contains also six months' sermons (about 450
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=Lecture-Room Talks.= A series of Familiar Discourses, on Themes of
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by J. T. ELLINWOOD. 12mo, extra cloth. Price $2.
"J. B. Ford & Co, who are now printers and publishers to the Beecher
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"There is a great deal of humorous talk mingled with much that is
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=Principles of Domestic Science=: As Applied to the Duties and
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Prepared with a view to assist in training young women for the
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=The Children's Week=: SEVEN STORIES FOR SEVEN DAYS. By R. W. RAYMOND.
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=The Overture of Angels.= By HENRY WARD BEECHER. Illustrated by HARRY
FENN. 12mo. tinted paper, extra cloth gilt. Price $2.50.
This exquisite book is a chapter from Mr. BEECHER'S great work, the
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=Our Seven Churches=: Eight Lectures by THOMAS K. BEECHER. 16mo. Paper,
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=Maternity.= A Popular Treatise for Young Wives and Mothers. By T. S.
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=Mines, Mills, and Furnaces= Of the Precious Metals of the United
States. Being a complete exposition of the General Methods employed in
the great Mining Industries of America, including a review of the
present condition and prospects of the mines throughout the interior
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=The Trotting Horse of America=: How to Train and Drive him. With
Reminiscences of the Trotting Turf. By HIRAM WOODRUFF. Edited by
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steel-plate portrait of Hiram Woodruff. Price, extra cloth, $2.25;
half-calf, $4.
The demand for this book is still unabated, for it is the _standard_
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"_This is a masterly treatise by the master of his profession_--the
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ROBERT BONNER, who owns the fastest horses in the world, says: "_It is
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=History of the State of New York.= From the Date of the Discovery and
Settlements on Manhattan Island to the Present Time. A Text-book for
High Schools, Academies, and Colleges. By S. S. RANDALL, Superintendent
of Public Education in New York City. 12mo vol., 396 pages.
Illustrated. Price $1.75.
The author, for many years intimately connected with the management of
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Officially adopted by the Boards of
Education in the cities of New York and Brooklyn for use in the Public
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_IN PREPARATION._
=H. W. Beecher's Works.= Uniform Edition. This is a set of books long
needed in the trade. It will include "Norwood," "Lectures to Young
Men," "Eyes and Ears," "Summer in the Soul," the early "Star Papers,"
and other works, embracing some which are now out of print, and for
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_A BRILLIANT SUCCESS!_
=20,000 in Six Months.=
Rapid and Continued Sales!!
500 VOLUMES IN ONE!
AGENTS WANTED
FOR
THE LIBRARY
OF
POETRY AND SONG,
BEING
Choice Selections from the best Poets,
_ENGLISH, SCOTCH, IRISH, AMERICAN_,
INCLUDING TRANSLATIONS from the GERMAN, SPANISH, etc.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.
_In one Superb Large Octavo Volume of over 800 pages, well printed, on
Fine Paper, and Illustrated with an admirable Portrait on Steel of =Mr.
Bryant=, together with 26 Autographic Fac-Similes on Wood of Celebrated
Poets, besides other choice Full-page Engravings, by the best Artists._
The handsomest and cheapest subscription book extant. A _Library of over
=500= Volumes in one book_, whose contents, of no ephemeral nature or
interest, will never grow old or stale. It can be, and will be, read and
re-read with pleasure as long as its leaves hold together.
This book has been prepared with the aim of gathering into a single
volume the largest practicable compilation of the best Poems of the
English language, making it as nearly as possible the choicest and most
complete general collection of Poetry yet published.
The "Library of Poetry and Song"
Is a volume destined to become one of the most popular books ever
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_=The New York Times=_,
A journal well known the country over for high literary excellence and
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"This very handsome volume differs from all collections of 'elegant
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know of no similar collection in the English language which, in
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_=The Albany Evening Journal=_,
One of the oldest papers and highest literary standards in the country,
says:
"It is undoubtedly 'the choicest and most complete general collection
of poetry yet published.' Is will be deemed sufficient proof of the
judicious character of the selections, and of their excellence, that
'every poem has taken its place in the book only after passing the
cultured criticism of Mr. William Cullen Bryant,' whose portrait
constitutes the fitting frontispiece of the volume. The work could have
no higher endorsement. Mr. Bryant's introduction to the volume is a
most beautiful and critical essay on poets and poetry, from the days of
'the father of English poetry' to the present time.... _No other
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This book, supplying a real public need in an admirable manner, has
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Send for Circular and Terms to
J. B. FORD & CO., Publishers,
27 Park Place, New York.
THE CHRISTIAN UNION
IS AN UNSECTARIAN RELIGIOUS WEEKLY, UNDER THE
EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF
HENRY WARD BEECHER.
This journal has had a very remarkable success, _in one year_ attaining
a circulation surpassing that of any other religious weekly in the
United States (one only excepted, and that one over twenty-two years
old).
_WHY IS IT?_
=BECAUSE=, =First=, HENRY WARD BEECHER is its Editor, and his Editorials,
Star Papers, and occasional Literary Reviews and _Lecture-Room Talks_
are sought for by thousands, while the auxiliary editorial labor is in
the hands of cultivated journalists; _the CONTRIBUTORS being
representative men of ALL Denominations_.
=BECAUSE=, =Secondly=, ITS FORM, sixteen pages, large quarto, STITCHED
AND CUT, is so convenient for reading, binding, and preservation, as
to be a great and special merit in its favor.
=BECAUSE=, =Thirdly=, _It is called "the Most Interesting Religious
Paper published,"_ being quoted from by the press of the entire
country more extensively than any other. The critical _Nation_ (N. Y.)
says it is "Not only the ablest and best, but also, as we suppose, the
most popular of American religious periodicals. At all events it is
safe to predict that it will soon have, if it has not already, greater
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=BECAUSE=, =Fourthly=, _It has something for every Member of the
Household_, admirable contributed and editorial articles, discussing
all timely topics; fresh information on unhackneyed subjects; reliable
news of the Church and the world; Market and Financial Reports; an
Agricultural Department; excerpts of Public Opinion from the press;
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=BECAUSE=, =Fifthly=, All subscribers are entitled to
=TWO SUPERB OIL CHROMOS=,
"WIDE AWAKE" and "FAST ASLEEP,"
_A pair_--no cheap colored prints, but splendid copies of Oil
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with the proprietors of the pictures in Paris, during the late siege,
are furnished to the Publishers at a rate _entirely exceptional_. So
that, although the selling price of them is (=$10=) _Ten Dollars_, at
which price thousands have been sold in America, and still are selling
and will be sold by the picture trade generally, the Publishers of THE
CHRISTIAN UNION _give away_ the _two_ pictures, _of course unmounted_,
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Washington_, of which DARLEY, the celebrated artist, says: "It is,
_beyond all question the best head engraved in line yet produced in
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ever seen."
TERMS:
One Year's Subscription (including _unmounted_ Chromos) $3 00
do do (including Chromos _mounted_ on cardboard,
sized, varnished, and ready for framing), 3 25
THE CHRISTIAN UNION and PLYMOUTH PULPIT, mailed for one
year to one address (including Chromos as above) for 5 00
_Canvassers allowed liberal Commissions._
An old agent who knows, says: "I have never presented anything for sale
that met with the approval of the entire reading community as nearly as
does HENRY WARD BEECHER'S CHRISTIAN UNION. Sorry I did not work for it
sooner. Think it _the best business for canvassers ever offered by any
firm_, to my knowledge."
J. B. FORD & CO., Publishers,
_27 Park Place, New York City_.
Transcriber's Notes:
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal signs=.
Obvious punctuation errors and minor printer errors repaired.
Inconsistent hyphenation retained as in original.
Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as
possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other
inconsistencies.
Audacia's last name spelled as both "Dangyrereyes" and "Dangereyes" in
original text, left as is.
p200 (noble type of the Madonna and the Venus di Milo) changed to
(noble type of the Madonna and the Venus de Milo)