Show from gleasons gleasona Glea sons pictorial HARD TIMES A STORY OF DOMESTIC LIFE BY mrs BIRS af M E ROBI ROBINSON jesse needs a new cap mr browne his old one is quite shabby and unfit to wear to church he must ivear evear wear it y if it is boys are a great expense certain 2 dut but you forget husband that he has worn if it a long time he really deserves a new one bilard hard times mrs browne hard times money is is as tight as as the bark of a tree I 1 have to work hard to get a cent or to keep one after I 1 have got pot it ita 1 t I dont think jesse has drawn ver very tery y heavily on your purse for the child has had scarcely anything this winter added the wife mrs browne coal is ten dollars a ton dont speak of new caps in these hard times 2 high certainly but buty y and wood the same a cord core its exorbitant interrupted mr browne growing growing 1 warm with his subject but the children must have boots and shoes and clothes clothe sv just as though fuel was lower these are necessary articles that cannot be dispensed with you must economize wife mend blend up the old clothes and send the boots toots to the shoemaker a patch or two wont hurt the looks much and make them almost as good as new adviss advised mr browne who was wag very particular about wearing mended clothes himself a darn in hla hia estimation being to condemn a coat or vest 1 I was hoping to be able to get the girls new bonnets this winter for their present ones have been in wear two seasons already but I 1 suppose they will have to go without continued the wife in a disappointed tone of course they will willi clarke tells me that flour was wag twelve twenty five yesterday iwon lwon I 1 wonder what the country is coming to but the poor will feel these high prices more than we do think how much less we shall be incommoded by them than poor widows with large families of small chil chii children children dlen dien we must try and help sick mrs wilson this month the last time I 1 was in she had but a miserable fire though the day was bitter cold she would feel very grateful for a little wood 21 rejoined the benedo lent lent mrs browne who had given the woman in question quest ion iun many a good dinner chmitz Chai chal ity begins at home especially when beefsteak 1 is a sli sll shilling illing a pound and other meats in proportion F replied the e husband emphatically leaning over and lighting a cigar elgar by the glowing anthracite then tipping his chair back to an easy position amused himself by puffing the smoke out in fleecy columns mr browne how bow much did that cigar cost asked his wife the individual addressed appear to be sensible sensible that he had bad been spoken to until the question was repeated how much did this cigar cost did vou you ask four cents only and cheap at that exquisite flavor smith says he never had the luck to get such a delicious brand before and I 1 mean 2 you never smoke less than five a day husband and sometimes more ale continued in the same quiet way a moderate number a very moderate number mrs browne some people make no thing thine of smoking a dozen what would you say if I 1 I 1 five cigars at four cents each amount to twenty cent cents sand und and seyen seven time twenty is a dollar and forty almost nine shillings a week for smoke mr browne did it ever occur to you that the money might be more profitably spent in purchasing a cap for jesse for dinst instance ance or oi buying mrs wilson a few groceries ever eyer every y wee week k mr browne suddenly bethought bet bei hought bought himself of a most pressing engagement and left the house without answering this pertinent inquiry his wife smiled and went oa sewing she had bad heard beard a great deal about hard times for several months and had had economy preached to her until prudent and saving as she undoubtedly was the word had become disagreeable to her ears mr browne was entirely willing to practise this commendable virtue when he could do io so without interfering with his comfort comfort but unfortunately for his wife life and children cli cil ildren lidren this did not often occur in fact be loved his big ease and would do without nothing that gratified his palate or administered to his enjoyment in any other w way wax a his clothes must be of the best material and amade made up in the most fashionable style no matter what it cost but mrs browne and tha the i children might wear theirs till they were thread bare although their manufacture originally was no outlay to him his wife being banda bandy at her needle and not unwilling to turn tal loress or dressmaker once or twice a year to save expense but now mrs browne queried as she had often done before whether her husband ought not to economize his share shere whether a little self denial on his part would not cot do rather more good than the continual cry of hard times and arid you must practice economy my dear she asked herself ff if a few practical hints rould not serve a good purpose in reminding him that tetter fetter practice was better than preaching and example went further with most roost people than advice the subject was still in her thoughts ih when a domestic entered the room and said theres a sofa come maam where will it go c A sofa theres some mistake I 1 think replied mrs browne stepping to the door but bui the man was so sure it was the night right place that she allowed him to bring it in although puzzled to know what mr browne wanted with another sofa as they already owned a good one and as times were hard and money scarce it did not look reasonable that he be would spare twenty five more dollars for a needless article of furniture but her doubts were dispelled when teatime tea time tune came and with it mr browne so the sofa got here before me 11 be he remarked as he be rested on his new purchase have chave you examined it sarah sarab cino no for I 1 sup sue supposed posed it ic was sent here hereby by mistake its all right ill tell you how bow it was he be resumed 1 I looked in at Leo leonards yards when this was bein being g knocked off to somebody for a trifle and so I 1 overbid him a dollar and got it myself only twenty six dollars for an elegant sofa that undoubtedly cost over fifty originally do look at it mrs brown fine silk velve velv etl eti tV mrs browne did look at it but without getting gettling out cf her chair or exhibiting any more interest than she would have done in in glancing at a two shilling cricket esy axy P it was too good a bargain bargain to lose and andzej I 1 secured it it occurred to me that it would iab capital thing to lounge on when I 1 smoke in k fe f sleepy stupid eat besides being so conven convenient v ien len ie for you when you feel in the mood of taking a nap he be continued mrs browne looked at the baby sitting on the loor floor and then at the deep work basket piled up high with the family se sewing iving which mr browne had decided he could not afford to have done out thought her naps would necessarily have to be short and a great wa ways apart she had a shrewd suspicion too that re he had consulted his big own feelings more than her own comfort but having a little scheme echeme in contemplation she prudently forbore fo to say so listening without much comment to his eulogistic remarks concerning the sofa that evening was a fair sample of several following eveni evenings ngn mr browne smoked lolled and dozed alternately and mrs browne sewed diligently in order to keep the juvenile brownes in whole cl clothes othes othet 1 I saw a man who had bad some fine apples for sale and I 1 told him to bring up a barrel has he done sov inquired the former a week or two afterwards t A man with apples called but as he de demanded the modest sum of five dollars per barrel I 1 declined buying remembering any that times were hard bard and money scarcely scarce mrs urz p browne readily replied bending a droll look look ap upon ro our economist mi s vl who was remarkably fond of apple dump langr of necessity he bad no argument at hand half so cogent and powerful as this so the apples were not a arain again ain aid referred to 1 I thought we were to have a roast to day y was his big next remark when the family were seated at dinner as he took off one cover and then another without exposing anything that seemed to look very in inviting A good roasting piece mr browne would h have ave cost you a dollar and a half and I 1 was not so extravagant as to suppose you would pay that amount for a piece of meat neat when fish is so much cheaper dont for a moment suppose husband that I 1 am so thoughtless and improvident as to spend money in that way when I 1 have had 0 so o many lessons on retrenchment responded roughish mrs browne demurely fixing 0 a plate of fish for the youngest boy but I 1 love roast beef better than this 3 grumbled the latter gathering courage from his father fathers ls discontented expression to express his own dissatisfaction but its expensive my dear said the mother your father has no money to waste so we must be saving and contented as we can mr bir browne suddenly helped himself pl ully to the orical food an act thi that greatly stimulated the boys appetite which was governed in a great greit measure by the fathers example im ready for pie mo mother therill theryll said the lad after be he had a second allowance of the principal dish no pie today to day my dear the apples cost so much I 1 buy bu them and eggs are cents a dozen we ve must go without pies and think puddings addi digs children until things are cheaper think of the little wilson boys charlie and and how glad they would be for a plate of that nice fish when am I 1 to have a new capal cap broke in jesse just as soon as your father can aford afford to buy you one replied mrs browne you must be impatient my son for he has a great many things to get and dont like to be troubled with our applications recollect that these are hard times and we must do without what is not needed very much and not find fault with simple dinners because lecause it will make it easier easler for him if our market bills are not so large as they used to be self denial jesse is a good quail quality and cannot be too much practised practiced by little boys mrs browne talked to the children and at mr sir browne a method we believe which has been practised practiced before but though every word she uttered bad a meaning and be he felt the full force of 01 them he coli coil conid could hardly suppress a smile at the facility with which she emp employed oyed his bis own mode of reasoning and her aptness in turning the point cf of his own weapons against himself mr air browne got no roast beef or poultry that week weak soups vegetables and arid other simple and c cheap ea dishes made up the bill of fare and mrs B be began legan g a to talk seriously of substituting less expensive cotee coffee for the delicious mocha which the prudent head of the family took so much comfort in sipping every mornin morning the nice sandwiches and tongue that generally generall graced the tea table had bad mysteriously van vanished klig ald and the rich cak caka and fine flavored preserves had probably kept them company common tub butter was also ilso made to take the place of the sweet neatly stamped lumps which he be had bad been in the habit of eating for his big careful wife had hit bit upon the fact that she could save precisely thirteen cents on the pound by the change of a truth mr browne was in a straight 1 b t place every day or two he was called upon to give up something that tended to his gratification althou although gP perhaps pot not essential to his happiness ap it lively dively appeared as if mrs browne had bad put her wits to work to see in bow how many ways she could retrench ench his linen which had formerly been sent sert to a laundry he always prided himself on the polish and smoothness it was there sure to receive receive was wag now washed at home minus the gloss and why because it would be done in the house at no extra expense and as times were hard and money scarce it was wag sheer nonsense to pay it out to a laundry that was not all mr brown drown had been accustomed to having a fire lighted in his sleeping apartment previous to retiring during durin the winter season he had a horror borror for cold r rooms and particularly liked to be lulled to sleep by the snapping and crackling of the brands in an open grate but now there seemed a fair prospect of his losing this small gratification as his better half halt protested that another fire was useless and wasteful when fuel was inordinately high there was so much more need of economizing in in wood and coal mr browne submitted what else could he do ahe he could not complain with a very good grace so he be went to bed shivering with a firm deter to give mrs browne no more lessons in retrenchment if that was the way she tided them before he slept he be fell into a train of thought of this nature it if it is so disagreeable for me to give ur up a few gratifications pleasures luxuries or wha ever they may be termed how bow much more difficult must it be to exhibit true self denial in matters of greater moment if I 1 have experienced disappointment at the absence of a cheerful blaze or a favorite kind of pastry jesse must have felt the denial of a new cap still more keenly it if I 1 have been inclined to murmur at a dinner less palatable than ordinary surely in my wife ife has a harder trial tri trl al in in complying with my 1 71 I begin eq e hin qin q to suspect selfish and thoughtless demands on her time and strength mrs browne is a prudent woman and I 1 wish I 1 wish I 1 said so much about economy ill buy her a new silk tomorrow to morrow and for the future do without something myself when our expenses need curtailing and with this excellent purpose strong in his big mind mr browne fell asleep mother when are we to have new bonnets I 1 think we ought to have some soon remarked the oldest da daughten daughter 11 the next day so do 1 I my love but I 1 fear you will have to wait a while longer replied the parent kissing the pleading face that was ivas so eagerly eagerly watching her own father has no money to iet ret let iet us have times are hard and ly mrs browne oblige me by never repeating repe repeat atins inc inz that remark again 1 exclaimed our economist the boys shall have nave new caps the girls new bonnets and you a pretty silk this very day dyl you took a womans comans way to show me my mis mistake but I 1 own that you yon did it cleverly give us a sli spi piece ece of good beer beet tomorrow to morrow arid alid and ill cure my selfishness hish fish ness and help you economize economize I 1 am not so ungrateful as you think nor will I 1 again ask you to make all the sacrifices or struggle alone with high prices and hard time 2 mr browne was up to his word he never did |