Later, when Eleanor had learned to do the pretty Mexican work, now in fashion, she decorated some special towels for her table and bureau, with lace-like ends, and a pair of pillow-covers. Meanwhile, she bore very well the knowledge that May and most of the other girls of their set considered her room rather "plain and bare." It suited her own fancy, and that satisfied her.
"I do like room to turn about in and not too many things, and not to smell of dust," she told her mother.
Here is Eleanor's budget of expenses, to set against May's:—
| Wall-paper, twelve rolls | $1.80 |
| Use of brush and roller | .18 |
| Kalsomining ceiling | 1.75 |
| Picture-moulding | 2.00 |
| Two gallons of mixed paint, at $1.80 per gallon | 3.60 |
| Brush | .30 |
| Nine yards of ingrain carpeting at sixty-five cents a yard | 5.85 |
| Carpet thread and tacks | .20 |
| Pine shelving | 1.00 |
| Chintz for chair-cover put on by Eleanor herself | 1.75 |
| Satin and ribbon for cushion | 1.12 |
| Total | $19.86 |
This was two years ago. If you could take a peep at the rival rooms in Ninety-three and Ninety-four to-day, you would find Eleanor's looking quite as pretty as when new, or prettier; for she has used it carefully, and each year has added something to its equipments, as years will. When a girl has once secured a good foundation for her room, her friends are apt to make their gifts work in toward its further beautification.
With May it is different. Her room has lost the freshness which was its one good point. The chintz has become creased and a little faded, the muslin and scrim from repeated washings are no longer crisp, and look limp and threadbare; all the ribbons and scarfs are shabby and tumbled; while the green carpet and the blue wall "swear" as vigorously at each other as they did at first. May sighs over it frequently, and wishes she had tried for a more permanent effect. Next time she will do better, she avers; but next times are slow in coming where the family exchequer has not the recuperative powers of Fortunatus's purse.
The Moral of this simple tale may be divided into three heads. I object to morals myself as a wind-up for stories, and I dare say most of you who read this are no fonder of them than I am; still, a three-headed moral is such a novelty that it may be urged as an excuse. The three heads are these:—
1. When you have only a small sum to spend on renovations, choose those that will last.
2. Ingenuity and energy count for more than mere money can.
3. Once make sure in a room of convenience, cheerfulness, and a good color, and you can afford to wait for gimcracks—or "Jamescracks"—or any of the thousand and one little duds which so many people consider indispensable features of pleasantness. Rooms have their anatomy as well as human beings. There must be a good substructure of bones rightly placed to underlie the bloom and sparkle in the one; and in like manner for the other the laws of taste, which are immutable, should underlie and support the evanescent and passing fancies and fashions of every day.