"It is pleasant to have a home of one's own," he again said, taking a satisfactory survey of his little quarters. The cold rain beat against the windows, and he thought he felt really grateful for all his present comforts.
"Now if we only had a piano!" exclaimed the wife.
"Give me the music of your own sweet voice before all the pianos in creation," he observed, complimentarily; but he felt a certain secret disappointment that his wife's thankfulness did not happily chime with his own.
"Well, we want one for our friends," said Esther.
"Let our friends come to see us, and not to hear a piano," exclaimed the husband.
"But, George, everybody has a piano now-a-days—we don't go anywhere without seeing a piano," persisted the wife.
"And yet I don't know what we want one for—you will have no time to play on one, and I don't want to hear it."
"Why, they are so fashionable—I think our room looks nearly naked without one."
"I think it looks just right."
"I think it looks very naked—we want a piano shockingly," protested Esther emphatically.