"Good gracious, my dear, what a mistake! More than half as much as the dress cost!"
Mrs. Murden caught at the straw. Perhaps it was a mistake, and the wrong bill had been sent to her. But there was no such good fortune; there it was, in Miss Elbert's own hard, angular handwriting, item by item. And Mr. Murden paid it on the spot, for he never allowed a bill to be presented twice; but he went out without returning to the parlor, and shut the front door with a bang, to countermand the new overcoat which he had been measured for that afternoon, and which he needed badly.
It was weeks before the purple silk was again alluded to by him, and spring before Mrs. Murden could afford to purchase undersleeves and a chemisette to wear with it. She walked to church in the mazarine blue beside the shabby overcoat, with its threadbare sleeves and rusty collar, a humbler and a better woman. It was only when Mr. Murden discovered what a cure the surfeit of finery in Mrs. Stringer's fitting-room had wrought, that he quite pardoned the folly and extravagance of the purple silk. "For," as Mrs. Murden said, "there must always be a great many people better dressed, spend what she would, so where was the use? And, after all, comfort was the thing, not show."
The purple silk became quite a favorite eventually, for Mr. Murden did not consider the lesson dearly bought at thirty-three dollars and twenty-nine cents, since it was to last a lifetime.
MANAGEMENT OF CANARY BIRDS.
BY request of a correspondent, we publish the following from Mrs. Hale's "New Household Receipt-Book:"—
"Canary birds that are kept tame will breed three or four times in the year. Towards the middle of March begin to match your birds, putting one cock and hen into the breeding-cage, which should be large, so that the birds may have room to fly and exercise themselves. Place two boxes or little basket-nests in the cage, for the hen to lay her eggs in, because she will sometimes have a second brood before the first are fit to fly, leaving the care of them to the father bird, who feeds and brings them up with much care, while she is sitting on her second nest of eggs. Whilst your birds are pairing feed them, besides the usual seeds, with the yolks of hard-boiled eggs, bread that has been moistened, or, if hard, grated fine, and pounded almond-meat. When the young birds are to be fed, give the same soft food, and be sure have it fresh every day; also furnish the old birds with fresh greens, such as cabbage-lettuce, chickweed, groundsel, &c. Give fresh water every day, and a clean bath every morning. The hen lays, commonly, four or five eggs, and sits fourteen days. When the young are hatched, leave them to the care of the old birds to nurse and bring up till they can fly and feed themselves, which is, usually, in about twenty days."