n mouth and arms akimbo, aghast at such proceedings,
while Miss Jewett executed a lively quick-step in pursuit of a moth,
which, startled by the unusual light, was circling above her head.

Not only were the gayly flowered Brussels carpet and the black haircloth
furniture the same as when he had been a guest in those rooms nearly
thirty years before, but each piece of furniture occupied the same
position as then. He smiled as he noted the arm-chair by one of the
front windows, to which he had been invariably assigned and in which he
had slipped and slid throughout each evening to the detriment of the
crocheted "tidy" pinned upon its back. The vases and candlesticks upon
the mantel were arranged with the same mathematical precision. He could
detect only one change, which was that to the collection of family
photographs framed and hanging above the mantel, there had been added a
portrait of the late Mrs. Jewett.

Within a week the old furnishings had been relegated to other parts of
the house and modern upholstery had taken their places, the soft subdued
tints of which blended harmoniously, forming a general impression of
warmth and light.

Most of these innovations Miss Jewett viewed with disfavor, particularly
the staining of the floors preparatory to laying down two Turkish rugs
of exquisite coloring and design.

"I don't see any use in being so skimping with the carpets," she
remarked to Sally; "if I'd been in his place I'd have got enough to
cover the whole floor while I was about it, even if I'd bought something
a little cheaper. A carpet with bare floor showing all 'round it puts me
in mind of Dick's hat-band that went part way 'round and stopped."

"That's jest what it does!" Sally assented.

"I wanted to lay down some strips of carpeting along the edges, but he
wouldn't hear to it," Miss Jewett continued, regretfully.

"I s'pose," Sally remarked, sagely, "it's all on account of livin' out
west along with them wild Injuns and cow-boys so many years. Western
folks 'most always has queer ideas about things."

"I never would have believed it to see such overturnings in my house!"
exclaimed Miss Jewett, with a sigh; "and if 'twas anybody but John
Britton I wouldn't stand it. I wonder if he won't be telling me how to
make butter and raise chickens and turkeys next!"

"Mebbe he'll bring 'round one o' them new-fangled contrivances for
hatchin' chickens without hens," Sally ventured, with a laugh; adding,
reflec