Clippings, she hot-footed from Street
to Street. Every time she struck a Fresh Trail she broke into a Run.

Mother was looking for a House that had twice as many Closets as Rooms
and a Southern Exposure on all four sides.

She had conned herself into the Belief that some day she would run
down a Queen Anne Shack that would be O.K. in all Particulars.

In the Magazine that came every Month she had seen these
Dream-Pictures of Palaces that can be put up for $1,500.00, if you
steal your Materials.

She had gazed at the Bunco Illustration of the swell Structure with
bushy Trees dotting the Lawn and a little Girl rolling a Hoop along
the Cement Side-Walk and she had set her Heart on that kind of a Home.

Mother loved to study the Plans and count the Bath-rooms and figure on
Window Seats and what kind of Curtains to put in the Guest Chamber.

[Illustration: _May 1st._]

Every Spring she found the Place she had been seeking and gave a Grand
Signal for the whole Outfit to begin packing up. Those were the bright
vernal Days when Mr. Jump got all that was coming to him. Mr. Jump
was a Man, therefore any old kind of a Hut suited him. For eight years
before starting on his continuous Tour with Mother, he had roomed over
a Drug Store.

His Apartment had been one of those delectable Man-Joints where Women
never butted in to hide things and give the whole Place a Soapy Smell.

The Sweepings went under the Bed, so as not to litter up the Hallway.

Once a Year he had a House-Cleaning. That is to say, he employed a
Colored Man to beat the Rugs, which had to be separated from the Floor
by means of a Shovel.

Inasmuch as Women never came in to straighten up, he knew where to
find everything. He knew it was somewhere in the Room and all he had
to do was to excavate until he found it.

Then he hooked up with Laura so as to get a real Home and she gave him
a new one every Year.

Mr. Jump soon discovered that, although every Man is the Architect of
his own Fortune, the Wife usually superintends the Construction.

When Mrs. Jump made her Spring Announcement that they would move to
another House, he did a deal of Kicking, but he always went into the
Wood Shed to do it. He sassed her inwardly, but not so that she could
hear.

She was a Wonder at framing up Reasons for hurling the Lease back at
the Landlord.

One Year she quit because the Owner papered the Upstairs with a Jay
Pattern that cost only 15 cents a Bolt. Another tim