14B 



HOME AND FLOWERS 



ings, and listened rather superciliousl}^ 



"Your plans ritn up several thousands 

 above the amount I expected to use," he 

 said. "I can rent the houses as readily if 

 they are more cheaply constructed after 

 a uniform design, and, as for the flower 

 gardens, I beg to call your attention to 

 the conspicuous lack of any tendency to 

 beautify in all my other places, excepting, 

 of course, the one you occupy." 



"The flower gardens are an idea of Mrs. 

 Waring' s, but I quite agree with her in 

 her belief that they might prove an incen- 

 tive toward the development of a home 

 spirit among people who have not now 

 nor ever expect to have homes of their 

 own. It would also tend to encourage a 

 sort of neighborly unanimity. The effects 

 of these two things could not fail to be far 

 reaching in an ethical sense, and still I 

 believe that both would militate toward 

 your advantage financially. You have told 

 me how you are constantly besieged for 

 repairs on your property. If the houses 

 are well built they will stand abuse better, 

 and anything which would make their oc- 

 cupants feel a proprietary interest would 

 cause them to take care of their abodes, 

 and do away largely with necessity for 

 repairs. It seems to me good business 

 policy to arouse as much pride as possible 

 among your tenants." 



"Maybe so, m aybe so !" Mr. Tucker re- 

 plied, but be did ]. say that he would 

 take the plans, nor did he insist that less 

 expensive ones be drawn up. 



One afternoon he drove slowly along past 

 the House of Happy Hours. The clinging 

 vines had lost their beauty, and had been 

 taken away, and he missed the window 

 boxes from the windows, but just inside 

 through the clear panes he saw at every 

 window strong green young plants looking 

 cheerily out from between parted curtains 

 of soft white muslin. The little place 

 looked very cosy and home-like, nestling 

 up under the protection of the evergreen 

 oaks, and he thought of Mr. Waring's 

 plans again, only to shaake his head and 

 say to himself : 



"People in general are not going to 

 bother about taking care of an3'body else's 

 property. It would not do to take the 

 Warings as criterions. They represent 

 the exception which proves the rule, and 

 their ideas are ephemeral — and yet War- 

 ing's designs are distinctly good, there's 

 no denying that." 



When for the hundredth time he looked 

 over the site of the projected improve- 

 ments, in spite of himself he pictured in 

 his 'imagination the streets of pretty houses 

 which Waring had drawn, and contrasted 

 them with the long rows of uninviting 

 cottages all built exactly alike after a 

 style which from his constant use of it 

 had become xOiown as the "Tucker house"" 

 — all cheaply constructed and ornamented 

 with a little showy "gingerbread" work on- 

 the narrow little front piazzas. 



"I'm not a fool about style,'^ he said to 

 himself, as he clambered back into his 

 buggy, and gathered up the reins over his 

 fleet-footed thoroughbred, ^T3ut I would 

 like to have my name hitched on to some- 

 thing better than these." 



He was driving rapidly past long rows 

 of "Tucker houses," and it seemed to him, 

 as never before, that their very aspect sug- 

 gested instantly that residence in them 

 was more in the nature of sojourning than 

 real living. Tlieir unlikeness to the im- 

 proved appearance of the House of Happy 

 Hours appealed to him most strongly, and, 

 strive as he might, he could not thrust it . 

 aside. That night, as he sat in bis lonely 

 home, he finally made up his mind. 



"Waring's plans would make the Exten- 

 sion just about l ie prettiest part of Wim- 

 bledon. Tucker Extension — I like the 

 sound of it. I've thought about building 

 and donating a library and reading room 

 to the town, some day, but that would be 

 all outlay, with no chance of a money 

 return, and I guess, too, there is time 

 enough yet for me to set about building 

 my own monument. On the whole, I think 

 I will risk Waring's plans. I am able to 

 indulge in a fad, if such it turns out." 



Mr. Tucker devoted himself through his 



