It was the first time that Courtland had ever felt that Gila was a little loud in her dress!

CHAPTER XIX

Mother Marshall got strenuously to her feet from the low hassock on which she had been sitting to sew the carpet, and trotted to the head of the stairs.

“Father!” she called, happily.  “Oh, Father!  It’s all done!  I just set the last stitch.  You can bring your hammer and tacks.  Better bring your rubbers, too.  You’ll need them when you come to stretch it.”

Father hurried up so quickly it was clear he had the hammer and rubbers all ready.

“You’ll need a saucer to put the tacks in!” and Mother Marshall hustled away to get it.  When she came back the carpet was spread out smoothly and Father stood surveying the effect.

“Say, now, it looks real pretty, don’t it?” he said, looking up at the walls and down to the floor.

“It certainly does!” declared Mother Marshall.  “And I’m real glad the man made us take this plain pink paper.  It didn’t look much to me when he first brought it out, I must confess.  I had set my heart on stripes with pink roses in it.  But when he said ‘felt,’ why that settled it because that article in the magazine said felt papers were the best for general wear and satisfaction.  And then when he brought out that roll with the cherry blossoms on it for a stripe around the top, I was just all happy down my spine, it did look so kind of bridey and pretty, like our cherry orchard on a spring evening when the pink is in the sky.  And that white molding between ’em is going to be real handy to hang the pictures on.  The man gave me some little brass picture-hooks.  See, they fit right over the molding.  Of course, there isn’t but one picture, but she’ll maybe have some of her own and like it all the better if the wall isn’t all cluttered full.  You know the magazine said have ’a few good pictures.’  I mean to hang it up right now and see how it looks!  There!  Doesn’t that look pretty against the pink?  I wasn’t sure about the white frame, it was so plain, but I like it.  Those apple blossoms against that blue piece of sky look real natural, don’t they.  You like it, don’t you, Father?”

“Well, I should say I did,” said Father, as he scuffed a corner of the carpet into place with his rubbered feet.  “Say, this carpet is some thick, Mother, as I guess your fingers will testify, having sewed all those long seams.  ’Member how Stevie used to sit on the carpet ahead of your seams when he was a baby, and laugh and clap his hands when you couldn’t sew any further because he was in the way?”

“Yes, wasn’t he the sweetest baby!” said Mother Marshall, with a bright tear glinting suddenly down her cheek.  “Why, Father, sometimes I can’t really make it seem true that he’s all done with this life and gone ahead of us into the next one.  It won’t be hard dying, for us, because he’s there, and we sha’n’t have to think of leaving him behind to go through a lot of trials and things.”