now, after getting the advice of the entire household, is going to
throw it all away and apply to you, as he should have done in the
first place. I overheard him explaining to Jane how the cooking-stove
is to be in a sort of recess by the chimney, with tin-lined doors to
shut it out of sight; the wash-boiler at the opposite side, enclosed
in the same way, and having a contrivance overhead to carry off the
steam; how there are to be cupboards at each side of the wide window,
making it a sort of bay, with a wood-box window-seat; how the sink is
to be converted into an elegant sideboard by an ornamental cover, and
everything else in the room contrived so it can be shut up or folded
up out of sight when not in use. Of course Jane assists, and the
combined wisdom of the two is something appalling to ordinary
mortals. I should certainly think the affair was getting serious if
anything of the kind ever did turn out as other folks think it ought.
They are wonderfully harmonious now, but I don't believe Jane will
ever be satisfied without a separate dining-room.

[Illustration: THE OLD, OLD STORY.]

John wishes me to ask what he shall do about warming his house. Says
he has not decided whether to have fireplaces or stoves, grates or a
hot-air furnace, steam, hot water, solar heat, or depend on a scolding
wife to keep things warm.

Yours truly,

MRS. JOHN.