Page:Far from the Maddening Girls.djvu/58

 the aspect of everything upon which he laid his brush. I have travelled not inconsiderably: I have seen much: I have experienced many emotions: but I contend, and shall always contend, that the thing that contributes most largely to human comfort and to human self-respect is fresh paint. It is soul-satisfying. It is eminently respectable. It remedies past errors: it challenges future indiscretions. It is the hall-mark of cleanliness, the guarantee of gentility, the stamp of self-respect.

In course of time the plaster dried, and, in a high state of exhilaration, I went to choose my wall-papers. I give you my word that never before had I so much as imagined that so many varieties of wall-paper existed. I despaired, at first, of making a choice. They all seemed born to be hung, and I found myself in a kind of embarrassment as to which was. The one which appealed to me most strongly was a daring arrangement of scarlet poppies on a yellow background. But then, poppies