At first Mary rejected this Janus-
faced machine unequivocally, but became a convert when Miss Mason showed
her how cretonne (she pronounced it "_cree_ton") or rugs would
soften its nakedness to dignity, and how bed-clothes and pillows were
swallowed in its maw by day to be released when the studio became a
sleeping room at night.
These trappings they purchased at first hand, and obliging salesmen
promised Miss Mason with their lips, but Mary with their eyes, that they
should go out on the noon delivery. For other things, however, the two
searched the second-hand stores which stand in that district like logs in
a stream, staying abandoned particles of the city's ever moving current.
Here they bought a high, roomy chest of drawers of painted pine, a Morris
chair, three single chairs, and a sturdy folding table in cherry, quite
old, which Mary felt to be a "find," and which she destined for Stefan's
paints. Miss Mason recommended a "rocker," and Mary, who had had visions
of stuffed English easy chairs, acquiesced on finding in the rocker and
Morris types the only available combinations of cheapness and comfort. A
second smaller table of good design, two brass candlesticks, and a little
looking-glass in faded greenish gilt, rejoiced Mary's heart, without
unreasonably lightening her pocket.
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