Unofficial letters of an official's wife [by] Edith Moses.

AN OFFICIAL'S WIFE

rooms is large enough to hold the whole Taft family and attendants. The furniture is old and anteaten, and the whole place is dirty and neglected.
At first we were very solemn and downcast, but
the amusing side fortunately came uppermost, and
after expressing his views the judge suddenly exclaimed, " Not quite up to your ideal, is it?" and
burst into one of his infectious laughs, in which we
joined. Fortunately we have the " same taste in
jokes." I confess to one great disappointment. In
imagining my tropical home I had always pictured
the cool patio with its handsome grille on the street
and a fountain with palms and plants, just as I had
seen them in Seville. Not a house we saw to-day
had a patio. The Worcesters are moving into a
house Mr. Worcester occupied when he was here
before, and they seem quite satisfied, but they also
have their woes; for one of Mr. Worcester's beloved Filipinos, a trusted muchacho, decamped with
Mrs. Worcester's watch a few hours after their
arrival. We are considering a modest dwelling
which has two advantages. It is on the bay shore,
and the sala, or drawing room, is ceiled in native
mahogany. The entrance is, in my opinion, disreputable, for it is through the stable. The quartermaster captain who escorted us about assures me
that I shall soon become used to this feature of the
Manila house, but I hope I shall not. The fact that
our houses are not the palaces we expected does not
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