Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1872-08-14
THE GENTLEMAN FROM RENO.

The wind was blowing a gale. Dear,
dear, how the wind does blow, though,
| over here on Russian hill where our
house stands. My husband says that
it seems to him sometimes as if the air
was river with a mill-race current.
and was flying full of sticks, stones and
sand. If our front door is left un-
fastened any time after half-past eleven
| o'clock in the forenoon, it flies open
with spiteful bang, and in moment
every door III the house is clapped to
| or slammed open, and the house-our
! house is small and thin-resounds as
if a small army were firing off cannons
IN it. do believe that some day Har-
ry will come home and find the house,
wife, children and fixtures, blown from
Jenkins street to Decatur street. The
structure is only clapboards and shin
giles, and how it has ever stood so l. ing
as 1t has, surpasses my prehension
But as [ was saying, the wind was blow
ing gale, and [ was just on the point
| of going to see if the front door was
fastened-our Noah is so careless, and
little Harry persists in going out at
that hour 6 because papa does when
| open 1t blew with a tremendous bang,
every other door in the house flying to
and fro as the case happened to be,
/ each one firing salute of its own and
| knocking down the plaster in great
fakes; they do build such cheap houses
nowadays ! The gale swept through
my bit Of parior, sending everything
whirling, and [ was mad enough to cry
to see my manuscript fly all over the
/ floor for while the children were out
with Norah, 7 had set down to fix up
! my little story for the Trans-C Cont
mental, knowing full well that if [ did
not cross out all the best bits, the edit
! or would. (What fatal stupidity edit
ors always have for cutting out the
best part Of a thing to be sure y [ was
self hesitating whether to try and save
my precious manuscript or run first and
shut the door, when 1 heard a voice at
the front door saying, 'FHallo house
there"
Now for q lore, lorn woman to hear
rough voice like that at her open
door, with her husband off visiting
patients, the servants and children
gone the Lord knows where, and no
neighbors nearer than three blocks of
sand hills, you VIII admit that it was a
little terrifying, especially when you
know that [ am a small woman, and am
so cooped up at home with my house
hold duties and three small children
that never see anybody outside my
own house. But, with no small culver
at my heart, [ went into the hall, and
there stood a stout, dark-skinned man,
wearing a soft hat and a new suit of
clothes, the store creases in which [
saw before [ saw his face. elbow me !"
said he-which I thought quite unnec-
essary, as he was being blown, and so
was [; for as [ stood in the narrow
hall [ had hard work to keep my feet.
and was painfully conscious that
my hoop skirt was showing righ
through the thin calico [ had on
Blow mel" says he, EeI thought T
never should raise anybody. Amt this
Hank Clayton's house . [ replied
with some dignity, not unmixed with
tremulousness, that this was DR.. Henry
Clay on's residence whereupon he
/ bolted into the hall and closed the door
after him saying, g Well, marm, you'll
blow right through the side of the
house, II you don't get shet of this ere
wind
The mysterious stranger, to my great
horror, marched into the parlor and sat
down, deliberately hanging his hat on
my lovely Clytie in real marble, which
stands on a plaster pedestal in the corn
er behind the sofa.
$50 you don't know me-" said this
apparition; and without waiting for
my scared negative, he added, "Wel.
l shouldn't s'pose you would, consid-
erin that you never seen me afore.
Pm Just from Reno came down on
the Sacramento boat last night, and
after [ had time to do few old chores
and get kinder sliced up, Jest come
out 10 see Hank and his young ones y
He looked cOmplacently down on his
/ creased pantaloons, and tenderly'pIcke ed
up a few grains of sand from his gray
coat sleeve as he spoke. [ told him I
was sorry my husband was not at home,
/ but if he would call again tomorrow
| he would be sure to find him at
| o'clock, or he would be more likely to
| find him as his Office, No. 2,010 kearny
street But in vain the dreadful man
! insisted that he got through with his
days chores, and could just as well
wait as not, and he added "Now,
up in Reno, where we do things on the
keen jump, why, man hasn't no time
to fool away waiting for nobody; we
are a sharp set up there built town
/ of three thousand inha bitants, fourteen
stores, four hotels, twelve saloons, a
French restaurant and a billiard expor-
ium IN six weeks. Oh, yes; in Reno
we do things in a hurry, and you've
got to look alive there, you jest bet
/ your life now"
Was ever u woman more painfully
! eircunstanced2 [ could scarcely be-
Lieve that it was not some horrid
dream, and that was not actually sit
ting IN my own sewing chair, where /
had passed 50 many hours, looking at
that dreadful man, spreading his un-
calmly limbs all over my ruby plush