The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1873-04-04
THE TITO LODGER.

The tailor lived on the second floor
and did his best to make his living fol
his wife and four children
Down stairs the small tobacconist
lived III state Of perpetual anxiet7
about the tailOr's rent, which he gener.
ally gave up piecemeal, and with
groans, as people give up their teeth
not because he did not wish to paw all
his bills, but because of the shortness
OF funds, common to many people.
Up in the attic lived the single Iod-
ger, of whom no one knew ANYTHING.
His name was Smith, but what did that
tell when it was so common? He was
lean, and had hollow checks and anx-
ious eyes. What his business was. or
II he had any, no one knew Perhaps
he wore stockings. The poor apothe-
/ cary Of Romeo and Juliet put him
in mind of his attic lodger, when, be
+ ing presented with tickets by a theatri-
( cal lodger, he went to spend an even
ing with Shakespeare.
lie amt like it in the face, though, s"
+ thought Mrs. Tobacconist; his clothes
+ Is too good, Mr.. Smith, that's all
/ twas an acute remark. Mr.. Smiths
clothes did not fit him too good, mas
much as they We're a few sizes too small
for him. As for business, he seemed
to have none. At noon he went out
for loaf of bread and a pitcher of
beer. At twelve o'clock he disap-
peaTed till midnight, when he let him
self in with latch-key, and went to
bed without a candle.
III l. l. l.
himself" said the tobacconist's wife,
he might have been a ghost"
But he's civil spoken" said the
tailOr's wife, TO whom he always said,
Excuse me ma'am," when he found
her atlOat on the staircase, in a puddle
of soap and water, which always made
the hlackbOards blacker than before,
and was obliged to wade through the
flood with bread and beer. And the
tailoT's wife, who had lived at service
III her youth, even vcntured to hint to
her husband that she thought Mr..
Smith n gentleman. However this
fancy the tailor crushed it with a curse,
"Gcntlemen don't wear any such a coat
Is that, Sally"
Poor little tailor, he sat crOss-legged
on his board and stitched, and mea-
sured men by their coats. If he had
measured or even mended more coats,
1t would have been better for him and
his brood. Times seemed to grow
worse, custom less, the money harder
to get When the little man read in
his morning paper of men who shot
themselves or took laudanum, he Won
dered whether they had four children
with hearty appetites, and Il prospect
OF having nothing to eat for several
days. No thought of killing himself
besides he had been told by his cler-
vman that suicide was wicked but
he couldn't help thinking. And the
civil lOdger in the attic. how did he
fare? One night when Sally, who had
been mending and ironing and patch
ing the family rags all day, was eco
nomicallv using up the fire by cooking
a loaf of bread in the stove oven, she
heard the lodger come in. He went
up stairs and paced the flOOr-he came
out on the entry and creaked the stairs.
He seemed as restless as a Gagged tiger
and he had behaved so for three nights.
instead of retiring at once, rs the tail
or's family knew he generally did by
/ the creaking and swapping of his bed
stead.
What can all him ?" said Sally, as
she took her bread out of the oven and
pricked it with a straw, finding it done.
/ What can all him? l hope he amt
sick or nothing-he is SO civil, poor
dear"
Then Sally listened again.
Il declare he's coming down" she
said. He must be sick, and there he
is knOcking-law -
Then she opened the door
The lid of the stove was OFF, and the
red light flashed on n hungry face,
with hollow cheeks and sunken eyes.
The gaunt hand stretched itself out,
and a voice said family:
Madame, l know You have a kind
heart. | am so hungry. It's three
days since l ate anything, and /
don't want to die"
I Law. | should think not" said
the woman why, law me, I'm so
sorry. And l suppose you can't get
a job? Law, why, do take it. l amt
/ got nothing else You see we are
( pretty poor ourselves-andt there-oh,
law.' She was trembling, she did not
know why She was thinking to her
self: Its like play 1t makes me
want to cry"
Then he took the warm bread she
had given him in his hands, tearing
/ bits from it and eating it.
Il didn't thank you" he said.
Thank you! thank you.' and went
I away.
/ Sally sat down, trembling still.
To be out Of job and to be hun
grv were no rare things and no tragic
things in her experience; but this man
had stirred her soul, somehow fright
ened her, and she said, Il hadn't any
business to give away loaf of bread;
but there. now, l couldn't help it."
to lsaI -1n---