Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-07-11

Let it be on the banks of the Thames
! she likes water, and there is none Mt Tun-
bridge Wells" continued my better half in
noccntly. Il will write an account of our
prospects of succeeding in finding place to
suit her every other day"
We had gono to Hastings directly after the
| explosion, which took place late in the au-
tumn, and bad spent the winter there. 1t
was in March that Aunt Sarah went to stay
with the Wcadles and that the above convcr-
sation was held. 1t is my firm opinion, de-
rived from experience in housc-hunting Mt
| that time, that if gold medal were offered
for the most ingenious pcrversion of facts, a
! house agent would win it. A desirable man
! sion or picturesque villa described by one
of these gentry, resembles the real article
about as much ns n theatrical castle seen
| from the pit does the same erection viewed
from the wings. As for suppression of truth,
that | suppose is to be expected, since the
| law which eNOnerates man from eliminating
himself may be inferred to extend to his prop
erty, and therefore to the property Of other
| people intrusted to his disposal. But the
| general result of all this positive and negative
| deception is TO give the hOuse-hunter an i'm
mcnse amount of trouble and anxiety and to
cure him of any blind confidence in his fel-
low-men forever. For three consecutive
weeks my wife and l saw over twenty houses
| per week, 30 we ought to know. 1t is true
that the great majority of these tenements,
which promised well upon paper were so OBJ
| viously unsuitable to US that glance suiliced
to show they would not do. When the spa
| cious apartments proved to be seven feet
| high, or the eight good bedrooms resolved
| themselves into five, with three cupboards,
| we did not waste much time, beyond that
| taken up by the journey to and fro But the
| disadvantages of other houses were not so i'm
| mediately obvious 1t was only during SPRING
tides that the cellars and kitchens of Fluval
Lodge were under water. The faint smell
which foatod about Upas Villa could not be
| detected when doors and windows were open,
and inquiries in the ncighborhood alone
brought out the fact Of the remarkable sus-
| ceptiblity of long succession Of tenants to
fevers of n typhoid character 1t was only
| when the wind lay in II southerly or easterly
| direction that the near neighborhoOd of the
| Golden GuRnO Company's Works to The Ii
| lacs became obvious and we should have
| committed ourselves irreyocably to five years
of that unique residence if a breeze had not
| sprung up in the quarter named on the occa-
| sion of our third visit. We were likewise
very nearly fixing ourselves in The Hermit
! age, so little perceptible was the throb of the
water-works engine hard by, while you were
moving about talking, and interested in other
matters Yet from what we learned after
ward We might just as well have taken up
| our abode on board a screw-steamer. Port
wine could not deposit its bees-wings or cell
| ings retain their plaster so earnest and un-
ceasing was the vibration. At last, when we
were well-nigh in despair, the very place we
wanted turned up. My wife and I've gem
| orally hunted in couples-were walking dis
consolately, not TO say sulkily, along quiet
| road on our way back to the railway station
| oft inpnaatint, ~ ipai,,
lent ruin, which might have been rendered
hGbitabe by the outlay of a couple of thou
sand pounds or so, when We came TO high,
dirty white wall with door in it, and on the
door there was nailed notice board ITO
Let Inquire Within"
why, here is IL house in Eyotham which
we have not scent" exclaimed my wife.
at is not down in any agents book, " sa id
l. Il wonder what il is like"
"A Jail or a convent to Judge from this
side of it, which is all wall"
Never mind let US look at it,"
So We stopped and pulled at a bell-handle
at intervals, until deaf char-woman let us
in to very pleasant looking premises. All
the gloom was confined to the side facing the
road once through the door, all was bright
and cheerful enough, especially when the
shutters were opened The rooms were of
good size and height, the kitchen dry, the
roof and floors apparently sound, the cup
boards deep and plentiful, the fixtures con
venient. pretty lawn, shaded by handsome
trees, sloped down to the banks of the
Thames, where there was picturesque boat
house. The kitchen garden WAS ample, with
good store of fruit trees in it the stabling
sufficient for our modest wants. We certain
ly saw all this under favorable auspices. 1t
was the first really balmy day of early spring
the sun was shining the birds were singing,
the river was sparkling, and the buds on the
trees seemed to be growing greener every
minute. We really thought that We had at
length hit upon the very thing. Not that we
were over-sanguine as we rode back TO town I;
we had been too often disappointed not to
fear some hitch or some fatal drawback.
The more We saw of Swansdown Villa,
however the better we liked it. The only
reason for its being empty was the exorbitant
rent demanded by the proprietor; but since
that would be divided between Aunt Sarah
and myself, it was not so serious an obstacle
in our case. As for that estimable relative,
when she saw the place she was charmed
and to cut long story short, we happily
rescued her out of the designing hands of the
Weadles, and established her comfortably in
her new home Not too soon for Weadle
had gained certain ascendency over her,
and a correspondence has been kept up with
that branch of the family ever since.
For time we were III constant eXpecta-
tion of some unthought of defect coming to
light in our new home but weeks passed on
without smells cropping up or kitchen boil
ers bursting, or any other domestic calani-
ties occurring, and we gradually grew easy.
We boated we fshed, we made pleasant ac-
quaintances among our neighbors, we pick
nicked, We practiced lawn tennis, and thor
oughly enjoyed the summer, which extended
itself into October; Aunt Sarah being as hap
py as any one in quiet sort of way, and re-
covering in q great measure from the shock
she had received for though have spoken
of that explosion in a somewhat light tone,
the poor old lady's nerves were seriously jar
red by it,
The pleasant weather died OF very sudden
ly at last. fog, frost, and three days
perpetual rain closed the season elfectually
The boat was hauled up into its dry-dock;
the garden games were packed away careful
ly and my wife and l, who are partial to
theatrical entertainments, began somewhat
to regret our distance from town.
At breakfast on the Sd of November, Aunt
Sarah said "If you are thinking of having
any fireworks to amuse the children on the
9Th (Guy Fawkes's Day. Charles, should
like TO contribute" left an egg half dscap-
itated, like a victim in the hands of i.n un-
skillful executioner, so astounded was |. We
had been deyising how we should keep the
flare of squibs and the banging of maroons
in the distance from the eyes and ears of our
relative, and had arranged to have all the
shutters in the house closed, and all the cur
taius drawn alta very early hour on the event
full evening" dreAding lest any such sight or
sound should recall the alarming episode of
the year before.
why, you look quite scared, my dear"
she added to my wife, ''it does not do to
give away TO unreasonable nervousness. We
are many miles away from that dreadful ca
nal now"
have often observed that invalids and
nervous people defeat all calculations of their
likes and dislikes in this way, and yet was
surprised. Not wishing Aunt Sarah TO see
that thought her weaker than she was, how
ever, 1 entered with alacrity into the scheme,