The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-08-18

| ~.
| vour landlord as householders are
we'll aware. for an interview nearly al
wavs means row. Our landlord, Mr..
FULTON, is model landlord, from the
landlords point of view. Originally
bricklayer, he has risen by industry,
the perusal of Mr.. Smiles "Self Help"
and an invention of his own for making
mortar without lime out of road scrap
ings, to the position of proprietor. He
is what is delusively known as ''practl-
cal man." He has happy way with ten
| ants that can never cease admirlng.
| If YOUR top cistern leaked and the water
ran over your best furniture, when sent
for to see it he would prove to you in
two minutes that the cistern when put
up was as perfect a cistern as ever was
provided; that the framework was the
best two-inch sawed, planned, rabbitted,
morticed, tennoned, creosoted and
otherwise highly favored oak; that the
lead was the best-best Derbyshire
double-milled steam-hammeredt iaWless
! lead; that his cisterns never leaked I'M
| der twenty-five years at the least; that
appearances are very deceptive, and
what seemed to be leak in the cistern
might after alb 1--WE are all fraiD be
something else; in short, that the els
tern did not leak and never had leaked.
You might not be satisfied, but you had
nothing to say. This was the way he
dealt with me when the kitchen fire
place fell out and the states came off
the scullery. But, thought |, if there
is anything unmistakable, it is ''drains, ="
and he can't say its mot the landlord S
business as he did when that hum
dredweight of stucco came off the por-
tico.
So called on Mr.. FULTON at his office
in Church Street, Islington, on my way
to the city. l was bland. introduced
the subject as ''little matter" that
would not take him one minute if he
would kindly step round to the house.
At the mention of thu word "drains"
his face fell. l thought had him. He
was very busy that day; ne had to meet
but tomorrow early he would be sure
to look round.
When l got home that evening |
found Lucy's father there. Mr.. Briggs
is a retired naval officer, eX-commander
of an ever-So-many ton something. He
means well by me, l have no doubt, but
| he has sometimes ways of looking
after his daughters interests which
tends to get my back up. Lucy had
told him our trouble and he was some
what disturbed, though sufficiently self
possessed to be smoking that particular
''intimidad" l had fondly hoped l had
hidden away for my own delectation.
"This must be attended to at once,
boy" said mynaval relation, in aspeak-
ing-trumpet bass.
'I'm doing all can," I replied, and
told them of my interview with Mr..
FULTON.
"But you cannot wait for q humbug-
ging landlord;' he calculated. "Prompt
action is necessary. No time like the
present." SO it seemed with my intim-
idad.
'But what can we do?' said Lucy;
"advise us, dearpapa; l know Tom will
only be too glad to be guided by you. -
absolutely, y said, wincing. l had
been guided by Mr.. Briggs once before
in little matter of mining shares, and
remembered it.
"Then my advice is to get out of the
house as quickly as possible, returned
RaaRords You had better be off to the
seaside
"But l shall be so sorry to leave Tom, -
pleady Lucy, the darling, land it's so
expensive, too"
Mr.. Briggs drew up his eyebrows.
80, that shall be no consideration, of
course 1 FASTENED to say, catching the
kindle in the naval eye.
'Leave the house YOU must, and the
seaside will do you all good"
''But cannot leave you all alone,
and Anne would have to 90 with the
children, she pleaded, her soft eyes be-
dimmed with tears. "But ahn' she
said, starting, ''there's Mrs. Hedges.
the char-woman, she can come and
look after you; She most trustworthy. -
L drew rather long face at the pro-
posed propinquity of Mrs Hedges-a
female who, no doubt, as Precipitation
for her sins, went about literallyin sack
cloth and ashes. "She's dirty to look
at, | know, DEAR" Lucy continued,
''but then she's so clean in her work. ~
| W ClAs ~ NOu NC lOI ever, IONc, YOU
shall go to Margate tomorrow for a
fortnight. By that time all will be
straight again, said.
Lucy cried little on my shoulder.
Her father said was just the man he
always took me for, and had | any more
cigars of the same brand, as his case
was empty?
The basement manifestations were
worse than ever next day, and, of
course, the landlord did not come. No
doubt he had to take his wife's mother
back to Waterloo. The day after that,
Saturday, l took my wife and children
to Margate. | found them nice lodg-
ings facing the sea, five guineas week;
but that was very cheap, as Lucy
pointed out, as it included the washing
of the table-linen, which in your two
guinea apartments is charged as an
extra. We spent delightful Sunday,
and on Monday returned to town full
of vigor to attack Mr.. FULTON.
Mrs. Hedges, the charwoman-rightly
so called, for she charred everything
she cooked-met me on my threshold,
dirtler than ever to look at Though nc
doubt clean in her work.. Her words
OF greeting were that "the stinks was
awful" In self-defense she had been
compelled to open land empty) a hottie