The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1884-08-02
THEIR FLAT.

Mr.. and Mrs. Charles Through had
married on love, which was their joint
possession, and on a salary of $4,000 per
year, The love answered many of
their demands to the fullest extent, but
manifestly there was no way in which
it could be applied to the settlement Of
the family bills. AS for the $1,000, the
young husband was so determined that
his wife should have whatever she
wanted il money could buy it, and Mrs.
Through was so anxious that her dear
Charley should enjoy every comfort
priced by man, that the couple discov-
cred an amazing deficit the first year,
and then an equally annoying one every
month about rent day. For a little
while they found sympatnizing parents
TO help them out; thea the head of the
family discovered the fatal art of draw
ing his salary In advance; later came
An accumulation of tradesmsn's bills,
and, consequently, an accumulation Of
duns. There also resulted some sleep
less nights, and headaches, and domes-
tic explosions, the effect of which were
only partly removed by tears. Finally
of course everything else was tried
tirst-the couple determined on heroic
measures Of economy. They would
give up the house they had furnished
so pTettily, and go into a fat. They
knew other young couples who lived in
fats-real' nice people, too, SO why
should not theyP 1t might seem some
what of "come-down," ;" and they could
not have as much company as they had
before; but, after all, what company
did they really care for, except each
other and their few most intimate
friends? Besides, were there not some
quite rich families who lived in fiatsp
Flats were not city houses-each one
exactly like every other one; there
were large flats and small ones, flats
with elevators, flats in which the top
story was more desirable than the first
hoor-better still, there were flats on
the best avenues, whereas the Through Is
present home was on cross street and
startingly near the plebelan part of the
city.
So they went flat-hunting, and the
very first suite of apartments they saw
was on Madison Avenue, and had every
convenience and elegance that heart
could wish. They would have taken it
at once had not the rent been five thou
sand dollars per year. Some smaller
apartments on Fifth Avenue were less
costly, but at the end of their first day
Of search Mr.. and Mrs. Through were
painfully silent and detected, for they
had seen nothing desirable except what
cost more than the house they were in.
The next days experience depressed
their spirits still more; they were now
quite willing to take any sort of fat, in
almost any sort of street, if only it
were clean.
At last they found one. 1t was only
one flight up, 1t was In corner house
with light all around it, the rent was
only one-half as much as they were now
paying, the house was too new to have
shown signs Of wear, and the landlord
insisted that, as there were no children,
the house must be quiet. Beside, this
particular fiat was empty, and could be
taken at once, at pro rata price, for
the unexpired portion of the month. so
the moving could be done before the
dreadful May. day, on which no carpet
layers could be found and cartmen
were extortioners.
And what cosy home the Ebroughs
made in single dayl 1t is true that
they were compelled to devote one room
entirely to storage purposes, for they
had altogether too much furniture for
the collective floor space. They had
also to put the piano, for the first night,
across the line that divided the parIors
an arrangement which, as Mrs. E.
brough truly observed, spoiled the ef-
feet Of depth. But they hung all their
pictures, their bric-a-brac furnished the
rooms more fully than it had done their
old parlors, and there was no running
up and down stairs to do. In fact,
they were so delighted that Mr.,
Through had to run out and bring up
an old friend or two to see how nicely
they were getting on.
They retired late, but no sooner had
Mrs. Through fallen asleep than she
dreamed that some one was occasionally
striking her sharp blow on the top of
her head with hammer. She finally
escaped the blows by waking, but al
though she felt them no longer she
heard them distinctly; and they came
with such monOtonous regularity, about
one in five seconds, that Mrs. Through
was sure she would jump out of her
skin if they did not stop. At last she
performed this impossible operation as
nearly as she could, upon which her
husband exclaimed:
"Oh, Kate, are you awaken What
do you suppose that noise isP"
"Goodness knows" whispered Mrs.
Through. "but its dreadful. Where do
you suppose 1t isp'
There was some disagreement on this
subject, so husband and wife sat up in
bed and discovered it was directly over
their heads.