The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1885-05-17
THE STORY DE A FLAT.

BnST6 -dIc ~
cannot afford hotel, and detest a
clearinghouse. A bachelor of 80 odd,
who has been at the mercy Of boarding
house keepers all his days, can under
stand that.
So when I engaged a suit of rooms
third floor in a French fat edifce-and
arranged my household goods therein,
with fine lookout over a green dot In
front, and the glimmer of the Palisades
far away to the rear, considered my
self quite well off.
WHAT'S my profession? 1 haven't
any in particular. am an artist, and
draw a little daily, in front of my easel.
i contribute to the press, and write when
feel like it, and draw regular income
from a snug little property, left me by
an uncle in India. Ga ~ $50
Consequently l was able to decorate
my quarters very prettily with Bagdad
rugs, old China dragons, black and gold
Japanese screens, and pictures l had
picked up at bargain.
And when the fire was burning cheer
fully on the hearth, that first rainy
May evening, the student lamp shining
softly on the red carved table, and the
waiter from the neighborlng restaurant
had brought in my frugal dinner
broiled bird, mould of currant jelly, a
slice of roast beef, etc, considered my
self pretty comfortable.
'EUpon the whole,' said Ito myself,
81 rather approve of French fats" e
/ rang the bell. sgs.ve. -f.r
The ianitor, a respectful, decent sort
of fellow, in a round jacket and carpet
slippers, answered the summons.
f'Janiter." said "who occupies the
fleor above7''
Nobody, sir!' the man answered.
f'Last party moved out yesterday. New
party comes tomorrow. 81
"A large family?" said |, rather dubi-
ously.
lBless your heart. sir" said the man,
''no family at ali. tits single lady that
At this / congratulated myself more
and more. ,
~ shall have a prospect of little
peace, 1 think" said l, and ate my
dinner in FOOLS paradise.
The single lady moved in on the NOR
row. She must have moved in when /
was downtown selecting some new mill
boards and color tubes for the summer
sketches that l intended to make, for
when 1 returned, fondly expecting to
enter my kingdom of peace and serenity,
everything was changed.
There was a banging and pounding
overhead. humping and hammering
sound as if some mlddle-aged
giaE tess, in hob-nailed shoes, was en-
jeying herself in a promenade. 1u1a
sent for the janitor.
rs this house coming DOWN." l ask
ed, in rage.
'.It's the new tenant movin' in, SIR"
saidlhe. 5lJ1JA Stl ~
Does her furniture consist entirely of
Herring's safes and square pianos?" l
asked.
There is two pianos, sir" said he.
f'She's musical - 8l
The mischief she is !" replied I. 1.-TWO
pianos! And does she play on both OF
them?"
''Don,t know, sir, I'm sure" said the
man, with distressing expression OF
countenanee. L LII
endured the noise until midnight,
and then sent up the janitor's wife.
fourth, and would like to know If this
sort of thing is to go on all night"
Down came the woman again.
Fourth floors compliments to the
third floor, and wishes to know if he ex-
poets people to be settled without
The next day the piano-only one,
however commenced. Twas elaborat-
ing skeleton for scientifcE essay, and
it disturbed nae seriously. | endured it
. as long as 1 possibly could, and then /
had recourse to the ianitor's wife.
1.-The third floors compliments to the
fourth floor, and will feel much obliged
if she will favor me with a little peace
and quietness, long enough to do some
necessary writing.
There was no reply, but the music
ceased abruptly.
ming to solace myself with a little violin
practice in the twilight tap, tap, came
the ianitor's wife at my door.
Fourth floors compliments to the
third floor, and will feel much obliged if
he will favor her with little peace and
-Quietness long enough to write letter.
How I hate that woman!
So we lived for a month, exchanging
constant missiles of warfare. l could
cheerfully have given up that miserable
French fiat and gone back to boarding,
only, unluckily, | had engaged it for the
year. The fourth floor elocutionized
ana naQ Ir1enQS 10 SeIecl private read
ings, whose voices were deeper than
Hamlet's and more sonorous than that
of a Charlotte Cushman. She was
charitable, and had classes of heavy
booted girls there twice week to sing
hymns and learn to sew. A single lady
indeed If she had been quadruple
lady she could not have made more
noise or enjoyed the making of it more,
At the end of the month, however
an accident happened which turned the
current of my whole life.
I went on picnic. I don't often &C
to affairs of that kind; but that was an
especially select affair, gotten up by my
friend, Harold Webster.
I went and there met Barbara Willis
and fell straightway in love with her
She wasn't exactly too young, bui
neither am land to my taste full
blown rose is sweeter than bud, what
ever you may find it growing. She wa:
dark-eyed, with full cherry lips, satiI
brown hair, and complexion as fresl
as roses and ivory. We talked-oul
ideas conceded exactly. It seemed a.
if our souls we're two looking glasses tx
mirror each others.
Miss Willis, cried I, why is it tina
l. L 6, q 49,