, 1886-01-19
OUR NEW HOUSE.

possd to be habitable could well be. IL was
only new 10 US. Indeed, with the excep-
ton OF the house, there was nothing now
about us Neither my wife nor myself was,
in any snnse Of tho word, old, and we were
still, comparatively speaking, now TO each
other.
II Ind been my habit, for the few years, |
had been In somerset house, to take my holi-
lays at Littlehampton, partly because !
liked he place, and ~partly-nnd chiefly, be
cause II was cheap. ussd 10 nave lodgings
In the house Of n widow, Mrs. Compton, in a
quiet s.rcet of the sa frontage. | had this
year, on my summer holiday, met there my
fate in the person OF Mrs. Compton's
daughter Mary, just homo from school l
returned to London engaged There was no
reason why we should wait, for ] had few
friends md no near relatives living, and
Nuy had the consent Of her mother. / was
t,lI thai her father who was n merchant
captain, had gone to sen shortly after her
birth, but had never been heard OF since,
and hal consequently becn long ago reck-
med ns with the majority" l never met
any Of my now relatives; indeed there was
not the family opportunity afforded by mar
ringe under conventional social conditions
We wcro married In the early morning at
the church Mt Littlehampton, and, without
any formal wedding breakfast, camo straight
away In the train. As ! had 10 attend TO
my duties at Somerset house, the prelimi-
nnries wero all arranged by Mrs. Compton
ut Li~ttlchampton, and Mary gave the re-
qircd noticc OF residency. We were all in
"a hurry to be off, rs we feared missing the
train indeed, whilst Mary was signing the
registry I WINS settling the fees and tipping
the vcrger.
When we began 10 look abou for a house,
we settled on ono which was vacant in a
small street near Sloane square. There was
absolutely nothing 10 reconmend tho place
eScept the sinallness OF the rent-but this
wis everything 10 US. The landlord, Mr..
GRADER, was the very hardest man | ever
,nme across. He did not even go through
alo form OF civilty In his dealing.
There Is the house" he said, "nnd you can
either take il or leave II. ! have painted tho
outside, and you must paint the inside. Or,
II you like II as ID Is, You can have IL 80;
only you must paint and paper it before you
give It up 10 me again-be it one year or
more"
! was pretty much OF a handy man, and
slt equal 10 doing the work myself; so, hnv-
BE- looked over the place carefully, we de
! rninod 10 take IT, II was, however, In
ia 4 a terribly neglected condition hat L
siuld not help asking my iron-clad lessor as
- who had boon the former tenant, and
9hnt kin Of a person he had been TO have
boon content with such n dwelling.
His answer was vague. ~Who he WINS l
l1n't know. | never knew more than his
Aine. He was a regular oddly. Had this
lu., and another Of mino near here, and
5Hi TO live in them both, and all by himself.
INK he WINS afraid Of being murdered or
tlLbsd. Never know which he was in.
y nj lately. Had to bury him-worse luck
Z ,tenses swallowed up value Of all he'd
got'
We signed an agreement 10 take out a
lease, and when, in a few days, I had put in
order two rooms and a kitchen, my wife and
| moved in. | worked hard every morning
before l went TO my office and every evening
after | got home, 30 l got the place In u
couple OF weeks In a state OF comparative
order. We had, in fact, arrived so far on
our way to perfection that we had seriously
begun TO consider dispensing with the serv-
Ices OF our charwomnn and getting a regular
servant.
One evening my landlord called on me. It
was about 0 o'clock, and, as our temporary
servant had gone home, / opened the door
myself / was somewhat astonished at
recognizing my visitor, and not a little
nlnr1ned, for he was 80 brutally simple in
dealing with me that I rather dreaded any
Kind OF interview. To my astonishment he
'ss,ln to speak in What he evidently meant
pr "A hearty manner.
"well, how are you getting on with your
'ouching upf'
Pretty we'll" l answered, abut touching
up IS rather n queer name for II. Why, tho
tiace was like an old ash heap. Tho very
taffa aoarna1 pulla1 uluntt y
~Indeedl' he said quickly.
went on. at is getting into something
like order, however. There is only one moro
Dom 10 do, and then we shall be all right"
"Do you know he said, Chat l ave been
thinking it Is hardly fair that you should
have TO do all this yourself"
I must say that I wns astonished as well
as pleased, and found myself forming a reso-
luton not TO condemn ever again any one for
hardness until i had come to know some-
thing about his real nature. / felt some
what guilty as l answered "You are very
kind, Mr.. GRADER, / shall let you now
what Il all costs me, and then you can repay
mo a part rs you think fair
sob, / 4 don't mean that at ALL This was
said very quickly.
"1hen what do you mean l asked.
THAT I should do some Of II in my own
way, at my own cost
l did not feel at all inclined to have either
Mr.. Grndder or strange workmen in the
HOUSE,. Moreover, my pride rebelled at tho
thought that l should be seen by real work
men doing laborers' work. suppose there is
something OF the spirit OF snobbery in all Of
"a SO | told him l could not think of such
n thing that all was going on very well,
aud more TO the same effect He seemed
mone irritated than the occasion warranted.
lndeed, it struck me as odd that a MAJ
should be annoyed at his generous impulse
bing thwarted. He tiled, with o struggle
for calmness, TO pursusde ME, but I did not
IKE the controversy, and stood 10 my ~
fual OF assistance. He went away In a pos
itivo fury OF suppressed rage
Tho next evening DO called In TO see me.
Mary had, after he had gone, asked me not
u allow him TO assist, as she did not like
him SO when he came, / refused again
with what urbanity / could. Mary kept
nndging me 10 be firm, and he could not help
noticing IL He said: ~Of course, II your
wife objects"-and stopped. Ho spoke the
words very rudely, and Mary spoke out:
1She does object, Mr.. GRADER. We are
all right, thank you, and do not need help
from any one"
For reply Mr.. GRADER put on his hat,
knocked it down ON his head firmly and
siciously, and walked out, hanging the door
bohind him
There Is n nice specimen of a philanthropy
LIT, said Mary, and we both laughed.
Tho next day, while I was in my ohiss,
Mr.. Graddcr called TO 800 me. Ho was in a
very amiablc mood, and commenced by
apologizng for what he called 1his unruly
exit 81 am afraid you must have thought
mo rude,r he aid.
As tho nearest approach 10 mendacity ]
could allow myself was the supprcssio ver
! was silent
-You 500 he went On, -your wife dislfkes
me, and that annoys me; 80 | just called 10
Buckirn's Arnica shIve.