Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-25
@ l. D A D A NJ :;
r.p.hop o, Eipon in Good Words.
Or, Il. YET NOT l."

-. BISHOP o. Eipon in Good Words.
when .,rOn: man aT.nsl ksepeth hi. palace hi,
80 mon him and Overcome hln he tsketh from him
ri Is amor wherein he trusted and diYideth his
s.Isi IN the prophet ceased the pilgrim asked, rs
rf.ct O parallel; and the Fr0Phe' sAid' 1t may be
NLp ADAM HAD A ROOM TO LET. HE
" was always called old Adam. though he was
ill A comparatively young man. "Old' was
oulv a term of familiarity. Adam was handy
III eapable. He would do many things
,b;ch made him valuable workman and
=. usesul neighbor. He occupied the top
soor but one in the narrow, tall, rickerty
house IN the corner Of Abers Rents. The
house Was old and creaky. The top floor of all
va. only an attic floor The floor below was
lo,,v and hung forward over the court beneath.
The house was the corner house of the court
and the common door was in the very angle of
the court so that the windows Of the two sides
Of the house looked at each other at right
.,g,es. a. mathematicians would have
sd. but asquint. as the folk in the court
called It.
The man who occupied the lowest floor IN
The house was a cobbler; he mended shoes for
the court and he did not do much work be-
v0nd the court lie naO TWO sons, one OF
whom he was bringing up to his trade
and the other Was at sea- The son who
vas al home was a tall. strapping fell
Low and great hero in the eyes of
The bevy Of small children who inhabited the
soor above These were the six children of
ths pale-faced tailor who had a constructive
wife. Five DAYS in the week things were not so
bad IS all the SIX children went TO school, but
saturday was a whole holiday, and the noise on
the staircase was terrible, for the poor woman
had to wash CD a bit on Saturday, and the
court was the only playground. And the
children would carry on their noisiest play on
the staircase. using it q kind of castle at
lacking and defending II in mimic war. Ben,
the cobblers son. was their hero, / have
said l am afraid that his fertile brain in
vented some of their noisiest games and sug-
gested some of their naughtiest tricks.
On the floor above sthe tailor there lived
two MYSTERIOUS old ladies. They came and
vent at odd times. but. as the neighbors
said. They kept themselves to themselves"
Whether they were in good work or bad,
whether they Jared we'll or i'll, nobody knew,
though several suspected that they were
not always plentifully supplied with
food as they ough. to be. They certainly
looked pale and worn. And sometimes they
scanty shawls and they came back without any
parcel. except some food wrapped in an un-
pleasant bit Of newspaper.
The fourth door was occupied by old Adam,
and above him lived old lady and her
daughter. The old lady never went out She
whispered to be Of a fabulous age-"old
oh, ever SO old" Ben Cobbler christened her
Grannie Garrett. and Grsnnie Garret was
in the ewes Of the children q sort of
modern ''Aethoosalem, as Ben said. But
however old she was, her daughter was a
bright, cOmely faced woman, who always
inspired the children with awe and affection;
who was setive and busy, but never fussy, with
that leisureliness about her which is the re-
verse Of dawdling habits, and which implies
either eapaciousness of mind or quietness of
spirit These were the inhabitants of No. 5, in
Abers Rents.
Old Adam had a room to let What did an
old bachelor Ike Adam want with an empty
room: The room did not long stand empty.
10 was soon rumOred in the court that it was
taken. much curiosity was felt about the new
ledger. some said he was Adams brother
But that was not the case. Old Adam said no
word about his lOdger, and no one asked him.
For though he old Adam. handy and
nelghbOrly man, vet he not man to take
liberties with, SO the sossips had it all their own
way
'-Old Adam must have been satisfied about
his lOdger, that quite certain. He would
not let man in unless his references were
good There was no doubt about that. Adam
knew what he was about"
In this the gOssips were right; Adam was
satisfied about his ledger. He had paid him a
week rent in advance, and what more was
wanted! Besides, the man was regular in his
habits and seemed to have regular work, as
regular old Adam himself
The windows in No. ), as have said were at
right angles to one another. So it happened
that when old Adam flung open his window,
meaning 10 lean out and smoke his pipe the
new ledger. opening his window at the same
moment. came in full view of old Adam and
almost within reach of a hand shake. The new
lodger was lighting his pipe.
Nice time for a smoke said old Adam
VERY nice, said the new lodger.
''FOnd of smoking said Adam.
Il Ike my pipe in the morning and at dinner
time. but the evening the time for me-" said
the lOdger
just like me" said old Adam.
The new LOGGER began to unfold a crumplsd
newspaper.
''Got paper?" said Adam
Yes. Ike 10 read the news"
am afraid he said ''noos, but Adam did not
notice these things. so he only said: so do Ir'
Always read the tikirg. /" said the lodger.
NY paper. tOor' said Adam, opening his
evening paper.
Then they smoked in silence till Adam
KNOCKED the ashes out of his pipe and folded
up MS newspaper. when the ledger blew his
anal vhitf and rolled up his paper also.
Good night, said Adam, as he closed his
window.
Good night" said the lodger. closing his.
sensible man. thatl'' said old Adam.
Tastes Ike mine think he III do
Adam walked about his room, putting his
tools ready for the morning. When he had done
THIS ne said: Its early yeti believe III take
stroll before turn in.
As be was going down the stairs he heard his
iodger's door close and the sound of his foot
steps descending the stone stairway .
When Adam returned after a twenty minutes
ramble he overlook his Iodger on the landing
outside their doors.
Been for a walk" said Adam
Yes. / like a stroll before turning i'm
80 do i. said Adam Good night" said
ne for the second time that evening
Good night, said the ledger, disappearing
At his door.
sensible man. that" said Adam. as he
struck a match in his room. Likes what
Ike think he'll do
A Ugh! cleaned up in his lodser's window
a. be spoke.
After such beginning Of acquaintance il was
not surprising 10 hear the dodgers below de-
sIAring that Adam and his lodger were ''that
friendly"
do not know that the word was quite the
right One-but II was certainly not wonderful
WAT the dodgers used il. for old Adam and his
lodger moved like clockwork together Old
AoAm had always been q regular man: his hab-
rs were pretty fixed" the neighbors said
Dlt one mans habits may escape notice, but
Snen two men who live opposite each other
are both regular in their habits-so regu-
ar mat they go in and out almost at the same
Aonrs, take their walks and their pipes with the
- 49,