The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-06-21
PALACE TO Howell.
Extraordinary Story ofa Friend
of Charles Dickens.
THE MISTRESS or DOG HOLLOW.
4 Daughter OF TreEear. tho Famous
Landau Pasr.sher. in Penury-Her
"Reminiscences Of the Novelist

BRooKLYs. June Is. - Especial Corre-
.,on5erre l-snugged warmly down IN
south looking gulch at the foot Of the last
range of outlying hills that rise back OF
BROOKLYN, there lies little hut 10 tne
traveller as he crosses over the crest OF the
bluff il IS entirely hidden from view. ouI
rs he proceeds down the southern oe-
rIivity a slender thread of smoke curis q
out of the cleft. suggesting the smouider-
ing reveries OF subterranean gnome. AS
you descend the slope, however. q small
gray hut gradually peers out al the bot
tom of the bluff, in front of which spreads
n large pond. All around this quaint,
lonely little hut in the hollow show the
..sods" of the squatters against the sides Of
! the steep, interspersed here and there with
small wooden structures of more pre-
tenti0us character. owned by the more
aristocratic Of the ''pleb. who have put
their money into property rather than
pcnch. The precise spot on which this
dwarfed, dilapidated little haberdashery
stands. on unsurveyed grounds, would If
laid out be known geographically as Park
Place. corner Saratoga avenue. Formerly
that whole section was unanimously in
tested by the very worst characters, whose
shades in a sort of stubborn heredity of
habitat invariably haunt the suburbs of q
great city.
As the writer Of this article wound round
the steep in front of Snug Lake Shanty a
strange spectacle met his eye. On the
dark green water of the pond feet of fine
geese sailed, dofing their regards
obsequiously 10 some one near the hut.
All about the hut itself lay piles OF drift
wood. huge cages filed with garrulous
parrots, revolving squirrels and sobered
birds AL sorts Of shaggy dogs ran out at
US as we approached the spot and barked
Justify, as if to inform US that the name by
which the little shantywa known, viz. /:
The Hounds Retreat" was something
more than mere fanciful nomenclature
The environs of the hut were a strange
congeries of confusions.
At the loose. sagging gate sat a man on
box, smoking a pipe and dreamily fol-
lowing with his eye the slowly ascending
vapor as the reveries of the smoke-rings
did and undid their fantastic querls cur
iously in the air, that jealousy wiped
them out, one by one, as fast as they
formed.
At the door of the hut sat an aged
woman, nursing her face with her hands,
- she bent obviously over some manu-.
scripts which she held on her lap. Her
face, as she raised it at length, looked the
very opposite of that of the man at the
gate. 1t was strong, striking. and dashed
with haggard CLEANS OF what had once
been an expressive. but what was now a
crucial countenance. Suffering had left
its lines in every look, and care had
governed her eye, branded her brow and
bitten her cheek. A spider cancer on her
neck was on its way up TO her brain, and
flashes of pain shot their hot twinges
through her face Internationally. To one
skilled At charactery her visage was pc
culiarly interesting one. Sarcasm lay
witheringly curled about her lips. A cold
icy defiance lurked around her firm mouth
that melted away at kind word.
The hut itself was truly idioSnycrati,
specimen Of architecture. 1t was built b,
the husband of the woman about lively,
years ago. 1t contained one room only
which served as kitchen, bedroom, dining
room, sitting-room, reception-room, wash
room, storeroom, spare room, pantry anC
parlor. Two or three one-legged chairs,
tipsy table, bed that nearly blocked tn,
whole dormitory, miniature stove, an OLD
hairy trunk, writing desk and few sun
dries were the furniture that graced Snu.
Lake Shanty. The floor was bare. Indee,
until lately it was earth. The walls wer
stuccoed with ingenious caricatures. TIL,
only screen that interposed between tn
occupants of the hut and the storms O
winter, or the scorehing flaunts of summe
was single siding of weatherboards will
knol-holes as ventilators 1t has only on,