Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1896-11-12
THE NEW TENANT.

if that settled the matter once for all.
II heard you, DEAR" sweetly respond
ed Mrs. Peel; land now, listen to me.
I have accepted Herr Schmidt's offer, and
he will enter the adjoining house as ten
ant tomorrow"
Not if I know it, madam" shouted
Phineas jumping from his chair and
bringing his fist down on the table. DO
YOU think I am going to have Rhyde
cottage turned into a menagerie, and my
garden into a bowling wilderness! The
house may remain tenantless forever, but
Herr Schmidt and his monstrosities shall
not enter there"
Herr Schmidt, my dear, is merely
naturalist
Il know itr stormed Phineas. 1--WE
heard of these plaguey naturallsts be-
FORE I've no desire to come downstairs
some fine morning to find a rlng,talled
monkey sitting on the window sill, act
ing as referee while kangaroos and croco-
dies play leapfrog over the flower beds.
No, madam! No naturalists for Phineas
Peeln'
Pretty Mrs. Peel never allowed her
temper to get the better of her. She
laughed softly at her husbands fears,
and did not alter her determination in the
least.
HAS it slipped your memory, Phine~
as" she asked, that Rhyd cottage is
portion of my property? If choose to
let it to a naturalist-even though he be
Il foreigner-l am perfectly Justlhed IN
doing so.'
This was true enough, and Phineas
Gained down.
Herr Schmidt's collection of mon
strosities' as you call it," went on Mrs.
Peel, probably contains nothing more
dangerous than a deaths head moth in
Il bottle. Anyhow, l have no intention
to disappoint him."
lou will treat him with the respect
due. from one gentleman to another.
Phneas," broke in Mrs. Peel. "And
now, dear, Wen dismiss the subject"
Phineas Peel was-though at times he
doubted it-a lucky fellow. He had car
ried off young and handsome woman
from host of suitors.
Why Mary Marsden had chosen to be-
stow her hand and fortune on such q
plain, everyday sort of fellow as the
diminutive Phineas Peel was always a
mystery to her acQuaintances. The we'd
ding was an accomplished fact before her
relatives had recovered from the shock
caused by the announcement of her en-
gagement.
Mary appeared to be happy enough,
too. Phineas, taken as a whole, was hot
a bad sort of fellow. He was jealous,
that was true, but his wife came to re-
ton.
Had the proposed tenant of Rhyd cot
tage been an aged, decrepit, broken
down old man, Phineas would Eaye
stretched out the right hand of fellow
ship. But alas! Herr Schmidt was
young and handsome-far too handsome,
Phineas thought.
Every well, Mary" said Phineas, tax
ing his hat from the peg and making for
the door; ''you have overruled me as
usual and must be prepared for the con-
sequences. In less than week we shall
have the house and garden overrun with
every conceivable variety of reptile
from the beastly lizard to the boa con-
strictor.'
And Phineas stalked Indignantly forth
with the merry laughter of his wife ring
ing in his ears.
A month or more had passed, and so
far the fears of Phineas had proved to
be groundless. Herr Schmidt's mon
bounds and as yet Mr.. Peel had not seen
so much as a strange caterpillar in his
garden, which never looked better.
However, he was not happy. He had
taken an aversion to the new tenant from
the first and would never be satisfied
until he had got rid of him.
"Confound the fellow" muttered
Phineas one evening, as he sat on an
upturned bucket behind the peasticks,
hes prowling about on the other side
of the hedge again. Hope he won't catch
sight of me, for I'm about tired of his
oily tongue and eternal smile. Hullo.
what the duece is the meaning of this?"
Down the garden path tripped Mrs.
Peel. The naturalist was evidently e&
pecting her, and greeted her with a
smile that almost brought tears into the
eyes of the furious PhineaA
"Goot efening," he said. You vos
joost a leetle late!'
It was soon evident that this was not
the first chat INDUCED in over the
boundary hedge Though Phineas
strained his ears, he could not catch the
drift of the conversation. Like flash
he remembered that Mary had often of
late taken stroll in the garden at
dusk. Was this the explanation?
Phineas had been glaring at the couple
from behind the peasticks for ten min
utes or so, when he saw his wife take Il
rosebud from his fayorite tree and hand
it over the hedge with a charming smile
to the delighted Herr Schmidt Then
with pleasant Good night" Mrs. Peel
tripped lightly into the house.
You villain!'' Kissed Phineas savage
iy. jumping from his seat and shaking
his fist after the retreating figure i'll
the next garden, I'm pay you out for
this
ne rage OF Alf. IoCl was something
to be remembered Nothing but blood,
he vowed. would obliterate his wrongs.
Eat he would be cautious He would
smile and smile and murder while he
smiled. Selling peastick he tragically
buried it in the heart of an unoffending
cabbage. and played havoc with state
" row of Sunfiowers.
Half an hour later Mary saw.him take
down huge. old-fashioned duck-gun
from the hook in the hall
There's German vulture in the
neighborhood." he volunteered. impress
siveiy, land I'm going to bag him at the
first opportunity"
However. as nothing short of an
earthquake would have induced the old
gun to go off in any circumstances-and
Phineas had made assurance doubly sure
by dropping il the shot first and powder
afterward--the ''vulture" in question
was not likely to be seriously damaged,
and Mary contentcd herself with ex-
pressing a hope that her husband would
mot hurt himself
On the following evening Phineas took