The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-01-09
THE NEW TENANT.

NoW, wary haNo hPohohi Vii' L Oci
threw himself back In his chair as if that
settled the matter once for ALL
~ heard you, dear" sweetly responded
Mrs. Peel, land now listen to me. I
have accepted Herr Schmidt's offer, and
he will enter tho adjoining house as ten
ant tomorrow"
"Not II 1 know 1t, madamp' shouted
Phineas, jumping from his chair and
bringing his fist down on the table. "Do
you think am going to have Rhyd cot
tage turned into menageric and my gar
den into q bowling wilderness? The house
may remain tenantless forever, but Herr
Schmidt and his monstrosities shall not
enter there"
Herr Schmidt, my dear, is merely q
naturalist"
II know it," stormed Phineas "I'vo
heard of these plaguy naturalists before.
I've no desire to como down stairs some
fine morning to linda ringtailed monkey
sitting ON the window sill acting as referee
while the kangaroos and crocodiles play
leapfrog over the flower beds. No, madam,
no naturalists for Phineas Peel"
Pretty Mrs. Peel never allowed her tenn
per to get the better of her. Che laughed
softly at her husbands fears and didsnot
alter her determination in the least.
"Has 1t slipped your memory, Phineas,"
she asked, THAT Rhyd cottage Is a portion
Of my property If choose to let 1t to o
naturalist, even though he DO foreigner,
am perfectly justified in doing So"
This was true enough, and Phineas
ealmed down.
Herr Schmidt's collection of mon
strosities, as you call it, went on Mrs.
Peel, probably contains nothing more
dangerous than deaths head moth in a
bottle. Anyhow, have no intention to
disappoint him"
"But u
"Ycu will treat him with the respect
due from one gentleman to another, Phin-
cas-" broke in Mrs. Peel "And now,
dear, we'll dismiss the subject"
Phineas Peel was-though at times he
doubted it--a lucky fellow. He had carried
off young and handsome woman from
host of suitors.
Why Mary Marsden had chosen to be-
stow her hand and fortune on such plain,
everyday sort of fellow as the diminutivo
Phineas Peel was always mystery to her
acquaintances. The wedding was an &C.
complished fact before her relatives had
recovered from the shock caused by the an
nouncenent of her engagement.
Mary appeared to be happy enough too.
Phineas, taken as whole, was not bad
sort of fellow. He was jealous, that was
true, but his wife came to regard that as
an extra proof Of his devotion.
Had the proposed tenant Of Rhyd cottage
been an aged, decreplt, broken down old
man, Phineas would have stretched out
the right hand Of fellowship But, alasl
Horr Schmidt was young and handsome
far too handsome, Phineas thought
"Very WE'LL Mary said Phineas, talk
ing his hat from the peg and making for
the door; "you have overruled me as usual
and must be prepared for the conse-
quences. In less than week we shall have
the house and garden overrun with every
conceivable variety of reptile, from the
baastly lizard to the bon constructor.
And PhiGeas stalked Indignantly forth
with the merry laughter Of his wife ring
ing in Ills ears.
A month or more had passed. and so far
tho fears of Phlneas had proved to be
groundless. Herr Schmidt's "monstrosi-
tics" had boon kept well within bounds,
and as yet Mr.. Peel had not seen SO much
as strange caterpillar in his garden, which
never looked better.
However, he was not happy. He had
taken an aversion to the new tenant from
tho first and would never be satisfied until
he had got rid of him.
"Confound the fellow, muttered Phin-
cas- one evening US he sat on an upturned
bucket behind tho pea sticks "He's prowl-
ing about on tho 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. Hellol What the deuce is
the meaning of this?"
Down the garden path tripped Mrs.
Peel. The naturalist was evidently ex-
pecting her and greeted her with smile
that almost brought tears into the eyes Of
the furious Phineas.
"Goot efening," he said. "You vos
joost leetle late."
Il was soon evident that this was not
the first chat INDUCED in over the bound
airy hedge. Though Phineas strained his
ears, he could not catch the drift Of the
conversation. Like fash he remembered
that Mary had often of late taken stroll
In the garden at dusk Was this the ex-
planatfonH
Phineas had been glazing at the couple
from behind the pea sticks for ten minutes
or SO when he saw his wife take rosebud
from his favorite tree and hand it over the
hedge with charming smile to the de-
lighted Herr Schmidt Then, with pleas
ant GOOD nightP' Mrs Peel tripped
lightly into the house.
You villainl" Kissed Phineas savagely,
jumping from his seat and shaking his
fist after the retreating figure in the next
garden. "Ill pay you out for this"
The rage Of Mr.. Peel was something to
be remembered. Nothing but blood, he
vowed, would obliterate his wrongs. But
he would be cautious. He would smile
and smile and murder while he smiled.
Selling pea stick, he tragically buried it
In the heart of an unoffending cabbage
and played havoc with stately row Of
sunfiowers
Half an hour later Mary saw him take
down huge old fashioned duck from the
hook In the hall
"Theres German vulture in the neigh.