Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-06-23
THE TWO FLATS.

He had fiat and she had q fiat. 1t was
about flats they began to talk when first
they met
Said he "Mine is the most convenient
little place.
"Oh, so is mine" said she
81 have charming sitting room and q
little dining room. My own bedroom is
quite regal apartment, and l have a lit
tie den where l can always put fellow
up"
~ have three bedrooms" quoth she.
"But not "a bathroom" he said firmly.
"Now, r.
But l have bathroom--a beauty.
Heaps of hot water. -
milne has shower bath"
81 CAM say / care about a shower bath. Z"
She became gracious. She said: "You
must come and see my fiat 1 am always
at home on Sundays"
And he went The porter kept him
waiting some minutes in the hall He
CROPPED with aggressive caution in the pas
sage when the maid had admitted him,
and knocked over the umbrella loudly.
His smile was beautiful and bland as he
entered her drawing room.
Il am SO sorry to enter in such a noisy
fashion, " he said, "but it's so dark in your
passage that could see nothing, and I'm
afraid have knocked over lot of things -
'We have the electric light " she replied
sharply. "Why was it not turned on?''
Perhaps something has gone wrong
with it,, he said kindly. "These electric
lights are not quite dependable. always
use old fashioned lamps myself. "
lawfully nifty, aren't they?" she said
laughing and holding her nose.
~ think could give you hint about
your mantelpiece, he said presently "If
you saw mine, its
"But haven't seen yours, you see, and
at present / am quite pleased with my
own" The atmosphere was charged with
war.
He planned a little dinner, with the
theater afterward. She must see his fiat
Her aunt should chaperon her, and he
would ask Heathcote---she knew Heath
cote; he was at the dinner the other night
to make a fourth. My dining room Is
only q slip of "a room''-
"Ah, you should see mne" she cried,
ungratefully.
She took him along the passage (now
liD and flung open the dining room door.
Very hot in summer time, I'm afraid ;"
he said doubtfully.
"And warm in winter"
She showed him her little dodge for
summoning her parlor maid without get
ting up from the table, her oak sideboard
picked up, a great bargain, at country
sale C'Some little bits of it really are
genuine, -he said); her new blinds, her
book shelves, her escritoire with the funny
little drawers.
His whole air said, "Wait till Wednes-
day" Wednesday was the day she was
to dine with him.
ooh, | wish l could show him the bed
rooms, . she thought. My own dressing
table and the spare bedroom carpet would,
must, impress him. But perhaps he
would think it odd"
"What like about my fat" he said,
walking down the passage again and
shifting slightly, sis the little hall. l
have little hall with skylight, and it
makes the whole place SO light and airy. +"
Rather waste of room, isn't iti''
'Oh, no! use it as a smoking room. F."
Every room must smell of tobacco"
she said, bidding him goodby. $50 drafty
too.''
''But one doesn't bark ones shins in
it," he said, smiling, and knocking over
the umbrella again.
She said to herself, with religious fer
vor, "Oh, l will be nasty about his things
ON Wednesday,"
But her aunt spoiled it ALL Her aunt
was prepared to be pleased with every
thing. Her aunt had no tact She adj
cloaks) his hail. his lamps, even his hor-
rid little dining room while her niece
wrung her hands and writhed.
II really believe" said the aunt, good
naturedly. Il really believe l like this
fiat better than my niece's"
II couldn't live in such place!' cried
her niece wildly, and Mr.. Heathcote stared.
His triumph disposed him kindly toward
her. He came often to her flat. He once
admired her ceilings He said the dining
room was sunny. He proposed She ac-
cepted him. And they forgot all their
quarrcls and became sentimental at once.
"The fiat has felt little lonely some
times, she admitted. But now" She
gave him fond look.
My sitting room just wants woman's
touch, he said. And it was an enormous
concession to make. "But now, sweetest,
it will be perfect
"You will be able to hang all my pic
lures" she went on. II have always had
an upholsterer to do it before"
"And you shall hold the nails, darling"
"You will be able to fuss about the hot
water pipes when they go wrong" she
said. And as she added up his occupa-
tions she was delighted to find that even
man has his uses.
''My hot water pipes do not go wrong"
he said superbly.
"But mine do"
"When you come to my home, love-
"When you come to NINE.
~ do not think you can seriously sup
pose, dearest, that it would not be more
fitting that my fat should now be our
joint home. "
"My dear boy, it would not hold us.
sit will hold us admirably. The small
bedroom shall be my dressing room and
the hall-well, you know, the hall can be
my dining room will dine ten people.
What should wei
''Mine is a coy little place for two"
"But the extra bedroom, dear, and the
electric light.
"A woman must give up even the cleo
trio light and cling to her husband
"Oh, won't!' she said; II WON'T"
Thus they parted.
There are two charmingly furnished flats
still occupied by two separate owners. One
is on the Cadogan estate and one is near
Portman square Neither of them is to be
let. A house agent who lived near one of
them asked, with a smile, If he might put
this one on his list; but he was told, with
scorn, that, had it been to let,