The evening times., 1898-07-01
were cold and damp: no servant; dirt ev-

were cold and damp; no servant: dirt ey-
erywhere.
Well. we certainly could not hunt a
servant in that pouring rain, so We s.olid-
Iy performed sundry unaccuStomed do
mestic duties for which we lacked both
taste and skill. There was moldy cake
in the cake box. mo.dy jelly in the closet.
cobwebS on the walls and dirt every
where To be brief. everything in our
jerry-built and woe-begone structure
was II ought not to be and as no
civilized being would dream of leaving it,
In our first morning we learned an
other thing. The whole house. Including
a stranger family in the other down
stairs apartment. had to get its water
from that single wretched spigOt. and to
that kitchen there was only one en-
trance. straight through my apartment
and-this was the new discoyery-I had
signed lease giving these strangers as
well as my friend right of way at any
time. day or night, through my apart
ment to that kitchen and its water spig-
OF.
For once the angels took care of the I'M
wary. For the strangers proved to be
young couple with fine sense of humor
and what Emerson calls The manners of
the sky" | don't suppose We deserved
such streak of good luck. hut we were
probably more grateful than if we had.
Indeed. my friend and | We're constant
ly saying to each other with clasped
hands: If 1t had been anybody but the
Wickershams. what would We have
done?"
Heaven does not alter the climate for
the shorn lamb. nor always fulhll the
promises of the resort adv ertisement. but
ii sometimes mitigates what might have
been.
Il have understood said my friend
with biting sarcasm. as she toiled up
stairs with pail of water. that this is
the regulation thing in tenement houses
but''-and threw back her scarlet golf
cape and set her jaunty felt with its
scarlet quill more firmly on her head
will you kindly tell me. Que diable al
lons-nous faire dams cette galere -
We are here because fools rush in
where angels fear 10 tread l answered
promptly.
Did l say there were no conveniences
in our dwellings, There was just one. 1t
was the most curious, most inconvenicnt
and unnecessary convenience | ever
met. but there it was. and still Is. doubt
not. We did not wear it out with over
use.
Outside the studio window was
large and elegant tin box. from which
n good-sized lead pipe descended. stop
ping short of the ground. This device
WAS to facilitate the descent of the fluid
artists use in painting water-colors.
Just why this method was considered
better than simply throwing it out of the
window. We are still vainly conjecturing
Perhaps our landlady. too. was bound by
some sort of an iron-clad agreement
Anyway. We left ii there.
Our lease did not compel us to use it.
strange 10 say.
Four days we had been trying to solve
the hirteen-fifteen-fourtee puzzle of
life under these alien conditions. sleep
ing the sleep of the mentally exhausted.
In the middle of the fourth night awoke
suddenly and became consciously vibrat-
ed with hidcous ululation. hish-p!tch-
ed and agonized. like the shriekIng of an
animal in distress. Morning papers" I
muttered. and turned over for another
nap.
Then | smeIled burning pine. II is early
for the men to be fixing the furnace. |
reflected and then on my unwilling ears
came u curious sound like that OF rustling
leaves. Suddenly it occurred to my Sleep
ing senses that this unwOnted phenomena
might repay investigation.
l investigated. Then l lifted my voice
in ye!ls of fire.
Not twelve feet away stood an old
shanty. half barn. half storehouse be-
longing to a neighbor. An old washer
woman lived in it. IL was a tinder box
and already mass of flames.
Rejecting that / lived in another tin
der hox, l only stopped long enough TO
make sure that all my housemates were
alive and awake to the situation. Then.
attired in a wrapper, pair of boots. and
my best hat, proceeded to carry out the
rest of my belongings. Piles UP by the
farthest door and ready to move them
further when occasion demanded. our
three sets of household penates were jeal-
ousIy guarded while the fire department
valiantly defended our roof tree.
Better for us. perhaps if fate had thus
terminated our lease, but it did not.
We did not burn up. but 1t took two
weeks to calm our shattered nerves, and
meanwhile art and literature suffered.
Mr.. Aldrich has a poem about the affec-
ton of the muse for garrets. but it is
bit of bluff. / have ever found her
naughty dame for whom nothing is too
good and very few things good enough.
To be sure. we gained the help of lit
tie maid whose evidence of having swept
was the putting down of my pet Oriental
rug wrong side up. The weather was not
always bad. and we had no more fires.
Moreover. as the season dragged its
weary way along there were times when
We thought the climate merited all and
more than had been said in it's favor but
these bewildering glimpses might have
been more frequent, and usually are. We
were told. The people in the little town.
both the visitors and the dwellers. were
lovely to u.s. and thought our home so
picturesque. We tried to think that pic
turesqueness made up for lack Of COM
fort-but 1t did not.
There were lovely walks and bicycle
rides to be taken thereabouts. but. we
never took them. Our daily exercise in
walking to and from three meals was
about all we saw Of the streets and their
beauties.
Well. the landlady had a good time at
another resort in good hotel, therefore
AAA AAA D.;.l ..d Ia-... l..l.;.x~.