Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1899-06-21
An 1ncognito>
w E who live in the High Row awo

w one morning to find that the bills
had been taken out of the windows OF
No. 10 in the row. The house, whose fu-
ture tenancy had for some time been the
subject of our hopes and fears, was let
at last, and our fate, in the matter OF
new neighbors, decided for good or ill
The Row was an old-fashioned cor.
ner, lying at the back of large sea,
side town, out of the reach of the yearly
influx of noise and trippers. We took
no little credit to ourselves for ou1
isolation, and would have blushed tc
have been at any time discovered among
the crowd parading the sea front. Per,
haps, indeed, it was the desire to ignore
the aspect of the town as pleasure re.
sort that formed the basis of sympathy
on which our little society was founded
OF this society it was old Mrs. Delane
at No. 5, who was called on by at least
two county families, and who took
daily airings in a carriage with yellow
wheels, whom we looked up to as our
head, and to whom were referred all
questions of fashion and social ethics
We certainly were, take us all in all
a highly respectable corner, and might
be forgiven in the absence of worthy
objects of comparison in installing our.
selves for the salt of the earth. Nor is
it to be wondered at that we were filed
with alarm whenever there was pros.
pect of house changing hands, al.
though hitherto the character of the
Row had not suffered from any such
change. The dingy old corner made
little appeal to the average house hunt.
er. A susceptibility to the charm un.
DERIVING the dinginess, enough to make
il appear a desirab place of residence
had in most instances proved symptom.
attic, and in the general run of new
corners we had found new friends. Yet
we knew that the luck must one day
Turn, and the present occasion filled
more than one Of us with vague fore
boding.
No. 10 had been "To let, furnished
so we could not hope for an introduc.
ton to the newcomers through the Gus.
tomary vanguard of household goods
There was nothing for it but to possess
our souls in patience, and to keep a
lookout for their arrival in the flesh
We were taking tea at Mrs. Delane's
and discussing somewhat dolefully the
probabilities of the new tenancy, when
the sound of a vehicle driving into the
Row sent us all to the window with a
rush. Yes, there they were! A fly,
bearing a small quantity of luggage,
drew up before the door of No. 10. A
young man in a; tourist suit jumped out,
and was followed up the steps by girl
dressed rather too deliberately to be in
accordance with High Row notions OF
genteel elegance. The man gave a
pull at the bell, and no response i'm.
mediately forthcoming, he and his com
panion each lifted the handle of the
double knocker and reused the echoes
with a vigorous rat-tat. The effort on
the girls part loosened the clumsy
knot of hair gathered beneath the
PICTURE hat, and great plat, mar
tistical.y stuck with hairpins, uncoiled
itself to the length of her waist. We
could see the little stamp of exaspera-
ton that accompanied her unskillfu]
attempt st readjustment, land the
amused smile of the man watching:
Then the door was opened, and both
disappeared into the house. Mrs. De-
lane returned to the tea table drawing
in her lips and shaking her head, and
we read in the combins1 action what
~'oald be the verdict Of the Row.