Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-27
THEY BOTH WANTED t

advertised monthly rental 1t was gem.
1t had all the m- is was new, in nice
neighborhood and it was q bargain.
AT 3 o'clock the other afternoon a good
looking young married woman got the key
to the fiat from the janitor and started TO
look through it. She looked decidedly
pleased soon as she entered the fiat.
She was in the front room, admfring the
tint of the wall paper when she heard a
rustlfng in the rear end of the fiat. She
peered back and saw another nice-looking
young married woman looking over the
Kitchen fixtures.
We'll, 1 never!'' said she to herself. Il
really wonder if that woman thinks she IS
going to get this flat?''
Then she walked to the rear end with a
certain air of dissatisfaction. The fiat
hunter examining the kitchen fixtures
looked at her out of the corners of her eyes
Good afternoon they said to each
other.
Are you looking over this hat?" inquired
the woman who had gotten the key from
the Janitor, amabiy.
4 just dropped in to see what it looked
like, said the other, looking around some
what disdainfuiy. But IT'S so pftiably
tiny, isn't it o.
Just precisely what l was thinking"
said the woman with the key. ''Entire.y
TOO small for my purpose. one feels if
one We're boxed up in a trunk in these lit
tie apartments, don't you Think"
Well. L never lived IN any apartment SO
small as this, and so, of course, | don't
really know, replied the other.
G. wonder if the horrid thing expects me
TO believe that thought the woman with
the key. 4 wouldn't be surprised if she's
minute.)
And the closets are 50 small, too. aren't
they? she said aloud. Il don't see how [
could get along with so little closet space
on, We'll l keep my costumes in cedar
chests. and the chests could be slowed in
the spare bed room,' replied No =. But.
really. there isn't even enough room IN
these closets for my husbands clothes
C'Costumes. thought the woman with the
key. Costumes! The idea, And / wonder
If she expects me to believe that her hus-
band is Berry WaIrD
Il think the wall paper is awfully garish,
don't you?" she said. aloud.
"DreadfulIy so" said the other
'Of course it's a tiled bath room and a
porcelain tub. but what little short tub it
is! said No .. peering into the bath room
My, the whole fiat looks as if it We're
built for mdgets."
And the hall is small that one would
have to walk sideways through it, added
NO. l. My husband is a big man, and he
would laugh if he saw me looking through
this little fiat with a view to fixing his flu
ture residence here
We'll. of course. one has to live in ac-
cordance with ones income said No. >,
amiably I'm sure this gas range wouldn't
bake nicely. Do you think it WOULD"
Really, don't know much about bak-
ing. you know, replied the woman with
the key. Il never bake. We've an old
NANNY with us who has been in our fam
ily-oh. since the fiood-she was my moth
ers maid-and she is a splendid baker
t'Her mothers maid, indeed" thought
menu
These new fiat houses seem to be built
so tiimsily,' she said aloud The doors
get out of plumb, and-Oh, everything.
Really. | believe the old people when they
say that houses used to be built so much
more substantially than they are nowadays
Why, the walls of our old homestead-it
was built by my great-grea grandfather. in
colonial days, you know-are more than
two feet thick
("Mercy me- her greats Observation-Disclosures"
thought the woman with the key. Now,
why doesn't she go right straight back to
Adam and be done with it? Trying to adj
vertiSe TO everybody that she had Il great
Il suppose the other flats are just filed
with crying young ones" she went on,
aloud. And children running and yelling
through the halls
That is the beauty of having a whole
house to yourself, said No. ,, with a smile
that the firm set of her lips beed. My
three little ones SO enjoy the freedom of
expired, and the landlord wishes to occupy
the house himself.
CT suppose her young ones shout and
yell just like all other children, don't
they" thought No. II
And then one has always to take tie
chance, in moving into a fiat, of having
some awful pounding piano teacher in the
next apartment, said No =.
"Oh, | should give up all of my pupils if
L took NAT, said No. l.
c'My. she's a teacher herself" thought
No. =. We'll, l just don't care-she's not
going to have this tiat.')
This fiat might do for some very young
couple just starting in summed up No. l.
but, gracious me, we couldn't think of
taking it
Just what | Think assented No > and
the two walked down stairs, nodding a
farewell to each other as they reached the
main floor. No. l turned in the key to the
janitOr.
I'm going down to the agent to engage
the nat, she announced.
NO. mad already gone. She got into a
CAB, telling the driver to proceed RAPIDLY to
the agents number on F. street No. also
got into a cab, and gave similar instruc-
tons to the driver. But she had lost time
IN speaking with the janitOr and she was
too late. She met No ,. and got a radiant
smile from her, coming out of the agents
once, Just as she went in, and the agent
told her that the lady who had iust de-
parted had taken the fiat and maid a
month 5 rent in advance.