The Republican., 1899-07-06

tistically stuck with hairpins, uncoiled
itself to the length of her waist. We
could see the little stamp of eXaspera-
ton that accompanied her unskillful
attempt at readjustment, and 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 combined action what
would be the verdict of the Row.
The result of further observation
served only to deepen first impressions.
The manner and extent of the pairs
divergence from High Row notions of
genteel living became the favorite sub
iect for discussion at all the tea parties.
| Each one of us was eager to contribute
his or her mite of evidence. One morn
| ing, when the little maid of all work
had gone out of the house in garments
suggestive of a days holiday, one of us
had seen Mrs. de Villiers (the incredible
high-fown name they gave out as their
| OWN dress herself up il the servant S
cap and apron and dab about the room
with broom and duster, for all the
world like stage soubrette. Her hus-
band had stood by, laughing uproar-
| iouslv. and the whole had concluded
with an affectionate skirmish, in which
| the broom had played an important
| part. The pair made daily excursions
to the shops, she carrying on her arm
a preposterous market basket, itself an
insult to the dignity of the Row.
On hot summer nights, when we sat
and stewed respectively in our front
parlors, these people would bring deck
chairs on to their doorstep and lounge
| there till bedtime in shameless disha-
billie of teagown and smoking jacket.
| Hitherto the respectable remoteness OF
High Row had been appreciated by
| hawkers and street minstrels, and they
| had seldom troubled us with their vls-
! it's. But now the charm was broken.
| Some instinct seemed to urge them
daily in our direction, an instinct justi-
fed by the behavior of the newcomers,
who bought shrimps and water crosses,
| and threw halfpence to the man with
| the cOrnet. Indeed, the dark suspicion
rested upon them of having inflicted
! the squeaking vulgarity of Punch and
Judy show upon the peace of High Row
! by deliberate invitation. They had GER
tainly sat at their window throughout
the performance, exhibiting marked
signs of appreciation.
| Calling on them had from the first
| been out of the question. Now when we
came across them in the row, or street,
| our countenances were wont to put on
the most unapproachable look, where
by we hoped they would gather the eX-
tent of their offense, and be induced,
perhaps, to mend their ways.
Yet l am glad to say, for the charac-
ter of the row, that we were all of us
| shocked at Mrs. Delane, who, when lit
tie Mrs. de Villiers stopped one morn
| ing in front of her veranda to say pret-
! ty words to the parrot summing itself
| there, darted out red and wrathfui and
bore the cage back with her through
! the parlor window, as though she feared
contamination for the bird. But while
we watching grew red and white in the
! girls behalf, she resumed her saunter-
ing walk with a little smiling twist Of
the mouth that expressed more of
amusement than of annoyance.
We had become aware, and the fact
lay perhaps at the root of our hostility,
that we, the original inhabitants.
formed as important an element in the
| IF ba in, I,n
at the corner of the rusty clump of
shrubs that did duty for garden in the
middle of the Row. And so they con-
| tinued to stand on their heads, meta
Phorically speaking, eXasperatingly in
! different to the existence of an audi
ence trying to frown them down into a
more conventional attitude.
Yet it was strange that they should
seem content to be let severely alone,
for as far as callers went they might
have lived on desert island; the post
man rarely brought them a letter. And
as summer merged into autumn, a
Change like that affecting the season
came over the offending household.
| The girls smart toilettes, of which no
item was ever renewed, began to look
faded and shabby. She drew the light
cloak, designed for summer weather,
more closely about her shoulders, but
the wind blew cold through the laces and
chiffOns, and she shivered misera bly.
The little face under the big hat, whose
handsome feather had long been inno-
cent of curl, grew white and pinched.
and the eyes had a frightened, wide
| open look. The same look was reflected
| in the face of the man, as he stood for
| hours together drumming aimlessly on
the window pane. Men who looked like
| duns Were seen to frequent the door
step. The girls appearance in the street
! grew an occurrence of increasing rar-
ity, then ceased altogether, and had it
not been Tor glimpse now and then of
a pale face fitting past an upper win
dow, we might have believed she had
been spirited away. 1t was the man
who went to market now, mostly of an
evering, and armed always with the of
Tending basket, a melancholy relic of
! the time when life had seemed a game
to be played with appropriate toys.
would have given something to dare
to cross the row and open my arms to
| tbpca r,n,r fnrlc,,, n.