The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1900-05-12
4 BUNCH OF KEYS.

viewed the situation.
1t vas worth reviewing, being, as
situations go. unique.
In the first place, no young woman
of sound mind sits in a freight ele-
vator at midnight attired in a dinner
gown as a mere pastime. Add to this
the fact that the painfully new and
unyielding ropes by which the lift was
propelled were being pulled upon
drug store-awakened from a sound
sleep for the purpose-and it will
readily be seen that something I'M
usual had happened in the Carton
family.
At that moment when the drug
clerk was pulling Mollie with infinite
pains toward the fifth floor, rear, OF
the apartment building in which the
Cartons had the pleasure Of residing,
Mrs. Carton sat wringing her hands
and calling upon heaven to save her
child upon the front stairs. To be ex-
act, it was upon the first step of the
fourth fight of stairs she sat. Which
should make it evident to everybody
that she was conducting her lamenta-
ton just outside her own door. She
sat outside not from choice, but be-
cause she couldn't help herself.
In short, she was locked out. And
SO was Mollie.
So was the drug clerk, for that mat
ter, but the fifth apartment in the
'Brunhilda." not being his abiding
place, he did not take 1t to heart as
Mrs. Carton did. Having known the
Cartons for only twenty minutes, his
interest in the matter was as yet
quasi-professional.
But perhaps it would be better to
begin at the beginning.
Be it known, then, that Mrs. Carton
and her daughter had been giving a
little dinner that evening. The guests
had stopped on rather late, and the
janitor, after the ann of his kind,
having put the lights out early. Mol
lie stepped into the hall to light the
gas, that her friends might find their
way down the winding stairs in COM
fort. Mrs. Carton followed her, and
together they sped the parting diners.
While they were thus engrossed, the
door-their own treacherous front
door-impelled by a slight draft, or by
what somebody has called the total
d%epravity Of inanimate things, clicked
sharply shut. They both turned
quickly, but 1t was too late. The latch
had done its worst.
Their maid had departed Immediate
1y after serving, to a ball, intending
to spend the night with her sister. Mr..
Carton was out of town on a business
trip. So there was no hope of success
from within.
1t was obviously impossible to go to
\ hotel attired in their evening frocks.
Besides, they had no money. They
knew no one in the building. Their
friends all lived at a distance. Their
guests were already beyond reach.
Mrs. Carton entertained a mental Wis
ion of a night spent upon the street.
or at best in a drafty hallway. She
sank down upon the stairs, overcome.
She also wept.
But Mollie was young, and youth is
ever resourceful. Also, she had a keen
sense of humor. Although she didn't
dare let her mother know 1t, she was
amused. At all events, the situation
savored Of adventure, and an oppor-
tunity for adventure is not to be light
ly disregarded, ave If it does involve
a little discomfort. She patted her
mothers shoulder soothingly.
tSTH~~N kh4~4 n0~Sk awvy N4o~ Tho
janitor is sure to have a skeleton key.
I'll run down and get it."
But the janitor hadn't any such
thing. Moreover, he resented being
disturbed. He was a Woodworking
man, he said, and a nights sleep was
about all he got out of life aside from
three meals daily. Why didn't the
young lady go wake up the landlord.
Landlords had ar easy time. All they
had to do was collect rents. They
were just made to be walked up. They
liked 1t.
Fortunately the landlord lived
across the street. So, wrapping Mrs.
Janitor's shawl about her, Mollie went
forth to wake the landlord.
LIS ISnI-CO11cCllu6
habit, the landlord seemed to share
the j~anitor's views on the subject Of
sleep. He hadn't a duplicate key, he
informed her, after at last he had been
awakened and appeared at an upper
window. He seemed to Mollie to gloat
over the fact. He intimated that his
business was renting apartments, not
running other peoples domestic at
fairs.
But can't you suggest something?"
Mollie cried, desperately. I'VE must
get in, you know.
He suggested the drug clerk on the
corner, who had a big bunch of keys.
might be able to open the door. and
then he shut the window.
The drug clerk was asleep. too, and
hard to rouse, but at last opened the
door wide. Upon perceiving a young
woman, however. he shut it again
quickly, that his %disheveled condition
might not be too apparent, leaving,
however, a crack wide enough for o n
versational purposes. 81
Give me your prescription" he
said, extending a hand through the
aperture. "Ill turn up the light as
soon al I get in the back room. and
you can come in and sit down."
1t wal harder than she thought it
Spo,,ld ~ - o~~1of~ t.n~ o~ua~A Mol