El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-09-13

some Money.
; Copyright 1900. by c. B. Lewis.I
1t was after dinner. but instead OF
sitting down to bis evening paper and
cigar Mr.. Bowser was prowling around
the lower part OF the house. Mrs.
Bowser realized that something was
up," but she maintained silence until
Mt length he paused before her and
said:
Last night while you were playing
the piano / noticed that 1t was sadly
out of tune. You must have heard
some of the keys make n sort of ur-ur-
ur as you struck them"
81 heard nothing OF the Sort prompt
IL replied Mrs. Bowser rs a dim idea
OF what he was up to flashed across
her mind. 1.-The piano was tuned only
u month ago. and there are no ur-ur-
urs about it
But 1 insist that there are" contin-
ued Mr. Bowser. "I have n quick ear.
and say that no less than seven diff
ferent keys had the sound of an egg
beaten at work. 1t may have been
tuned n month ago. but by whom?'
by a first class tuner"
THAT is, he of course claimed TO be
first class and charged you So or 81.
but how do you know he wasn't n car
penter or blacksmith? There's piano
which cost me 5000. 1t Is going to
rack and ruin for the need OF a little
overhauling. To get a competent man
up here will cost $50. whereas
Whereas you can do the work in an
hour yourself" finished Mrs. Bowser.
"Well. now. you let that piano alone!
You know no more about the works of
a piano than I do about the kitchen of
the car OF Russia. II there's any
thing to be done. I'll get n man up
here
Madam" said Mr.. Bowser as he
stood before her with his hands clasp
ed under his coattails. there is an ur-
ur-ur to that piano 1t is out of repair.
II is going to ruin. I can overhaul it In
one hour and save $50. 1t will be
pleasure to me to do the work, and I
also feel It my duty to save the money
which would have to he otherwise paid
out. / shall proceed to tune"
But you'll only destroy it. If you
feel that you must tinker away at
something. why don't you take the
lawn mower. the gas meter or that old
shotgun in the garrett
al do not ask you to remain in the
room during the tuning process You
can put on your hat and take n walk.
or you can go up TO your room and
read n novel When l have restored
the tone to its original volume and
sweetness. l will call you
But beg of you toto
Mr. Bowser waved his hand to signi-
fy that nothing on the face of the
earth could turn him aside. and as
Mrs. Bowser went up stairs with tears
In her eyes he got out his tool box and
peeled Off his coat and jacket to begin
work. He met with an adventure at
the very outset. He wanted room to
work on all sides of the piano. and he
therefore got behind IL TO push IL out
into the middle of the floor. He was
heaving away with his shoulder
against the case when his foot slipped
on the carpet and he went down and
rolled over with the weight Of an ele-
plant. He fetched up against a chair
and knocked that over. and he was
still lying on his back when Mrs. Bow
ser came half way down the stairs to
call out:
81 thought the walls We're falling in,
What are you doing on your back on
the floor
II wanted to see the underside of the
piano. he replied as he got up.
SHOULD I find myself in need of your
assistance I will call you"
As tools for piano tuning Mr.. Bowser
had n hammer, n Ratchet. a tack puller,
corkscrew, screwdriver and a
monkey wrench AS he folded back
the cover he saw the inside OF a piano
for the first time in his life. He had
taken only one glance when he walked
to the foot OF the stairs and called to
Mrs Bowser:
No wonder there was an ur-ur-ur
when you hit some of the keys, What
d'you 'spose your first class piano tuner
left among the wires:''
"He couldn't have left any OF his
tools?" she queried.
mo tools. but half n dozen strips of
red flannel lie even wove them in
among the strings. That's probably
where my missing flannel shirt went
TO. He was probably some man from
n wooden mill"
why. those strips are always put
in" protested Mrs. Bowser. II think
the idea is to soften the sound
We'll. don't. / think the idea is to
attract rats and mice. and out they
come"
When Mr.. Bowser had finished pull
Ing out the rags" he very quickly dis
covered the method of tightening up
the strings. With one hand he fitted
the monkey wrench to turn the keys.
and with the other he started a tum-
ltum-tum on the keys. as he had once
or twice seen a regular tuner do. He
couldn't exactly decide whether all the
strings ought to be tightened or loosen