Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-04-21
DIFFICULTY.
tronvr,rn, ;ss ~ ". r. Hearst.l

TO look AFTER lily luIct lOutlSt sNSSP
and dust, and all that sort of thing
Yes" remarked Mrs. Peterson. Il
understand. The rooms suit me per-
i fectly." she went on, as they passed
downstairs again. land / shall begin
to move tomorrow. 1t will be no nice
to turn around and not always be run
ming into somebody. And now Mr.. Pc
terson's sister is living with us. Well,
good day. The things will begin &c
come after tomorrow. Good day."
Theodore Foster stood looking after
her q moment, then he went into the
empty sitting room and o the large
Apartments to Let" notice from the
front window. He carried II up 10
his own room. i hope ii will be a long
time before / have to see o again, "
he told ii as he put ii in his desk. \
It was the first time for a month
tina he had felt really happy. During
that time he a tried to get a tenant
for his house, but had been unable to
fine a suitable one, 1T had been hof-
ribly lonely coming home at night 10
q cold, echoing house. But now ne
would have the Petersons there, and he
looked forward to the day after tomor-
row with JOY. He used to know Joe
Peterson, but he supposed he wouldn't
see much of him, as Joe was away
from home all the week. There were
the children, too. He was fond OF
1 ClisfllCIi SkCtA Ia AE fNaN 80 ~
elor. Then he remembered that the
children must be nearly grown up by
his time. Well, young people were all
most as good as children. !
1T was the next day, while he was,
out taking in his constitutional, that
his friend Everson saw him crossed,
the street to talk TO him. so you,
have got the P~etersons?" he said, aft.
er they had walked some distance to-,
gether. We'll. there's only one thing,
about them that you won't like.
Whats that?'' questioned MIR. Fos-,
ter, (.
Their piano"
ooh, / don't mind piano practice as
some do said Theodore easily. In
fact, l rather like it,.
You haven't lived with the Peter
sons yet" said EverSon senteniously.
You wait n little. It's a terribly old
piano. l could get moro music out
of a brass kettle and tin pans. It's all
out of tune too; and worst of all, they
keep banging away on it all the time.
It's something awful! There are three
girls who take lessons, and they keep
the old thing going about nine hours a
day"
Theodore's face had heightened dur
ing this description. What makes them
keep such an antiquity was asked.
well, you see, they're rather poor,
and they can't afford a new one
Theodore walked modify along after
his friend had left him. Then sudden
ly his face frightened. Il can arrange
matters all right he said, n went
on more briskly.
The next mornig there was consider
able grumbling from the two men who
moved the P~etersons' belongings be-
cause Theodore Foster insited on help
ing them.
He was especially troublesome about
the placing of the piano. He insisted
on having it on the very end OF the
load, and tied it with his own
When the horses started he trotted
along beside il, and they reached the
house at the same time.
II was a raw morning, n the men
We're putting blankets on the horses,
when suddenly there came a Janglng
crash. They hurried to the back OF the
van and found Theodore looking in hor-
ror and dismay at the very pauiy
smashed piano.
Its ali my fault was all he an
aged to say before a torrent of abuse
and oaths loud and deep overwhelmed
him.
Theodore went and told Mrs. Peter
son about the accident, and after he
had gone a loud wall rose from the
three girls, but when the household Ell
fects were moved in and the Petersons
themselves went to their new home,
..
there, in the drawing ROOM, was a a
tiful, brand new plano awaiting them.
They all stood in the doorway and
stared in amazement.
MIR. Foster had it sent" Aunt Sarah
Peterson explained. She had been there
attending to that end Of the moving.
He said that as il was due TO his
carelessnesS that the other was
wrecked, he should take the liberty of
replacing II by his one"
Maud. the eldest girl. went and tried
the instrument. isn't IT beautiful!
she cried ra~pturously.
Time went on, and the girls practised
diligently. Their aunt also took adj
vantage of the chance to play, so that
Theodore had all the music he wanted.
One day Theodore asked Maud to go
with him to the piano shop.
II want you to try th~rn all" he
said. "and see if there is n you Ike
better than the me at
Maud tried them. No she declared,
there isn't n so nice"
by the way. won you play that
new waltz for me-"
She seated herself at the nearest in
and began to play. When she
had finished she looked around, but
Theodore was not beside her as she a
supposed. Instead she saw him at the
far end of the room coming toward her
with a piece of paper in his hand.
When he reached her he passed her the
paper. "A birthday present. my dear.
/ believe it is your birthday today"
Maud looke at the paper blankly.
Then it dawned upon her that 1t was a
receipt for the piano at home, made out
i'm her name. Maud would never tell
her sisters what she did at that mo-
ment, but when she came home and
told them about it they all declared
that Mr.. Foster was a dear"
Don't you think 1t would be better
for you TO go out of doors more, Miss
Sarah? Theodore asked her one day. II
would be greatly honored II you would
accompany me on my daily walks. IL
is rather tedious going home alone.
And SO it became the custom for the
old bachelor and the maiden aunt to
walk out every day together.
But after a year of this Miss Sarah
told him one day that she was going
away for a six months visit.
Theodore was filed with consterna-
ton at this and begged her to recon
slider. He pleaded SO earnestly and
%eioquently that she finally promised to
stay away only two weeks, and When
she came back to name the day"
That was the longest walk they had
taken, and toward the end of 1t Theo-
dore said: MY dear. there is some
thing | rave wanted to tell you ever
since / nave known you. II is about
the piano"
II don't think you will have to tell
me now she said. II have known 1t
all the time. / saw you do It."
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