Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-11-24
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a VERY FLAT CALL. 4
BY LUE +. VERNON.
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so sort OF stuck up over anything az
that Mrs. Newhay is over goin' to
Seattle and calm on one of he,
last summer dodgers. She actually
wouldn't look at any one round here
for two weeks after she came back
again!" exclaimed one neighbor who
had run over to have a talk with an
other neighbor. "I'd like to know
what there is to put so many airs on
about. Seems to me the time to
flaunt airs is before calm in a flat,
stead of after, for it's ruination to
everything you have on, besides the
risk of knockin' your brains out tryin
to get into one O. them places.
"Some one told me once that sum.
mer dodgers always live in flats when
they're to home, so any one calm on
'em must have dreadful time and
nothin' to crow over, and l tell you
that, and I'll tell you more, too, il
you'll never lisp it to single soul, for
| wouldn't have that Mrs. Newhay get
hold OF it for any thing. l called on a
summer boarder myself once, Hannah,
and che lived in a fiat in Seattle, and
| was black and blue for three months
afterwards, and then didn't see her
cause l felt so awful bad gettin' to
where she was.
You recollect Mrs. Blake, who
stayed at our house last summer |!
When she went home she said must
be sure and come to see her, an looked
all the time as if she thought
wouldn't. From what she let drop,
took it she lived pretty tony in Seat.
tie, 80 fixed up as fine as a fiddle one
day and thought I'd show my boarder
that if l did make butter in the coun-
try, could make q call in the city
just about as good-but good Lord,
Hannah! hadn't bargained for callin'
in fiat, or wouldn't ha' done it;
tell yon that! Of course, l found the
city all right-I'd been in Seattle
twice before, the day President Roose.
welt spoke and the day the battleship
Nebraska vas launched-but it took
me three hours to find the house, and
then l only got in cause some one
was comm out.
81 remember Mrs. Blake sayin' she
lived five flights up-three little ones
and two big ones-so 1 started and
clum and clum. Now, Hannah, don't
you ever pay eny 'tention when you
hear summer boarders tellin' how
lovely their flats is, in this way and
that way, and how they never 90 down
stairs for anything, and all that; for
can tell you flats is always one way,
and that's right straight up, for l was
there and seen it, and if they never
60 downstairs for anything it's cause
they're so tuckered out goin' up that
when they reach the top they can't
do nothin' but stay there. That was
the first flat l ever see, Hannah, and
didn't see that-only felt OF it, cause
twas all flights and no windows, and
by the time I'd clum the little flights,
with some steps here and no steps
there, it seemed like as if I'd been
climin' ladder with more'n half the
rounds out, an then went On steppin'
ON step that wasn't there and fell all
over some place l couldn't see, and
knocked my hat off, tore my dress,
skinned both knees, split one glove
and busted all the buttons off the
other, besides forgettin' how many
flights Id come up and whether they
was little ones or big ones, and havin'
to go way back and count 'em over
again, and everything on me twisted
out O. fashion and not fit to be seen
by any one who lived SO high-like, as
was dead certain Mrs. Blake lived.
"Bein' as I'd started, though, l
thought I'd keep on callin', so felt
and felt till come to a roof with q
window in it, and me ten times more
beat out than il I'd been workin' a
tub O. butter ever sense sunrise. And
then, Hannah, seen bell and rang
it, and while / was leanin' against what
l thought was the sidin', but what all
the time was door, it opened sudden
and / went in over backwards on a lot
of umbrellas in hat.rack, and some
one hollerin' for help and me feelin' as
il 1 had inflammatory rheumatism in
every bone O my body. l tell you,
Hannah, l can't begin to tell you how
1 felt, but l got up quick as q wink
and told whoever che was-good Lord
how mad she looked-that l was in
quite q little hurry just then, but
would come again when l wasn't. OF
course, you know, Hannah, no one
could ever call after goin' in q door
like that, and when 1 set out for the
depot to come to Olympia on the cars,
every policemen met actined as
if he had all he could do to keep from
arrestin' me just for my looks.
"And now, if that's the kind O.
time people have callin' on summer
boarders, can't for the life O. me see
what that Mrs. Newhay has got to be
foot taller for every time she goes to
see one-no, l can't, Hannah, l tell
you that! Come up when you can.
Goodbye, Hannah