The Cairo bulletin., 1907-07-29
LIFE IN MY
ONLY ROOM
BY a Ledger.

LOOK the ToOIH uttdusc IL was 81
small and because thought that b,
I hanging a red-a dark red--curtaii
lin front of the bed il would make al
ideal bed sitting room.
Also | liked the red and gold papel
on the walls. The original wall pa
per, | learned afterward, was like the
pattern on servan: girls print dress
but a former tenant, with a fine SENSE
OF the artistic, had caused the walls
to be repapered So. when Mrs Mar
boy, Withdrawing one of her hands
from the folds OF her apron and way
ing IL around the room in Snowman
Hike fashion, said the charge was sl.5o
a week without electric light"
closed with her, and the room was
mine.
You climbed up three flights OF
stairs, each flight narrower and less
carpeted than the other tthe last
flight sunk to the depths of oilclothl
and then you fell against the door OF
the room When YOU knew the geo,
| graphy Of the staircase. however. you
steadied yourself on the top stair, and
stretched out your hand. BY long
practice the door handle met your
hand But even then the room resent
ed your intrusion.
| The door handle battles many Wis.
| itors 1t is by this time aware of my
| touch. for it always Yields without a
murmur to the known pressure of
my hand With the stranger or the
casual caller it is different | hear the
step outside. and then | see the handle
gravely nodding its head, and saying
at the same time. in determined
squeak. No. you don't"
In such cases remove my feet
from the bureau and take my pipe
from my mouth. and call out. Pull
the door toward yourself gently and
turn the handle suddenly. | have
several times thought of avoiding this
trouble by pinning the formula on the
door. But there are objections TO
that. | think 1t would be unfair to the
door handle, and even ii | did pin the
notice there, it is so dark that nobody
would be able to read it.
Also there are occasionally people
who try the door, and when repulsed
by the invincible handle conclude that
have gone out and locked the room
Then ! hear their steps go carefully
down the narrow staircase. eehoing
fainter and fainter and If am in the
middle OF Omar Khayyam smile
gratefully at the door handle, Oh, We
are old friends.
The love that l bear to my little red
room is pity-born If you are a de-
formed man. or a one-legged beggar,
you are moved to translate your com.
passion into copper or silver, accord
ing 70 your purse or your pity. But a
deformed room. How better show
your sympathy than by ignoring IFS
deformities and living in ii regardless
Of its defects. and treating 1T as il II
were a normal room? When Mrs.
Marboy first showed me the room ii
seemed so empty and sad that ! took
pity on it. 1t seemed TO be yearning
for an inhabitant 1.-THE widow looked
yacantly nj me and said sol. and who
am / that | should withstand the
human appeal of room in house
in Waverly place-Wayerly place, one
of the old-time fashionable actions of
the city?
| pretend not to notice the terrible
deformity of my room; nevertheless,
when | bump my head inadvertently
against the ceiling. which slopes to-
ward the window, | am forcibly re-
minded that my room is not as other
rooms. Three walls of it are tall and
upright as walls should be. but the
fourth wall-the one which is graced
by a window-was dwarfed in its
youth and stands sadly small quite
four feet shorter than its brothers.
When / am sitting here Pate it seems
to me that the little wall looks visit
fully up to its bigger brothers won.
dering why il was born so small, and
dreaming, perhaps, Of taller days
when it shall push the slsnting cell
ing into horizontal position and be
more worthy of the name Of wall
The ceiling OF my room is lined
with age. When | stare up at it from
my bed 1t reminds me of the maps at
school. | can see big rivers, with
their little tributaries branching off
from either side Some people might
object to the cracks in the ceiling, but
il keeps my geography from getting
rusty. The rugged crack stretching
from the door to the washstand ] have
named the river Amazon. and the Del
aware reaches from the window to the
back of the bureau. Now and again
a new crack appears on the ceiling.
and | feel like Columbus. For every
new crack discover a new river.