Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-01-09

HER GIANT FOLDING BED.
BY c.. LOOMS.

/
! It was against Mr.. Bentley's advice
that Cora bought the giant folding
bed. They lived on the sixth door in q
small ive-rooms-and- 4 bath-steam-heat.
ed-all-improvements fiat, and h. said
that such huge folding bed was
ont Of all proportion to the size Of the
bedroom. But Mrs. Bentley had Get her
heart on it, and Mr.. Bentley has not
been husband 80 long as to feel like
thwarting any legitimate wish.
! When she went down to the store
| she found she was just In time to get
one at half price. What luck! She had
expected to pay $35 for the bed, and
| she got it at $25, although by what
process of arithmetic TWENTY-FIVE be.
comes the half Of thirty-five she did
not stop to inquire. %E5'.'
But with the reduced price Of the
bed her good luck ended, and she en-.
tered upon a chapter Of annoyances
that would have made the bed dear as
gratuity. '@%~-@.. 5.s 5s.'', s,'
The bed people were just moving out
and were too busy, to send the bed
home. Five separate expressmen re:
fused to stir their wagons when they
learned that it was giant. She began
| to wish that It was q trundle bed. But
at last an expressman who was just
| starting in business and who was
therefore inexperienced contracted for
81 to deliver it. =
| So she went and waited for the bed
| with all the ardor Of a child. Every
time the dumb waiter whistle blew she
ran. out to see If they were trying to
send it up that way, but when it final
" arrived after a wait Of four hours
it came in at the front door.
After ten minutes or SO Mrs. Bentley
heard mastodonic footsteps on the
stairs, the swish Of tearing wall paper,
the. crash Of falling globes, and she
knew that they we're bringing the bed
upstairs. So did all the other fat
jewellers. When she looked over the
staircase there were from three to
four; heads beneath her, all looking
| down.! 4
! The arrival at different landings was
punctuated by the crash Of glass and
the fall Of plaster. And on the third
floor the bed fell on one Of the men.
| Luckily he was Z fat German, and, he
escaped with a barked shin and mis-
laid temper. = ..,......
/ Long before that there was string
of home returning heads Of families
separated from their little ones by the
| Chinese wall of q bed. Those who
were athletic enough climbed over and
escaped to their, apartments, but the
rest had to content themselves with
throwing kisses to their beloved ones
and telling them not to despair.
! Mrs. Bentley had not hitherto known
there were SO many people living In
the house. The stairs were black with
them, and the bed moved with the de-
liberation Of glacier.
| When the men reached the fourth
floor they clamored for beer, and Mrs.
Bentley, being inexperienced, sent for
two bottles, which were brought in by
the janitor's son.
| . The two men sat down, or, rather,
up, way ND, on the bed and opened q
bottle apiece amid groans from the be-
lated nat jewellers who lived above the
third. It ia, probable that they had al
ready solaced themselves with beer,
for they became very merry and To-
quacious after the bottles had been
emptied, and many of their jokes
would not have been allowed at va
| riety theater. - ..,.+ ~, T.
There Is q saying that there Is al
ways room at the top. This did not
prove to BE the case In regard to the
giant bed. The hallway at the top flat
was a joint affair, two suits opening
on t, and Il was the narrowest in the
building. When the men finally arriy-
ed with. their tremendous load they
found that 1t. was going to be Chi
nese puzzle to get into Mrs. Bentley's.
! They shattered the last globe and
then sat down on the stairs to ponder.
They finally came to the conclusion
TINT theysconld not get it II unless the
door. OF the opposite apartment were
opened to Almit Of its being slowed
around, &;;I. $3.50.
Mrs. Cochran. was the opposite neigh
Dor. She and Mrs. Bentley had been
as distant AZ such contiguous fat
dwellers could be. Their bows In the
hail were as Icy as the hall Itself. Mrs.
Cochran thought Mrs, Bentley fool
ish little new. wife, and Mrs. Bentley
thought Mrs. Cochran common. y
Still. there was nothing for It but to
ask Mrs. Cochran to open her front
door and let the man swing the bed
into the doorway for justone moment
The fat man rang her bell. She open
ed the door, with fire in her eyes. She
had been trying to get the youngest to
sleep, aud; the constant humping and
crashing and the objurgations and
beery laughter Of the expressn,en had
rolled the not too placid waters OF her
disposition to . foamingi point. M
Mrs, Cochran glowered. 1
OH" said Mrs, Bentley. with 9 has
thy made veneer Of sweetness. May
the men lust swing the bed into your
hallway % chat they can sat 4 Into
ny doorway i didn't suppose 4 Was