Grand Forks herald., 1917-02-15
Tho Emptx Honse

The angel-child kept her own coun-
sci about the loss Of Lord Cantelune in
the noblest way; and l met all the
questions Of the interested mothers
among my tenants with nt-blank
refusal to tell them anything about
his recovery. did not feel that peo-
pie would think that either the police
or had displayed any great intelli-
gence in the matter: and so the less
said about it the better. There was
a good deal of talk about It for q day
or two in the Gardens: and then peo-
pie found something else to occupy
their attention.
I was beginning to make an odd dis
covery: my Uncle Algernon had been
right in expecting me to grow keen
about tho Gardens. The more I work
ed at running them the keener I
grew about them. was now par
ticularly keen on their being spicker
and spanner than any other square or
street. or crescent or place, in May
fair Jack Thurman said that I was
and sometimes when I had finished
saying what I thought about some
body's untidy window-hoxes or bal
cony awning, caught Miss Wishart
smiling as II were really amusing
her. Then I~had the happy idea of
offering a prize of fifty pounds to the
butler whose house was kept the
spickest and spannest throughout the
year. II the buffers made up> their
minds to have the house spick and
span the tenants would be made to
find the money.
soon found that 1t was working all
right. because Tubby Delamarc came
up to me at the Palladium one after
noon and said: ,
"I say, Garthoyle. it's A bit thick
you offering this prize for the best
looking house in the Gardens. nev-
err get a bit Of peace now for my but
ler's worrying me to do something or
other to the front Of the house. AS
soon as / had it painted. he was at
me for new window-hoxes. and now
it's fresh blinds all over the front of
the house.
"And very nice they'll look" said.
"But 7 put in fresh blinds two years
ago: and they'd have gone another
two years quite WELL" he grumbled.
"You can't have too much of good
thing: and you can't have it too
often" said: and 1T sounded to me
like philosopher.
That's all very we'll. hut I'm
spending money to improve your
iOAS oI IuCs uC Sdlb
IT can't raise the rent on you till
your lease expires" ! said.
II knew that was the game. You're
growing a regular Shyloc<," growled
Tubby. and he rolled away.
1t was no wonder that Number is
was beginning to get on my nerves. Its
tenant seemed to have shut 1t up and
gone away for a long holiday at the
very moment at which It wanted
painting badly. Some Of the flowers
too. in the window boxes had died,
the place in a disgustinglv untidy way.
With its griny windows and blistering
paint. and little primeval forests un-
der each window on the ground floor
and the first floor. 1t was a perfect
eyesore. spelling the look of the whole
of the side Of the triangle in which 1t
stood
Perhaps 1 should not have minded
it much II 1t had not been next door
but one to my own house. AS 1t was
I could not go out or in without be-
Ing annoyed, or. to he exact, infuri-
ated by the sight of it.
found that three years before my
uncle had let 1t to Senior Pedro vi
cent?, South American merchant, on
a lease of seven. fourteen. or twenty
one years. Plainly I had this Internal
foreigner, with his dirty house. spoil
ing the look Of the Gardens. for at
any rate the next four years. Then
I'd clear him out. If money or law
could do it. Till then I had to stick it
out. 7 could not conceive what had
induced my uncle to let the house to
foreigner.
wrote letter after letter to vicenti.
some to his bankers. some to Number
16, on the chance of their being for
warded to him by the postoffice, ask
ing him to clean and paint his house
and have the window-boxes ref1lled.
The first letters were firm. the later
ones were f1rmer. got no answer to
any Of them. 1t looked as IL Vicenti
had buried himself for the time be-
ing in some out ut-of-the-way part Of
South America where there were no
postoffices and nothing could be done
till he came out of 1t and struck civili-
zation again. Number 16 would re-
main an eyesore until his return. It
would have aggravated the ordinary
house-aRent beyond endurance. but I