"Good evening, Mr. Crump," said he, affably, "I trust you and your
worthy wife are in good health."
"That blessing, at least, is continued to us," said the cooper,
gravely.
"And how comfortable you're looking too, eh! It makes an old
bachelor, like me, feel lonesome when he contrasts his own solitary
room with such a scene of comfort as this. You've got a comfortable
home, and dog-cheap, too. All my other tenants are grumbling to
think you don't have to pay any more for such superior
accommodations. I've about made up my mind that I must ask you
twenty-five dollars a quarter, hereafter."
All this was said very pleasantly, but the pill was none the less
bitter.
"It seems to me, Mr. Colman," remarked the cooper soberly, "you have
chosen rather a singular time for raising the rent."
"Why singular, my good sir?" inquired the landlord, urbanely.
"You know of course, that this is a time of general business
depression; my own trade in particular has suffered greatly. For a
month past, I have not been able to find any work."
Colman's face lost something of its graciousness.
"And I fear I sha'n't be able to pay my quarter's rent to-morrow."
"Indeed!" said the landlord coldly. "Perhaps you can make it up
within two or three dollars?"
"I can't pay a dollar towards it," said the cooper. "It's the first
time, in five years that I've lived here, that this thing has
happened to me.
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