Sunny Slopes | Page 6

"'Did you turn them off?'
"'I should say not. I hadn't the key. Besides I didn't turn them on. I
didn't know who did, nor why. I just left them alone.'
"That meant a neat little electric bill of about six dollars, and Mr.
Nesbitt talked to me in a very un-neutral way, and I got my hat and
walked off home. He called me up after a while and tried to make peace,
but I said I was ill from the nervous shock and couldn't work any more
that day. So he sent me a box of candy to restore my shattered nerves,
and the next day they were all right.
"One day I got rather belligerent myself. It was just a week after I came.
One of his new tenants phoned in that Nesbitt must get the rubbish out
of the alley back of his house or he would move out. Mr. Nesbitt tried
to evade a promise, but the man was curt. 'You get that rubbish out
to-day, or I get out to-morrow.'
"Mr. Nesbitt was just going to court, so he told me to call up a garbage
man and get the rubbish removed.
"I didn't know the garbage men from the ministers, and they weren't
classified in the directory. So I went to Mr. Orchard, a youngish sort of
man, very pleasant, but slicker than Nesbitt himself.
"I said, not too amiably, 'Who are the garbage haulers in this town?'
"He said: 'Search me,' and went on writing.
"I dropped the directory on his desk, and said, "'Well, if Mr. Nesbitt
loses a good tenant, I should worry.'
"Then he looked up and said: 'Oh, let's see. There's Jim Green, and
Softy Meadows, and--and--Tully Scott--and--that's enough.'

"So I called them up. Jim Green was in jail for petty larceny. Softy
Meadows was in bed with a broken leg. Tully Scott would do it for
three fifty. So I gave him the number and told him to do it that
afternoon without fail.
"Pretty soon Mr. Nesbitt came home. 'How about that rubbish?'
"'I got Tully Scott to do it for three fifty.'
"He fairly tore his hair. 'Three fifty! Tully Scott is the biggest highway
robber in town, and everybody knows it! Why didn't you get the mayor
and be done with it? Three fifty! Great Scott! Three fifty! You call his
lordship Tully Scott up and ask him if he'll haul that rubbish for a dollar
and a half, and if he won't you can call off the deal.'
"I called him up, quietly, but inwardly raging.
"'Will you haul that rubbish for a dollar and a half?'
"'No,' he drawled through his nose, 'I won't haul no rubbish for no
dollar and a half, and you can tell old Skinflint I said so.'
"He hung up. So did I.
"'What did he say?'
"I thought the nasal inflection made it more forceful, so I said, 'No, I
won't haul no rubbish for no dollar and a half, and you can tell old
Skinflint I said so.'
"Mr. Orchard laughed, and Mr. Nesbitt got red.
"'Call up Ben Moore and see if he can do it.'
"I looked him straight in the eye. 'Nothing doing,' I said, with dignity.
'If you want any more garbage haulers, you can get them.'
"I sat down to the typewriter. Mr. Orchard nearly shut himself up in a
big law book in his effort to keep from meeting anybody's eye. But

Nesbitt went to the phone and called Ben Moore. Ben Moore had a four
days' job on his hands. Then he called Jim Green, and Softy Meadows,
and finally in despair called the only one left. John Knox,--nice
orthodox name, my dear. John Knox would do it for the modest sum of
five dollars, and not a--well, I'll spare you the details, but he wouldn't
do it for a cent less. Nesbitt raved, and Nesbitt swore, but John Knox,
while he may not be a pillar in the church, certainly stood like a rock.
Nesbitt could pay it or lose his tenant. He paid.
"Mr. Orchard got up and put on his hat. 'Miss Connie wants some
flowers and some candy and an ice-cream soda, my boy, and I want
some cigars, and a coca cola. It's on you. Will you come along and pay
the bill, or will you give us the money?'
"'I guess it will be cheaper to come along,' said Nesbitt, looking
bashfully at me, for I was very haughty. But I put on my hat, and it cost
him just one dollar and ninety cents to square himself.
"But they both like me. In fact, Mr. Orchard suggested that I marry him
so old Nesbitt would have to stop roaring at me, but I