The Foreigner | Page 3

to the
surprise of her neighbours who had travelled with her from Hungary,
had purchased this house, which the owner was only too glad to sell.
How the slow-witted Paulina had managed so clever a transaction no
one quite understood, but every one knew that in the deal Rosenblatt,
financial agent to the foreign colony, had lent his shrewd assistance.
Rosenblatt had known Paulina in the home land, and on her arrival in
the new country had hastened to proffer his good offices, arranging the

purchase of her house and guiding her, not only in financial matters,
but in things domestic as well. It was due to Rosenblatt that the little
cottage became the most populous dwelling in the colony. It was his
genius that had turned the cellar, with its mud floor, into a dormitory
capable of giving bed space to twenty or twenty-five Galicians, and still
left room for the tin stove on which to cook their stews. Upon his
advice, too, the partitions by which the cottage had been divided into
kitchen, parlour, and bed rooms, were with one exception removed as
unnecessary and interfering unduly with the most economic use of
valuable floor space. Upon the floor of the main room, some sixteen
feet by twelve, under Rosenblatt's manipulation, twenty boarders
regularly spread their blankets, and were it not for the space demanded
by the stove and the door, whose presence he deeply regretted, this
ingenious manipulator could have provided for some fifteen additional
beds. Beyond the partition, which as a concession to Rosenblatt's finer
sensibilities was allowed to remain, was Paulina's boudoir, eight feet by
twelve, where she and her two children occupied a roomy bed in one
corner. In the original plan of the cottage four feet had been taken from
this boudoir for closet purposes, which closet now served as a store
room for Paulina's superfluous and altogether wonderful wardrobe.
After a few weeks' experiment, Rosenblatt, under pressure of an
exuberant hospitality, sought to persuade Paulina that, at the sacrifice
of some comfort and at the expense of a certain degree of privacy, the
unoccupied floor space of her boudoir might be placed at the disposal
of a selected number of her countrymen, who for the additional comfort
thus secured, this room being less exposed to the biting wind from the
door, would not object to pay a higher price. Against this arrangement
poor Paulina made feeble protest, not so much on her own account as
for the sake of the children.
"Children!" cried Rosenblatt. "What are they to you? They are not your
children."
"No, they are not my children, but they are my man's, and I must keep
them for him. He would not like men to sleep in the same room with
us."
"What can harm them here? I will come myself and be their protector,"
cried the chivalrous Rosenblatt. "And see, here is the very thing! We
will make for them a bed in this snug little closet. It is most fortunate,

and they will be quite comfortable."
Still in Paulina's slow-moving mind lingered some doubt as to the
propriety of the suggested arrangement. "But why should men come in
here? I do not need the money. My man will send money every month."
"Ah!" cried the alert and startled Rosenblatt, "every month! Ah! very
good! But this house, you will remember, is not all paid for, and those
English people are terrible with their laws. Oh, truly terrible!"
continued the solicitous agent. "They would turn you and your children
out into the snow. Ah, what a struggle I had only last month with
them!"
The mere memory of that experience sent a shudder of horror through
Rosenblatt's substantial frame, so that Paulina hastened to surrender,
and soon Rosenblatt with three of his patrons, selected for their more
gentle manners and for their ability to pay, were installed as night
lodgers in the inner room at the rate of five dollars per month. This rate
he considered as extremely reasonable, considering that those of the
outer room paid three dollars, while for the luxury of the cellar
accommodation two dollars was the rate.

CHAPTER II
WHERE EAST MEETS WEST

The considerate thoughtfulness of Rosenblatt relieved Paulina of the
necessity of collecting these monthly dues, to her great joy, for it was
far beyond her mental capacity to compute, first in Galician and then in
Canadian money, the amount that each should pay; and besides, as
Rosenblatt was careful to point out, how could she deal with defaulters,
who, after accumulating a serious indebtedness, might roll up their
blankets and without a word of warning fade away into the winter night?
Indeed, with all her agent's care, it not unfrequently happened that a
lodger, securing a job in one of