THE FRENCHMAN AND THE LANDLORD.
ANONYMOUS.
A shrewd and wealthy old landlord, away down in Maine, is noted for driving his "sharp bargains," by which he has amassed a large amount of property. He is the owner of a large number of dwelling-houses, and it is said of him that he is not over-scrupulous of his rental charges, whenever he can find a customer whom he knows to be responsible. His object is to lease his house for a term of years to the best tenants, and get the uttermost farthing in the shape of rent.
A diminutive Frenchman called on him last winter, to hire a dwelling he owned in Portland, and which had long remained empty. References were given, and the landlord, ascertaining that the tenant was a man "after his own heart," immediately commenced to "Jew" him. He found that the tenement appeared to suit the Frenchman, and he placed an exorbitant price upon it; the leases were drawn and duly executed, and the tenant removed into his new quarters.
Upon kindling fires in the house, it was found that the chimneys wouldn't "draw," and the building was filled with smoke. The window-sashes rattled in the wind at night, and the cold air rushed through a hundred crevices about the house until now unnoticed. The snow melted upon the roof, and the attics were drenched from the leakage. The rain pelted, and our Frenchman found a "natural" bathroom upon the second floor—but the lease was signed and the landlord chuckled.
"I have been vat you sall call 'tuck in,' vis zis maison," muttered our victim to himself a week afterwards, "but n'importe, ve sal se vat ve sal see."
Next morning he arose bright and early, and passing down he encountered the landlord.
"Ah ha!—Bon jour, monsieur," said he in his happiest manner.
"Good day, sir. How do you like your house?"
"Ah monsieur—elegant, beautiful, magnificent. Eh bien, monsieur, I have ze one regret!"