The Adventures Of A Suburbanite

The Adventures Of A Suburbanite by Ellis Parker ButlerISOBEL was born in a flat and that was no fault of her own; but she was born in a flat and reared in a flat and married from a flat and for two years after we were married we lived in a flat; but I am not a born flat-dweller myself and as soon as possible I proposed that we move to the country. Isobel hesitated but she hesitated so weakly that on the first of May we had bought the place at Westcote and moved into it.The very day I moved into my house Millington came over and said he was glad some one had moved in because the last man that had lived in the house was afraid of automobiles and would never take a spin with him. He said he hoped I was not afraid; and when I said I was not he immediately proposed that we take a little spin out to Port Lafayette as soon as I had my furniture straightened around. I thought it was very nice and neighbourly and unusual for a man with an automobile to begin an acquaintance that way; but I did not know Millington''s automobile so well then as I grew to know it afterward.I liked Millington. He was a short Napoleon-looking man with bulldog jaws and not very much hair and I was glad to have him for a neighbour particularly as my neighbour on the other side was a tall haughty-looking man. He leaned on the division fence and stared all the while our furniture was being moved in. I spoke to Millington about him and all Millington said was: Rolfs? Oh he''s no good! He won''t ride in an automobile.At first while we were really getting settled in our house Isobel was bright and cheerful and seemed to have forgotten flats entirely but on the tenth of May I saw a change coming over her and when I spoke of it she opened her heart to me.