Mama and the Roomer

　　Mr. Hyde called in answer to the "Roomer for Rent" sign in our window. This was Mama's first experience in "renting"， so she forgot to ask for refernces about Mr. Hyde's background and character. Also she forgot to ask him for any rent payment ahead of time.

　　"The room is most satisfactory，" Mr. Hyde said. "I'll have my bags sent up this evening. And my books."

　　Mr. Hyde fitted smoothly into our household. True， he didn't seem to have any regular hours of work. But he always spoke pleasently to us children. Whenever he passed Mama in the hall， he bowed poltely.

　　Papa liked him， too. Papa was fond of talking about Norway， the country that was his home before he came to America. Mr. Hyde had visited Norway once， and he would chat with Papa about the fine fishing there.

　　Only Aunt Jenny， who had a boardinghouse of her own， did not approve of our roomer. "When，" she asked， "is he going to pay his rent？"

　　"It's so hard to ask him for money，" Mama replied. "Surely he will pay soon."

　　But Aunt Jenny only grunted. "I have seen his kind before，" she told us grimly. "Don't think you'll be able to buy any new coat with the rent you are going to get from that one. Him a gentleman？ Hmph！"

　　Mama smiled. "Such talk，" she scolded. Then she made coffee for Aunt Jenny to stop her grumbling.

　　When the bad rainy weather came， Mama worried that Mr. Hyde's room was cold in the evenings. So she had Papa invite him into the warm kitchen to sit with us. My two sisters， my brother Nels and I did our homework under the big lamp. Papa and Mr. Hyde somked their pipes by the stove. Mama worked quietly at the sink or at a small table.

　　Mr. Hyde advised Nels on his high-school courses and sometimes helped him with his Latin. Nels became interested， and his grades improved. He even gave up begging Papa to let him quit school and go to work.

　　After we had finished our schoolwoork and Mama had settled down in the rocking chair with her sewing， Mr. Hyde would tell us of his travels and adventures. Oh he knew so many things！ It was like history and geography coming to life and marching around the room.

　　One night he began to read to us from a book by Charles Dickens. Soon it became an accepted fact that， after our homework was done， Mr. Hyde would bring down one of his books and read aloud. What strange new worlds were opened to us！

　　"They are like sagas， the old Norwegian tales we loved as children，" Mama said. "They are wonderful to hear！"

　　Next， our roomer read to us from the plays of Shakespeare. With his fine deep voice， Mr. Hyde sounded like a great actor.

　　Even when the warm weathercame， we children didn't beg to go out in the evenings to play.I think us playing in the streets after dark.

　　Best of all， Nels went less and less to atreet corner to hang around with the neighborhood boys. One night they got into trouble for breaking into Mr. Dillon's store. But that night Nels was home with us. He had wanted to hear the last chapter of Oliver Twist.

　　We were all eager to hear Mr. Hyde read the rest of Ivanheo， an exciting story about knights ―― but we never did. One day a letter came for Mr. Hyde. He read it quickly and then put it into his pocket. The next morning， he informed Mama that he would he leaving.

　　"I must go" he told her. "I shall leave the books for Nels and the other children. Here is my check for all I owe you， madam， and my deepest thanks for your kindness."

　　We were sorry to see Mr. Hyde leave， but it was with great excitement that we all brought the books down to the kitchen. There were so many of them ！

　　Mama dusted them carefully. "There's so much we can learn，" she said. "Nels can read aloud to us each evening， just as Mr. Hyde did. Nels， too， has a fine voice." I could see that made Nels very proud.

　　Mama showed Mr. Hyde's check to Aunt Jenny. "You see？" she said. "I shall have that warm coat after all."

　　It was too bad that Aunt Jenny was still there when Mr. Kruper came. He owned the bakery down the street. And now he was furious！

　　"That man Hyde was a crook！" he yelled. "Look at this check he gave me. It's no good！ The bank people tell me he cashed them all over the neighborhood."

　　Aunt Jenny nodded in triumph. That one motion seemed to shout the words， "I told you so！ Why didn't you listen？" I'll bet he owes you folks asked， a bit hopefully.

　　Mama looked around at all of us. Her eyes rested longest on the stove and put the check into the flames."

　　"No，" she answered Mr. Kruper. "No. He owes us nothing."

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