Page:Burton Stevenson--The marathon mystery.djvu/101

Rh wearily. “They’re going to begin tearing down the house day after tomorrow. I can’t find another house, so I’m going to put my furniture in storage. I’ve told the men to come for it tomorrow.”

“All right,” I said. “If I can’t find an apartment to suit, I’ll put my stuff in storage, too, and stay at a hotel for a while. I’ll know by tomorrow noon, Mrs. Fitch.”

“Very well. It does seem hard, though,” she added pausing on the threshold, “that we should be the ones to suffer, when there’s so many other blocks they might have taken.”

“The residents of any of the other blocks would probably have said the same thing,” I pointed out. “After all, I suppose this block was better than the others, or it wouldn’t have been chosen.”

She sniffed sceptically, and went on her way to notify her other lodgers of the imminent eviction.

We were martyrs to the march of public improvement. The block had been condemned by the usual legal process, and an armory was to be erected on the site. So there was nothing left for us to do but move. I had hoped that Mrs. Fitch would find another house somewhere in the neighbourhood and that I could stay with her; now, it seemed, I must search for other quarters, and at exceedingly short notice. To find comfortable ones, conveniently situated, and at the same time within reach of my modest income would, I knew, be a problem not easy of solution.

I settled back in my chair and took up my paper again, when a sudden thought brought me bolt upright. Here was an apartment, two rooms and bath, just what