"A LITTLE NOISE."

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 431, 13 February 1909, Page 11

"A LITTLE NOISE."

; -■;. ' MB. HISLOPS IDEAL. ' . Zini, the beautiful- black cat next. door, possoss&s a fine contralto voice of emotional quality, and with somo liquid full .throated notes in it that any- prima. donna might envy,, but oporatic selections even. from are not appreciated , in the small hours ,of the morning, and, after,.the. last mellow note .had died away, the weary convalescent tossed restlessly , for hours, longing for.' the sleep that, broken by the music,, would not come again. At last she fell into a; sleep full of dreams, whore Zini and'Tetrazzini held tho, stage: and_ divided the andj ■■ with a long wailing note; from one of them, she wokeunrefreshed. ; , ;'. . . : •

Two milk-carts, came rooking down the street,; and the milk boys began .their conversation as soon as they,, came- within 'earshot.; Then they jumped downj clashed all cans, together, and ran down-to respective; back-doors/each clattering can and lid and empty jug on the :■ doorstep, ''■ as though by making a great din they hope to drive away. any. fiendish, microbes- that-might be hanging around. .Their conversation was continued loudly far down the street again, and.Wellington woke to a cheerful noisf day. Down; at. the" bottom of the-hill the trains began. to come one after the other in. quick i succession, ■ each' as it turned the corner, squealing round the curved lines'as'if a. dozen',little boys were leaning heavily on slato ./pencils and drawing them down.-a 'slate on the tippest tips. The convalescent remembered; how Barbara always declared that'.one particular car, 47, she thought' it was,/invariably, made.ten times more noise than'any 'other, and/ she. found herself 'listening painfully, : fearfully, for.' ;47 to come along,,-till with the'■ anticipation her noryesalmost shrieked ; at her. V-There, was a thud; thud,-thudj regularly and continuously, and, without .looking out of her window,; she. knew what; iti was—a; lady . next door . skipping, madly/'with , the -idea that she -Would by so-doing,-pure some obscure disease; It was a lengthy; cure, for 'she had already been' at. it for months,: and still every ■ morning there ■was -this thud,; just somany timesand then a stop, and then so many, more times. ■ ; .-Bang,' bang,-the.little boy I .next■ door had .come out and-was .busily employed,at his favourite; game of banging, a kerosene tin .with a.'stick.. 'This he found : made, ..more noise .with less; effort, than, , b nything else he had 'tried,, -arid. knew he had: tried everything; from the windows to. the inside ;of the copper—which' made a disappointingly

small-noise. .' Poribdically. he uttered a pierc-. ing , shriek, and tore round thi house,' , madly followed.by. a .shrieking, barking puppy, and then he • would return :to the -tin-thumping,' while .'the::puppy sat ■ beside . him. yelping shrilly every now and then. -The butcher.boy' came round the corner of the house whistling J loudly/andthen uttering a joyous ypi-up.:;,' v I The'. father of "'(the ■ family, across -the 1 way; ca.ine put armed with tools, and began to nail a' itin. on' the roof of'the washhouse, calling ;out every now and'then to hischildren to bring him something.'" "When they brought; ittSey.had to.;throw it up on. to: the roof of the .shedi and, they invariably missed : their aim half a ddzen times, their father, in turn calling. l out loud explanations what they ought :to '.d 0..: Once,.leaning.'oVe'r. to; make himself more, clearly- understood, he : let the hammer' fall/on'tbe baby's foot, and >there was a'. 1 dreadful yell, :in which the' younger, 'children ; :joiried, and;when: at last quiet:was. restored-he went on with his peaceful.hamniering, 'every rap of which; , jarrdd through; ['the- head of the .woarierTthan-everv-convales-cent.- .-■:•.,-':,...-' -.;- : : '■'■.';" , "' : ; .' ; ' '■"■■ ,' ; ' : :. Even this occupation must come to. an.end, however, for the father: of the family was_due at his. office at nine, and presently the little boy having gone into breakfast and the puppy having.-fallen' asleep, the :weary, one began to think that , she'might have-a little sleep, herselfv and it, was then that the Chinaman arrive_d and began his chaffering just beneath; her;.window, while the.housekeeper shrilly assured; him that.he asked far too much;, for' ■ Ho seemed to stay for hours, andylong before he had done, the maid came' in with a cup'of tea for; the-weary one, and the morning paper," which she looked at: dispiritedly", and slowly began tp read.,■':..-'. -....; . ': Tho:first sentence that caught her eye was appropriate, though hardly cheering/ "What was all this fuss.about,"-said the-Mayor. "A little noise? ...vHe .did 'not know what the people.of' New Zealand .were coming to;'Theydid not .like to-bo. disturbedin; the slightest degree... 'Tlie fowls, that : were kept in the city, were not. allowed ;tb-.make a noise; they •were kept in the dark, till an hour when every-, one ought to be out of bed;". . : -. ; .; '. '.'Goodnessl" she. said, "I'd better get up."