"Would you like the key now?"
I nearly snatched it out of his hands. Then away I
ran to take possession of my property. Never shall I
forget my feelings, my dear Bertie, when the key clicked
in the lock, and the door flew open. It was my own
house--all my very own! I shut the door again, the noise
of the street died down, and I had, in that empty, dust-
strewn hall, such a sense of soothing privacy as had
never come to me before. In all my life it was the first
time that I had ever stood upon boards which were not
paid for by another.
Then I proceeded to go from room to room with a
delicious sense of exploration. There were two upon the
ground floor, sixteen feet square each, and I saw with
satisfaction that the wall papers were in fair condition.
The front one would make a consulting room, the other a
waiting room, though I did not care to reflect who was
most likely to do the waiting. I was in the highest
spirits, and did a step dance in each room as an official
inauguration.
Then down a winding wooden stair to the basement,
where were kitchen and scullery, dimly lit, and asphalt-
floored. As I entered the latter I stood staring. In
every corner piles of human jaws were grinning at me.
The place was a Golgotha! In that half light the effect
was sepulchral. But as I approached and picked up one of
them the mystery vanished. They were of plaster-of-
Paris, and were the leavings evidently of the dentist,
who had been the last tenant.
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