The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1896-07-29

was the general opinion in the kitchen
that the gentleman who had come SO
neutrality-suspicious. any luggage-was a
"man in possession. (5) That he seem
ed to the kitchen a very we'll dressed
man in possession. (6) That the gentle
man Immediately sat down and wrote
long letter, which was given to the
housemaid to post. ~ That he wired to
another address for some clothes. (8)
That the letter was addressed to Mr..
John Blunt Friar's Court, Temple,
London. (9) That, in the opinion of the
kitchen, "E'riars Court sounded like
low place for any gentleman's friends
to live in.
X
Dick Waterbury had been with the
Fieldings week and still showed no
signs of departing from his resolution.
He had soon made himself at home; he
had broken the ice over the dinner table
during the first night of his stay. Mrs
Fielding and her daughter had opened
the ball by treating him with frigid po-
likeness; but Dick had pretended not to
notice their manner, and ratified on SO
gayly that he effectually dispersed the
cold barrier which the ladies had at
tempted to place between themselves
and their self invited guest.
After dinner he RECALLED them with
comic songs, anecdotes and news of the
day which had failed to penetrate to
the Businesses of Market Norbury. So
very agreeable did he make himself, in
deed, that by bedtime he had quite won
Mrs. Fielding over to his side. Ethel
kept very close to her mother all the
evening, he noticed, and would neither
play nor sing, although she could do
both very nicely. On the following day
his clothes arrived, and on the third
day a letter, addressed to him in bold,
masculine hand. He appeared to peruse
this letter with much interest, and the
one he wrote in reply he delivered to
the housemaid with special instructions
that it was to be posted before p. M,
at which hour the Market Norbury mail
cart was dispatched The housemaid
told the cook that for a man in posses
sion the newcomer wrote very elegant
hand. This letter, too, was addressed to
that low place. Friar's Court, Temple.
So, by the time Dick had been located
at Pleasant View seven days he was
quite On friendly-nay, intimate
terms with his hostess and her daughter.
Every morning when he met the latter
at the breakfast table, selling an oppor-
tunity Of course when Mrs. Fielding
was not present, he had asked, "Well?"
and Ethel had shaken her head very de-
terminedly and made the most Of the
exceedingly dimpled chin, which only
represented One-third of Mr.. Water
bury's. During the whole Of that week
Dick had never once been out. The
kitchen commented severely on this
point. It savored more Of the oman in
possession" than anything else he had
done.
"He's been sent, and he's got to
stop, was cooks verdict. "And mis-
tress is making the best gf a bad job by
treating him as a gentleman guest I've
always understood that the poor master
left her conf able off, and I can't un-
derstand how she's lost her money. [
suppose it's mine or something.
Thank goodness! I've got all my little
savings wrapped up in stocking and
locked in my boxP'
Seven days had gone-the seventh
night had come, and still Ethel remained
obdurate But she paid, her mother
noticed, considerable attention to her