The daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1904-1905, 1904-03-21

4
man decide a pressing question of the
heart while a dozen thoughtless and
frivolous creatures are bawling BE
! cause l Love Your" This house used
/ to be quiet. Apparently it had lost that
merit. | couldn't go to my room be-
cause its windows were directly over
the heads of the merry, merry chorus.
/ might shift my quarters to a hotel,
but / disliked to register under an as
sumed name, and to put my own on
the book would be to invite some of
my acquaintance in st. 10 to send up
their cards. boarding house was
my only refuge, but l seemed to have
chosen the wrong one. There was too
much idle merriment here. 1 could
never forget Anna Lamoine in such a
place. What / wanted was a chance to
sit down and think about it in perfect
peace. Lacking that possibility at the
moment, it seemed best to take a walk.
AT the first corner a man coming
along at good gait glanced at me and
started. The light struck sharply on
my face, and his was in shadow, but l
knew him instantly His name was
Brooks, and he had been in my fathers
employ for a dozen years. We had
been quite friendly, he and l. in former
days, but l was in no mood to meet
him then.
Terry he called after me. MAR
shall Terry, is that your"
ITS all that's left of me-" said I,
wheeling about. "How are you,
Johnny"
"All that's left of your he ex-
claimed, making a pretense of looking
up at me as if 1 had been a monu-
ment. when was there more?'
Before 1 struck New York." said L,
though that couldn't mean much to
him. What are you doing over hereY'
Game over to see a fellow" said he
and added something which gave the
impression that he was hurt because I
had not looked him up in Chicago.
I'm not feeling in good spirits said
1. Don't care to see any one; had a
little streak of hard luck. You under
stand. Don't mention it to any one
What I'd like just now would be a
lodge in some vast wilderness for a
week or two
He laughed and eyed me curiously
''Why don't you go out to Mrs. With
erspoon's?' he asked.
L had an indistinct recollection of the
name.
Some kind of resort, isn't it," said I.
'SwelI boarding house, he began
But said, mo, thank you," hastily.
"Oh, but this is different" he has
tened to assure me. You can live
there month and never say ten words
to anybody. The place is famous for
it. Mrs. Wftherspoon gets the greatest
collection of hermits and broken heart
ed lovers of both sexes
Il don't think the place would suit
me-" said |. "And yet-where did you
say it wasp
"About six or eight miles OUT he re-
piled. Just a nice drive. It's a sort
of farm rising up from the prettiest lit
tie lake-Water Witch, they call it. A
big apple orchard extends from the
lake to the house-beyond it, in fact |
and there's little lodge built round
tree. Mr.. and Mrs. Witherspoon live |
in it when the summer boarders crowd |
them out of the house. They say there's |
a bath in it and all the luxuries, though |
it's only a cabin
1 spent some seconds in thought.
''How's the grub?'' 1 demanded.
''Said to be great" he replied; mo |
bread and milk and pumpkin pie out |
there. They live on the fat of the
land, and the price of board is away
up in the sky. L tell you, the place has
a reputation; it's exclusive
"Oblged to you, Johnny" said 1.
perhaps III go out to see Mrs. Wither-
spoon. That little hut in the orchard
hits me hard. Is it far from the
hGase?'
Far enough said he, and then pro-
ceeded to give me further details Of the
property. We roamed
around for nearly an hour talking
about it, and when we parted l was
fully resolved to give the place a trial
Brooks was pledged to secrecy as to
my intention.
The next day I hired a rig" and
drove out to the Witherspoon farm. 1t
was a beautiful place, revealed sud
denly as the road curved round a sin
gular, rough hill, the like of which l
never saw elsewhere in that part of
the country. 1t seemed to be a great
pile of rocks with stunted and dis
torted trees growing at strange angles
from the crevices between them. Be
You'd it was the lake, from which the
orchard rose toward the house, an or
derby array of fine old trees, wide
spreading, gnarled and sturdy.
In the midst of it | could with diff
ficulty descry the lodge, picturesque
and inviting, built round a giant apple
tree and shaded by the incredibly
broad expanse of its branches. There
seemed to be a rude veranda on the
toward al |
man might sit and smoke and forget
any girl that ever existed.
That's where | live" said / to the
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