Smyrna times., 1905-04-05

would stop in to see your amt Mary
Uraves. Things are not going right at
the house, fear Ellen is too frivoIons
ana rond of society to do what is en-
tlrely right by us and the children
Your aunt Mary is a capable woman
ana would pull things together in less
than no time"
But even with the letter started on
its way Mr.. Dickson felt uneasy Amt
Mary was capable, but was she svm-
palmetto enough to deal with those
chlldrenE He recalled the gentle ways
and the fair face of the dead daughter
ln-law. He wished somehow Aunt Mary
would wave her hair about her face
ana smile once in awhile. But she was
better than the more uncertain element
he had dreaded-a stepmother for his
beloved grandchildren.
And all the time Margaret Baxter sat
in front of the switchboard. plugging
the jacks and thinking. Just before he
closed up his desk to 90 home Mr.
Dickson was surprised to catch her
voice with a new, almost friendly ac-
cent.
'Is this Mr.. Dickson?"
"Yes."
"Shall 1 call Mary and tell her TO
have the children come down to meet
you?"
Mr.. Dickson lived some distance be-
yOnd the street car terminus. and Tim
always drove down in the runabout to
meet him. 1t never struck him as odd
that the telephone girl knew of his
daily habit. Perhaps she lived in the
neighborhoOd. He answerCA in n re-
lieved tone:
Yes; I'd forgotten to call her"
"And if you didn't call her she
wouldn't remember, would sheY'
mo, no." agreed the man; these
servants are a great trial" Then as
central rang off he murmured to him
self: There's a girl who will make a
fine business woman some day. I
would not mind having her in my
Office
And, though he could never tell lust
how 1t happened, from that time on it
was central who had the trying CONVEX
sation with Mary until Miss Ellen got
about, and after that with Miss Ellen
herself, merely giving him a condensed
report of the conversation. This saved
his time, which was valuable, and it
pleased his fancy that some one appre-
ciated his absorbing interest in the
children.
That was why he had a bouquet of
flowers sent up to the telephone ex-
change one day and box of candy an
other. Several times he was tempted to
call in person, but he finally decided
that seeing the girl face to face might
prove a disillusiOn. Faces and voices
do not always harmonic, and vet he
thought of the great relief it was to re-
ceive messages from central instead of
irate Mary or butterfly Ellen. He felt
sure that this particular voice stood
for face fair and womanly. Then he
would recall a recent letter from his
son, Aunt Mary would come fora con-
sideration.
But finally an inspiration came to
him. Reggie was having a birthday.
Ellen, with characteristic heedlessness,
had forgotten this important event and
had arranged to join house party for
the very night. But this should not
stand in the way Of proper -observ-
ance of the occasion. Reggie should
have a birthday spree, and the guest Of
honor should be this central girl, with
whom the two children had held many
little talks across the wire.
She accepted the invitation sent in
Reggie's name. She rode out in the
runabOut driven by the suspicious Tim,
who had made unpleasant remarks to
his wife about old fools and pretty
girls. And she finally entered the
door opened by Mr.. Dickson himself.
He gave a sigh of relief, which was
drowned in the tumultuous greetings
OF the children. She was just what he
had dreaNed of, but what he had not
dared to hope for. They had a merry
evening, and when the two children
were sitting down, one ON either side
of her, to hear what Reggie described
as corking goblin stories, the sound
Of a latchkey fell upon Mr.. Dickson's
ear.
lie rose uncertainty; so did Margaret
Baxter, and so did the two children.
And that was the scene upon which en-
tered Charles Dickson, general repre-
sentative for the Excelsior Hardware
company, just returned from a hard
trip on the road. He looked at his ia
ther, who flushed. He looked at Mar
garet Baxter, who smiled He looked
at the two children, who shrieked 81
multaneously and made q rush at him.
When he had escaped from their
embraces his father started to make
the, necessary Introduction, but the
younger man waved him aside.
IL have known Margaret for some
time-in fact, long before you knew
her. When the children have finished
their frolic and gone to bed I-well, we