The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1907-04-02
His Great
Discovery.
By Cecily Allen.
. Copyright, 1907, by E. @. PARCELS.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The proud possessor of infnitesimal
knickerbockers glared back at her of
the petticOats.
Il shall have to tell mumzey," said
Miss Pettieoats
IF you do 1 shall pinch you black
and blue" replied her brother, nearly
tearing himself away from Douglas
Raymond, newly arrived assistant at
Morris Manor school, who was awk-
wardly trying to fasten coat buttons
for his rebellious pupil
Natalie has been waiting most an
hour She says your naughtiness will
give her new money, maybe, and
you'll be sorry when she's dead"
II won't give her anything of the
sort, you ninn," replied the Pelham in
pants as he jerked on his mitten.
"And | love Natalie much better than
you do! Anyway, I was only kept in
ten minutes, eh, Mr.. Raymond?"
Very gravely Douglas Raymond drew
out his watch and glanced at it.
Twelve minutes, and you might
have gone two minutes ago if you had
not tied the sleeves of your coat to
gether. Tell your nurse that the next
time you are kept in for being a
naughty boy she had best come in
side and wait"
The Pelham twins trotted sturdily
toward the door, the boy finging over
his shoulder:
Natalie is not our nurse. We don't
have a nurse any more. She's our sis
ter" Then, stopping stock still, he add.
ed: "And there will not be any next
time. Cracky, won't Natalie be tickled
when l tell her you thought she was
our nurser'
Douglas Raymond sighed as the door
closed on the twins. Then he crossed
the room and stood looking down in
the street. And for this he had taken
high college honors!
He had just missed q small college
professorship = through lack of infu
ence = and with his mother dependent
upon him he had not dared to refuse
the liberal financial offer of the master
of Morris Manor, a fiourishing private
school overlooking the Hudson. Ever
that offer had not come until midwin
ter, after death had caused a vacancy
on the Morris Manor staff and when
Douglas had almost decided to give up
his college ambitions and dig into COM
merce
Morris Manor was a boarding school
for boys, with a few day pupils drawn
from the rich owners of country homes
thereabouts. Just across the tree lined
avenue was a fashionable school fol
girls. Evidently from this school had
come the small sister Of his rebellious
pupil. He leaned over the window
ledge to see whether they were safely
on their homeward way, and suddenly
his fingers gripped the rough stone
coping.
The twins were dancing up the street,
one on either side of a tall. slendel
girl, clad in a natty skating suit, with
a scarlet tam-o'-shanter on her well
poised head
"Natalie"- And he had not guessed
However, he would know the graceful
walk, the splendidly poised head,
among a thousand. The trio disap-
peared around the corner, and he hur-
ried back to his desk.
civilian Reginald Pelham"
There it stood on the ed" class list
Douglas had not had time to become
familiar with his roll book The wise
looking little laddie who said such as
tonishingly rebellious things in such a
precise way had been known to him
during that first school day only as
willie" If he had only known, most
certainly he would not have detained
the boy and let her stand out in the
cold What If she did have pneu-
monia-
He tried TO correct the copy books.
but his thoughts would wander.
Why was she here? Why had she
not carried out her original intention
Of going abroad to study art? And, if
she was not studying, what was the
Pelham family doing at their country
place in midwinter, with the social
season in full swing in the city?
He might have known that Willie
was her brother Her odd, demure
way of saying startling things had first
attracted his attention to her and final
ly nearly wrecked his last year in col
lege. How could he work, then, with
the thought that love and the girl who
was all in the world to him were alike
beyond his reach? There was his fu
ture to carve, his mother to support,
few of his fathers debts to pay, and
on the other side Natalie Pelham, the
Pelham wealth, the Pelham position
She had been flirting with him, of
course, not willfully, but just because
it came as naturally to her as eating
and drinking She had never taken
him seriously, and after commence
ment day, when he had gone out west
to teach in a summer school and give
his mother a little rest in quiet sum
mer resort, he had dropped out of her
life Just as If there had never been
teas in the frat room, moonlight
walks on the campus, football game
and promenades which they had en-
joyed in common. And here she was
again, Just when he needed to hold
himself well in hand. One thing he
must do-avoid her disturbing pres
ence, her magnetic charm, if he pos
sibly could.
Thereafter, In justice to the other pu-
pills, he explained to himself, he show
ed no partially to the Pelham twin
In fact, that youth, if he had not BEEN
so perfectly eognlzant of his own
mischievous wrongdoing might have
complained of discrimination. But ev-
cry afternoon Raymond stood at the
window and watched the slender fig
ure with its two small charges hurry
through the crisp winter air. She
must have changed, he argued to him !
self. Certainly she had settled down,
for she could not be doing the opera,
teas and receptions and call for those
children every afternoon.
And then came the day Of the biz |
card. Raymond watched it shut down
on Morris Manor and could hardly keen
away from the window Was she com.
ing for those children on foot? By
the way, it was odd that she never
came with sleigh or carriage Other
children were claimed by fur clad foot.
men or strong elder brothers. Nearly
all the day pupils were gone. Patty |
Pelham had not even tried to come
across the street from the school TO,
girls. Raymond began to pace the
floor
do you think your sister has for
gotten or is afraid to come out? Don't
you think you had better go home with |
Wilfred Bailey when his mother sends
for him?"
'Oh, Natalie will be here all right. |
She's probably fussing with Patty's |
rubbers. Natalie is not afraid Of any
thing"
Ten minutes later she staggered down