The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1907-09-10

washed for me-.
'But, Susie, not in the afternoonl
There will surely be callers"
Just say I'm not at home and don't
bother" said Susan, drawing out her
over her yellow and brown and tan
kimono
you forget that you are not in New
York." said her sister sharply. DO
try to forget that you have been to art
school and be decent to people. Not
at home won't go here. Every one in
this village knows that you are at
home, for you couldn't possibly get
away without some one seeing you CO.
And, anyway, / asked that Mr. Bates
over to call on you"
kind of you! What Mr.. BatesT
asked Susan, dropping her comb and
STOPPING to pick it up.
Mrs. Bartons nephew. He's from
the east somewhere, and he has the
incest manners. 1 thought maybe you
would like to have some one come who
is little more like the men you are
used to-" she added.
81 would" said Susan emphatically.
Perhaps he'll come late in the after
noon and my hair will be all dry.
I'll hurry And she ran down the
hall and slammed the bathroom door
after her.
There's something familiar about
the name" she said to her face In the
glass while the water was running.
"And-and don't particularly want to
see any more of the Bates clan-but If
Bessie should find that out she'd never
let me forget it. So I'll see her Mr..
Bates and try to get interested In this
place"
She played croquet with her little
niece while her hair dried. and tho
latter half of the game brought her
into full view of the street. She got
down on her knees and bumped the
gaudy ball with care and precision
against the little post, and while she
knelt young man walked up the
straight walk to the front door.
And so it happened that three min
utes later as she entered the sitting
room, with her glowing, wind blown
hair and flushed face, she was just in
time to hear her sisters company
voice" say:
"Come right out into the sitting
room, Mr.. Bates It's so much cooler
there"
She gained the stair closet just in
time and softly pulled the door shut
after her. And then, safely hidden, she
called herself a goose.
"Why didn't you go back out into the
yard and reach your room by the lad
derf No one but Bessie would live in
a house that has no back stairs"
She hoped the caller would not stay
long, but she knew there was no tell
ing what false hopes her sister would
hold out to the young man to keep him
until Susan should appear. She did
not know that Susan was in the closet,
and If she had known it she would not
have known how to get her out Of it.
But If she had one grain of sense,
which unfortunately she has not, or
she'd not be trying to make a match
for me, she'd know that 1, presumably
In the back yard, could not get to my
room In any way save through the
place where they are sitting"
The closet was small, airless, dusty
and full of odds and ends. Susan hard
ly dared move for fear of knocking
something down.
"Not that / care for being discov-
ered," she reasoned, "for that would
serve them both right, but 1 do not
care to bring Jim's golf sticks or In
dian clubs down on my defenseless
head. Pm not much of club woman"
She searched cautiously for a keyhole
and found none.
"Of course not" she muttered dis
gustedly. II am denied even the small
comfort Of watching the dismay on
Bessie's face as fail to appear. So
1 must think upon my sins and be
patient, presume"
She sank back on her heels and
mopped her hot face with one corner
OF her kimono. II hope it doesn't
fade" she thought
L
her knees and forgot time and place
and heat and discomfort Her
thoughts were busy.
II suppose he and Maude Forman
are married by this time. l wish /
knew how that happened. he always
said he did not care for her baby kind
of prettiness. 1t must have been her
talent. No one can deny that she had
the rest of us beaten all hollow.
That little characterless, baby faced
thing could paint better than Dan him
self"
"Maude knows how 1 feel about tt
and so does he. That's what hurts
the worst. l could not help showing
It that last day. And she-there was
such triumph in her silly little face
when she came out of the studio, and
we knew she had got the prize. She
looked at ME, and then she walked
straight up to Dan, and they forgot l
was there. Oh, the humiliation Of It!
And then old Carton had to cap the
climax by telling me that l never
enough. All wanted was If he'd
only stopped there instead Of telling
me that should be married.
"T have seen that you are in love.
Miss Susan, and advise you to marry
the good man and help him make a
] career
"He wasn't so smart as he thought
be was or he'd have seen that Maude
wasn't content with getting the paint
ing prize. She had to take everything,
even Forgetting where she was,
she sprang to her feet humping her
head against pile Of empty boxes,
which fell with a deafening clatter.
Then the door was flung open. and
some one seized her arm and drew her
gently out into the sitting room. Su-
san gave one glance at her sisters
Mortified face and then laughed help
lessly. 1t was fortunate that she
could not see her own face, which was
stained in an elaborate pattern from
the kimono.
II was hunting for my comb she
began and stopped, for the man, whose
face she had not yet seen, came around
In front of her
did you find it?" he asked.
Susan turned white and then red
and white again before she said a
word. And when her lips finally
opened they uttered the one thing she
could have bitten her tongue out for
saying.
where is Maude7"
'Maude2 Oh, she's safely married
and on wedding trip. Whatever