The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-11-07

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on. Mrs. Granville and Mrs. PadfieId
md other widows; tho three Mfs,
visors. who made Joint hous erold OF
NO. ~. and who were SO religious that
~ you wished to see them your better
cnancc would be to seek them rather
In the Church OF, st. Barnabas than In
their own homo, etc.--ail gentlcfolk
IN NO. to No. 20.
Ihere were many sons and daugi-
ters; every house possessed It's second
seneration-cxcept, of course, the house
or the Misses Vigor-to carry on the
good Hill traditions. Tho Hill Rise
girls had a splendid style OF their
own, manner and tone which mirh,
zoe Initiated by the rest OF the com
rnunity. but which could not BIO repro
duced. They ran In upon one another
from house to house. they called each
other by their Christian name: they
were really one large family, though
not under one roof.
They were neglected. almost ignored.
by their brothers; but they had their
own little sports-the golf. the tennis.
rides with Mr. Banker the riding
master. and. one may suppose. their
own little love affairs. which culmi-
nated--one out OF each nve hundred
In orange wreath and organ music:
49, Hsc ~euolhK, with red
cloth. bendle and policeman at ST.
Barnabas'. with all the town girls hur-
rying up the hill to see the rare and
brave sight of the Hill Rise young
men In toppers and black coats, with
Sir John and Lady Vincent driving
down from Hill House In the victoria
and pair. cockaded coachman and foot
man In white gloves on the box seat.
They were happy. high-spiritcd girls.
In spite OF brothcrly inattention: and
they could reflect that they had all
| other girls In the universe beneath
Hill Rise to look down upon. Beyond
,ais comforting reflection, perhaps
from year To year the dominant thought
OF their lives was selkirk-the oil
established fashionable draper. Proud
as they were. they might all have been
| described as the slaves OF Selkrk:
they brought him all the pennies they
could scrape together. II uncles or
nunts pro.nIsed them a present. THY
pleaded to have 1t in coin. You see.
kirk, and Selkirk would not exchange
q cuckoo clock or a "Macaulay's Es-
says" Tor hts tulle wells, motor hats
and gauze clouds.
They did not realize that they were
slaves. and yet could plainly see that
their neglectful brothers suffered from
a selkrk bondage. DR.. Blake's son.
Tommy Page. and the others. too,
openly carried on with the shop girls.
The shopptesfrom Selkirk's sometimes
insisted upon parade In public places
with their admirers. made good their
claim to dog-cart drives. trip to Lon
don for the pantimime. or other ex-
pensive treat beyond the ambition OF
mere sisters. The young ladies' OF the
Hill well knew about these philan-
- Ill NJ hoIr hAr rryo 1c'
brothers. The young men had most
dreadful expression: All right. Il say.
Is Lottie"-or Florrie. as the case might
be-"is Lottie all right! wish you'd
tell me, because don't want to waste
my time Is she all rlght?" It may
be surmised that-from the point of
| view OF strictest propriety-all right
] meant all wrong.
The hlgh-spirited young ladies OF
the Hill knew also of this odions phrase.
land used IL, amongst themselves aptly
and effectively.
.'oh. my dear" said one Of them after
| the Tennis Club ball: don't talk about
my sitting out with Captain Biddulph.
! I had to ask him to conduct me to my
mamma, lie went on as though he
was under the impression that / was
Ian right !" 55
Then the Hill young ,ladles giggled
for ten minutes. Amongst themselves
!, they were great gigglers.
The Hill Rise young men-the sons
of the widows cspe cinlly-were born
loafers. They seemed lazlly but SUI
premely. content to loaf through life;
they wished they Were immo rial and
could go on loafinE forever.
Their parents felt that there might
be q loss OF prestige. but there would
certainly be great economical gain IL
they would go away and work-even
at common trades. But they never did
work Of any kind. For this reason they
were dcbarred from entering the army
or nayy;-because of the examinations.
They rarely tried--they always failed,
to pass an examination. Sometimes
when one of them loafed into difficult.
ties-entnn clement of small debts, ex-
cessive convtyiality, alterations with
the local police. etc.-FIill Rise made
gigantic effort and packed him off to
\ the other side Of the world-Australian
| sheep-wall<. Californian garden. Cana
dian ranche,-the farther away the bet
| ter. But. before you could look around,
hes was back again, u have arrived
he wrote from the distant goal, Though
have not yet shaken down. cannot
say i am eaten up with TINS place. in
! spite of all their gas about it, Then,
! ere his co mrades had fairly mi ased him,
Inc once more joined their ranks.
"Who do you thin XII met Just now
coming out of the White Hart? Old
Wall Yes-looking as tit as fiddle
and Jolly glad, he ssaid. u he safe homo
| In dear old Medford. ~ 81, ss 8g
They loved edford.! Away from II
they p!ned Il nostalgia longings made
them restless and u nensy even during
the course of a day In London, ana
they found lit painful to wait for the
appointed return train II was never
the last train Of ALL When safe 10
Medtord they felt at peace: time ana
the years could not touch them;i the
long, easeful, loaftng days glided nv
and there was no need to count them.