The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-16
Ry ". B. MAXWELL Authcr of .sThe Guarded Flams,s The Ragged MesaeAgers
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Copyright sss by ". B Maxwsll. an rights rsservs1 rmnmluans nsmnmmMn nMm mHnbmuann n1DMDMDmmmDw Dw1Mmml


 out. . suspicion of fattery. It has al- l ways been so-as long as can remem- Der Medford."
 l Sir John bore no malice: was now entirely reconciled to the new order of things. The plain fact was that if Richard Crunden. mysteriously and un- intentionally working as an instrument of benencent fate, had earned heartfelt thanks from any one 1t was from Sir John Vincent Not quite at first, but gradually, Sir John must have realized that he was a happier. lighter, more eupeptic baronet in ChiseIhurst, his bandbox of villa, than he had been in the spacious halls of Hill House. | He was a man who for many years had carried heavy incubus and fool | ishly thought it a comfort and joy. Only when the incubus had been lift ed and thrown down. did he begin to know what was what with regard to this and all other matters. Now he was a free man--able to breathe-able to think-not the harrassed guardian of useless grandeurs. And yet. in all | essentials he was still the great Sir John. He was touched by finding that people treated him as respectfully as | ever. Whether on the bench with his brother magistrates. or in the chair at political gatherings, sitting at the | tanklike club among those queer old fish. the members, or walking through High Street, he could discover no abatement in the deference that all showed him. Intrinsically. he was still the great Sir John--nothing had dim l med his real glory.
 Secretly. he was we'll ll-pleased that Hill House and grounds should be wip- ed out of existence. Since they were | obliterated There would have been pain and discomfort in seeing another Say MT. Wace. the lbrewer--occupy the place and space which he had once filled. He, the biggest man in Medford, had lived so long in Hill House that perhaps the legendary bigness would have clung to the house itself-have passed to the new tenant with mantel- pieces. roller-blinds. kitchen dresses. and other landlords fixtures. But, as the house was destroyed. the legend clung to the man; and Sir John had been able to take it with him to the Redmarsh Road.
 Gradually, then, he settled down not unhappily at red-tiled ChiseIhurst. There was pleasure in slowly establish ing himself. furnishing rooms, hanging pictures, arranging bricabrac. Little things had always interested Sir John: and to amuse ones self with small matters. vast space is of course, not necessary. He was steward of the lit- tie house as of the big one; and he had the faithful Short-now butler factotum, without footmen-to assist him and say Yes. Sir John" and "No. Sir John" all day long as in the past.
 The installation of the library, or study, was a protracted task; but final Iy he and Short accomplished it to the taste of both. The room was brighter and gayer than the old room on the Hill; it had a bow window like the front of large brougham, through which one looked out into a narrow little garden that invited labor and ingenuity to embellish it. At last the bookcases were set up and filled with the old volumes, the writing table was insinuated through the restricted door way. and all the old tin boxes were accommodated to their narrower rest ing place.
 in state; and. with Short. transact the household business.
 'Tomorrow." said Short, quite in the grand old style, tomorrow, Sir John, will be the day for the writing of the cheques"
 dimnutive windows, Sir John wrote the cheques and put grand and easy flourish under each of his signatures. It was easy stewardship now-sman cheques and the certainty of balance to meet them. There were no dark shadows about the corners of the sum ny room; the old tin boxes were all empty; one might open all the cup boards beneath the bookshelves with out dread of finding skeletons in them. And 1t must be confessed, too, that the accountancy required by shorts weekly book was the easier and pleas anter for the certainty that one's bud get would not be upset by unexpected entries of "Mr. John, 2.10.0 pounds"; MT. John, 10s"; MT. John, 15s. 7d";
 "Is that all this morning, Short?"
 That Is all. Sir John."
 (COnitnued Tomorrow.)