The sun., 1910-01-09
At THE -.
a TAWDREY HOUSE
The Two Disguis

lie tine had oome for What our pro-
,,ietOr. MI. . FlsN comb. called a thorough
leaning .at the Tawdrey House. Rou-
tine with linn was little more fixed than
the laws Of the Medes and Persians.
What had been done must be done when
ts anniversary came around. or he would
Inow why. Cognate in his mind with
rhe cleansing which uprooted all COM
fort from the reception rooms and corri-
'dors. leaving q damp waste, sparsely
dotted with isles Of safety, was the clean
ng out OF the trunk room.
Even the mans wrath seemed to move
in cycles. For eleven months OF the year
he would pase and repass the trunk room
without a thought Of how it's storage
capacity was utilized to tho stretching
point. On day OF the twelfth month.
when the cleansing was at its height,
he would suddenly in a paroxysm OF
rage order Matthew. the head porter. to
,.aean out the trunks and sell them on at
auction.
This Matthew now proceeded to do.
nne morning strolled idly into the largest
.mokinR room. attracted by the unusual
throng gathered there on more unusual
camp chairs. A motley lot for the most
part InpEe DdTKdlu huhSCtbs Ia 8OAy ~
fessional. with the casual overflow Of pass
ersby. and a detachment OF old women
from the neighborhood who had treasured
what they heard Of the lucky find OF
wear ago. But to my surprise. sitting
apart, even as they were distinctive In
appearance, dress and bearing. were old
Mr.. wallingood and his pretty niece
E,nice.
The wallingoods. it should be explained.
we're a recent and highly prized acqusi
ton to the swells Of the Tawdrey House.
They came from an indefinite abroad
for an indefinite stay. but the suite that
they occupied was largely and luxuri-
o,lsly definite, and so, as Mr.. Flewoomb
whispered, were their shekels on deposit
~ the office.
Merely to gaze on the old gentleman
was a liberal education in veneration
70 use the ohaste phrase approved by
he Snore Corner in comments purely
masculine on Miss Eunice's charms. she
was "as likely a hlly as was ever regis
tered for the Fiturity.'
The trunks to be sold. hotsam and jet
sam from many q wreck. were queer
ot too. While composed mainly OF
iheatricals and commercials. they yet
hranched into variants ranging from a
beabelled Saratoga to a beroped immi-
grants box. I have no purpose to de-
scribe any part OF the auction. which
differed in no wise from the normal type
Of greed, guess and grab. except It's igno-
minious close. The motley crew were
already dispensing when the auctioneeI
with a Jest about the worst shall be last
put up this box.
"I'li take IL for a dollar said Mr.: Wal
lingood; Il have fancy for such things.
and he showed his strange fancy further
when the bepapered thing was knocked
down 20 him by shouldering IL on 70 MS
IOom Indifferent to the supercihoua
smile Of his dainty niece.
reflected idly on this incident, as
again took mp the mornings wander
ings. By the time had settled with q
sort OF dumb despair for lack OF other
resting place in a chair set at one end
of the ballroom, now denuded OF all
its appuTtenanoes except canopied
dLvar at the other end, had concluded
that Mr.. wallingood. like many another
worthy, must have an association Win
fas steerage. once practical but now SEN
Nvnental
Miss Eunice herself sat on the dlvan
~ the other end. certainly hundred
iret away from me, as IL awaiting che
IutIIrn OF her uncle. Presently ne Old
,urne back, with the noiseless. dragglne
'sold OF an old man.
But when half way across the moor
peculiar thing happened His tread
oecams loud. as loud as IL i were By hil