Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-04
CHAPTER VIII.-Continued.

We did mention him. She asked m,
II had seen him. and it was the though
If him that evoked her merries
laughter
She shook her head and sighed; ther
her manner changed abruptly.
You delivered my message 10 Mr.
Wicgins?''
Il did lie is badly out of sorts ant
sees nothing clearly. He is very bitter
toward your aunt He thinks she ha:
treated him outrageously.
Aunt Octavia has done nothing of the
kind she replied with spirit. Mr. Wig
gins has no right TO speak of Aunt &c
taVia save i'll terms of kindness III hei
wits are sharper than his. it is not hel
fault. that j can see. But there are mat
tiers here that | do not understand, MT
Anes- 1 trust YOU. as my aunt evil
IDENTIFY does. or | should not be talking
10 Won as | am: and | am moved 10 ask
a favor of you--a favor of conSiderab Die
weight in view OF the fact that You are
a professional man with doubtless many
pressing calls upon Your time.
| bowed humoy before this compliment
My time had been lightly appraised by
Miss Octavia and again 10y Virgins. \
long telegram from my assistant that
reached me while 7 dressed for dinner
had urged my immediate attendance upon
my office. Some of my best clients, now
rcopeniEG their houses for the winter.
were in desperate straits. From the num-
Der of appeals for help reported by my
assistant / judged that all the chimneys
IN the republic had grown obstreperous.
But Father Time learned early in his
career that to women his scythe's edge
has no terrOrS. In this instance L must
admit that if Cecilia HOLSTER wished to
cut Il few days out of my reasonable eX-
pectation of life il not for me to
plead sick chimneys as excuse for
declining to serve her.
In fact l had never found myself so
close upon the heels of the adventure
that We all crave as since making the
acquaintance of the HOLSTERS Octavia
HOLSTERS do not occur in the life OF
every young man. and both Cecilia and
Hezekiah had taken strong hold upon
my imagination. Virgins place among
the dramatis persOnae would in itself
have compelled my sympathetic atten-
ton: and the nine silk hats that L had
seen bobbing over the stile still danced
before my eyes.
Miss HOLSTER l said, my time is
yours To command. My Office is well
organized. and / am sure that my as
sistant is equal TO any demands that
may he made upon him. Pray state in
what manner L may serve YOU"
Il am going far. l know, Mr.. Ames,
hut ] beg that YOU will not be in haste
TO leave my aunt's house. She must
favor or she would not have asked you
here on short acquaintance. am
confident that she has no thought of
Your leaving. She expressed her great
liking. for YOU at luncheon, and l am
sure that she will see to it that YOU do
not lack for entertainment. l assume
that YOU must have gathered from what
Mr.. Virgins told you of my acquaintance
with him the peculiar plight in which 1
am placed.
I bowed. If she CROPPED in the dark
and needed my help in finding the light
l was not the man to desert her. I had
dropped my plumb line into too many
OF mystery. AS I expressed again my
entire willingness to abide at Hopefeld
Manor as long as she wished the foot
man announced Mr.. Hartley Virgins.
We had hardly exchanged greetings be-
fore another man was announced, and
then another. / should say that it was
at intervals OF about three minutes that
the sedate servant appeared in the cur
tanned doorway and announced a caller,
until nine had been admitted. My spirits
scared high as the gentlemen from the
Prescott Arms appeared one after the
other. The earlier arrivals rose to greet
the later ones-and as they were all in
I had seen the same gentlemen in their
afternoon raiment crossing the stile. a
sense Of something fantastic and eerie in
them. There was nothing unusual about
them, taken as individuals: collectively
they were like life-siZe studies in black
and white that had stepped from their
frames for an evenings recreation. Ce-
ella introduced me In the order of their
arrival; and in the interest Of brevity
and to avoid confusion, 1 tabulate them
here with a notation to their resi-
dencc and occupation. taking such data
from the notebook in which. at subse-
auent dates. I set down the facts which
are the basis OF this chronicle.
Hartley Virgins. lawyer and farmer;
Hare and Tortoise Club. New York.
Linnaeus r. Henderson. planter; RO-
anoke. Virginia.
Cecil Hugh. Lord Arrowood no occu-
patton: ArrowOod. Hants. England.
Daniel p. Ormsby. manufacturer Of
knit goods: Utica. New York.
s. Forrest Hume. lecturer on Scandi-
navian literature. Occidental University !;
i>crr Trail. Oklahoma.
JOIN Stewart Dick, pragmatist; Omaha,
Ne5ra ska.
Pendennis j. Arbuthnot banker and
horseman: Lexington. kentucky.
Percival T. Shallenberger. novelist and
small fruits; Sycamore. Indiana
George W. Gorsc, capitalist; Redlands,
California
We rose and stood in our several places
when. moment later. Miss Octavia en-
tered She greeted the suitors graciously,
and then. in her most charming manner,
called one after the other to sit beside
her on "A long davenport, the time ap-
poI TONED being weighed with nicely SO
THAT mono might feel himself sighted or
preferred. These interviews consumed
more than half an hour and the move
rncnt thus occasioned gave considera BILE
animation 20 the scene.
IL may seem ridiculous that nine gen.
ilcmef thus paying court to young
woman should call upon her at the same
hour, but i must say that the gravity OF
the suitors and the entire sObriety OF
Cecilia did not affect me humorOusIy
Nor did / feel at all out of place in this
strange company. ] found myself agree
ably engaged for several minutes in dis
cussing Ibsen with the Oklahoma pro-
lessor. who proved TO be a delightful fell
iow. His experience of life was appar-
entity wide. and he told me with an en-
Saging frankness of his meeting with the
iiOilisterS in France and of his pursuit
# them over many weary parasangs the
previous summer. AS no one had elected
his courses in the university at the be-
ginning of the fail term. he had been
granted leave of absence, and this ac-
counted for his freedom to press his suit
At Hopefield Manor at this season. He
was big fellow. with clean-cut features
and bore himself with a manly determi-
nation that / found attractive.
He alone. / may say. OF the nine men
who had thus appeared in Miss Octavia's
library met me in cordial spirit. Even
Virgins seemed not wholly pleased "a
lind me there again though he had asked
me to remain. The manner of the others
expressed either disdain, suspicion OF
fierce hostility. ard Lord Arrowood. who
as oder than the others and man
well advanced toward middle age glared
at me so savagely with his pale blue eyes
CHI hax