Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-10-05

greater
not being greatly missed in the ether room. Ono
night as she wrapped her Owing around her
child Little Mary weary of muc'l promiscuous fon-
ding cried out sleepily Go away; leave alone
And Ethel sharply whispered, "Oh, darling, You
haven't turned against me, too and knelt with her
face in the pillow until she gathered composure
return to the outer The situation was work.
ing itself out to its inevitable conclusion
Little Mary all unconscously. in the great circle
of hotel life, had ceased to attach any particular
importance to the more intimate group of the family
Her old need of her parents the hotel largely sup
piled. When she drifed in to her meals, any
of the walters brought her food ring of the bell
summoned chambermaid glad to assist her into
clean frock with toilette for the night. If her
parents went out for the evening, she was not alone
among many. Even her little dresses Mrs
recognized perfection She was the pretteet
lady in the hotel; everyone said so. even Walter
Gardner. who had written it in q note which Doc
dies had not scrupled to read If Little Mary wished
a story, q dozen young ladies would tell her one.
If she wished to play, any place was better than
the narrow bounds of their rooms, whore Ethel
entertained perforce the ladies dawdling from
to room Little Mary always made her escape as
soon possible
The great hotel offered endless diversion II
Mary and boobies, whose liberty was absolute, tired
OF play. they called from to room the older
people, sometimes consulting the register for
acquaintances. Each closed door was the entrance
to either accustomed pleasures possibilities OF
new delight In one room a lady kept a jar If
candied fruit: in another they We're always offered
afternoon tea in still third severe little spinstor
kept canary, and the children used to press close
his cage and pity the little nuttering life Dc
prived of his natural heritage. Sometimes they
planned to help him escape back to trees and flow.
Some Of the inmates of the where the chill.
dren boldly knocked did not make them very well
come One lady especially upon whose obedient
little daughter they sometimes shed the light OF
their presence. decidedly cool. She never left
the during their visit. checking her Helens
every movement if to give an example to her
guests of watchfu motherhood Helen, fingers
she would whisper sharply. Helen, elbows down.
in voice refined il had lost all natural timber.
In her fear of hotel influences, Helen never for
instant alone An old nurse took the mothers
place if she by chance was absent
The children pitied Helen deeply. She fascinated
them the captive canary did Her wan little
face often peered out at them between the mother
and nurse as she left them rompng behind the
heard Helens mother say she passed Nurse
that Helen has nothing to do with them"
A year passed by. Little Mary had grown taller
and thinner and shed her first milk teeth. No one
petted her any more though she posed and pirou-
Other favores younger and more unconscious, had
replaced her. One night when she pushed her way
into group about the piano and cried, Don't sing
so loud. no one can hear me- no laughter greeted
her sally. would have happened a year since.
Instead she heard repeatedy "A spoiled disagree,
il dreadful the way her father carries with Mrs.
Mac1ean! They say the manager has asked for
Little Marys knowledge of life was like forced
plant. that she had fair understanding OF these
words. When Doodles and her mother left the hotel
openly more curious when evening after evening
her father in his big French machine fortune had
for parts unknown leaving Ethel white and dry
eyed. in the luxury Of their handsome suite When
chambermaid informed Little Mary that her mother
had sued for a divorce Ethel handicapped by the
fneness of her instinct which even ito years of
hotel life had not served TO blunt entirely had been
playing losing game almost from the first Mrs.
MacIean with no such handicap had made non
chalant capture of her husbands affections
The days that followed We're days of acute misery
for the child. Deprived OF boobies society. avoided
by OF the more carefully reared children, she
Ctcln ohOtt long chi
from the comments that greeted her appearance.
Curled up in the great chairs in the huge echoing
hotel parlors, under high electric lights, she de-
voured the novels which the boy the cigar stand
let her take. The silence Of their suite was into
cradle. Her mother always out locked
in her own room face downward the bed.
One day during this dreary period of time Little
Mary learned from her friend at the news counter
that there had been some kind of failure and that
her father had gone down in the crash n was the
subject Of conversation everywhere that morning
The child stealing awkwardly about from group to
group felt herself again the object of attention
One old gentleman had said carelessy in her hear.
ing. THE best thing that ever happened to him.
That vampire will let go fast enough now
Little Mary. with some instinct of protection.
rushed back to their rooms. where her mother ate
her breakfast.
Mother" she said everyone SAYS father has lost
all his money on mother, everyon'e is talking
her mothers hand conyusively
Mary" the mother said. Are you sure?"
The child nodded, trembling
Her mother buried her face in her hands, but
when she lifted it, it was rosy, almost smiling
ooh. Mary" she cried, I'm glad, for father will
back. I know he will!'
For three days Little Mary ran directly back to
the hotel from school and peeped eNpectantly into
their room but no father came Once the man at
the desk there with papers, speaking gravely
while her mother made some trembling plea
II the fourth day that Little Mary found
him there He sat beside an elderly man on the
sofa who, Mary OWNED. was her grandfather. In
the inner room her mother and grandmother were
husily packing. Mary kissed her grandparents in
differently; they seemed to her simply elderly people
like many others in the hotel She sat by the
window trembling and crying out from all
the excitement, Suddenly her mother, whose face
bright and cheerful again, came to the door.
She held up little plaid dress. Mary. do yor
remember this? I made ii for her, Walter. TO wear
when you came home
In some ineXpcablo way the funny, crude little
dress drew them all close together with all the
tender memories it invoked The man, remembering
that night, his loyalty and tenderness for his wife
and child their adoring love and belief in him.
raised his eyes contrtey to Ethels face. Her own,
tender and forgiving and wet with tears. met his
in silent VOWS for the future Then they both looked
at Little Mary, in one instant realizing what the
years had done to her Begin they would
had Ofp