The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-01-22
Coutinued.)

am going far, I know, Mr.. Ames,
but beg that you will not be in haste
to leave my aunt's house. She must
have been strongly prejudiced in your
favor or she would not have asked
you here on so 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. /
assume that you must have gathered
from what Mr.. Virgins told you of my
acquaintance with him the peculiar
plight in whfcEEe mJp1acSd.''
I bowed. If she CROPPED in the dark
and needed my help in finding the
light, I was not the man to desert her.
1 had dropped my plumb line into too
many dark chimneys not to feel the
fascination of mystery. AS express
ed again my entire willingness to abide
at HopefleId Manor as long. as she
wished, the foOtmaD announced Mr..
Hartley Virgins
We had hardly exchanged greetings
before another man was announced,
and then another. I should say that it
was at intervals of about three min
utes that the sedate servant appeared
In the curtained doorway and announc-
ed a caller until nine had been admit
ted. NY spirits scared high as the gen
tlemen from the Prescott Arms ap-
peared one after the other. The ear
Her arrivals rose to greet the later
ones, and as they were all in evening
clothes 1 experienced. as when 1 had
seen the same gentlemen in their after
noon raiment crossing the stile, a sense
of something fantastic and eerie in
h. Inf Of I7ro w ND
to avoid confusion, I tabulate them
here with a notation as to their resi-
dence and occupation, taking such data
from the notebook in which, at subse-
quent dates. set down the facts
which are the basis of this chronicle
Hartley Virgins. lawyer and farm
er, Hare and Tortoise club, New York.
Ldnnaeus 3. Henderson, planter, Roa-
Doke. Va
Cecil Hugh, Lord Arrowood, no oc-
cupation, Arrowood, Hants, England.
Daniel P. Ormsby, manufacturer Of
knit goods, Utica, N. z.
S Forrest Hume, lecturer on Scan
dfnavian literature, Occidental univer
sity, Long Trail, Okla.
John Stewart Dick, pragmatist, Oma-
ha, Neb.
Pendennis ]. Arbuthnot, banker and
Percivsl B. Shallenberger, novelist
and small fruits, Sycamore, Ind.
George ". Gorse, capitalist, Red
lands, Cal.
We rose and stood in our several
places when a moment later Miss Oc-
tavia entered. She greeted the suitors
graciousIy and then in her most charm
ing manner called one after the other
to sit beside her on q long davenport,
the time apportioned being weighed
with nicely, so that none might feel
himself sighted or preferred. These
interviews consumed more than half
an hour, and the movement thus occa-
stoned gave considerable animation to
the scene.
1t may seem ridiculous that nine
gentlemen thus paying court to a
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
humorouslyy nor did feel at all out of
place in this strange company. found
myself agreeably engaged for several
minutes In discussing Ibsen with the
Oklahoma professor, who proved to be
q delightful fellow. His experience of
life was apparently wide, and he told
me with an engaging frankness CT his
meeting with the HOLSTERS in France
and of his pursuit Of them over many
weary miles the previous summer. As
no one had elected his courses in the
university at the beginning of the fall
term. he had been granted q leave OF
absence, and this accounted for his
freedom to press his suit. at Hope
field Manor at this season. He was
big fellow, with clean cut features.
and bore himself with a manly deter
nlination that found attractive
He alone, I may say, of the nine
men who had thus appeared in Miss
Octavia's library met me in cordial
shirt. Even Virgins seemed not
wholly pleased to find me there again,
though he had asked me to remain.
THE manner of the others expressed
disdain- suspicion or fierce hostility.
When the last man rose from the
davenport Miss Octavia called me to
her side She seemed contrite at hav-
ing neglected me during the day, but
assured me that later she hoped to
place an entire day at my disposal. AS
we talked the nine suitors sat in a
semfcircle about Cecilia, while the
group listened to an anecdotal ex-
change between Professor Hume and
Henderson. the Virginia planter. My
opinion of Cecilia HolIister as a girl
of high spirit. able to carry off any sit
nation no matter how difficult, rose to
new attitudes as l watched her. If
This strange wooing was not to her l1k-
ing she certainly made the best of it.
She capped Henderson's best story