Graham guardian., 1913-06-20
The Siege
of the
Seven SuitOrs
By
MEREDITH NICHOLSON
Copyright lala ,, Meredith S'cholsoo

bowed humbly before this compli,
mpnt. My time had been lightly ap.
praised by Miss octavia and again by
Virgins. long Telegram from my
assistant that reached me while dress
ed for dinner had urged my immediate
attendance upon my Office, Some OF
my best clients. now reopening their
hoassS- Tor the winter. were In desper.
ate Mfralts. Hut. Octnvia HOLSTERS do
not t5scur In the life of every young
49, and both Cecilia and Hezekiab
had taken stroni:r hold upon my imus1.
nation Virgins plnce among the dra,
MATHS personne would In itself have
compelled my sympathetic attention,
and the nine silk hats that ] had seen
bopbiny over the stile still danced be
fore my eyes.
Miss HollIstcr." 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 be made upon him. Fray state In
what manner | may serve you
~ am going far. know. Mr. Ames.
but I beg that you will not be In haste
to leave tny nunt's house. She must
bAs-e 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 Hiking for you at luncheon. and
ain sure that she will see to Il that
n IL. o.. - txSV, Il
assume that you must have gathered
from what Mr.. Virgins told you OF my
acquaintance with him the peculiar
plight in which am placed"
bowed. If she CROPPED In the dark
and needed my help In 6ndlng the
Hight was not the man to desert her.
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
nt Ilopefeld Manor as long as she
wished. the footman announced Mr..
Hartley Virgins.
We had hardly exchanged greetings
before another man was announced,
nnd then another should say that It
wr% nc intervals OF about three min
utsA that the sedate servant appeared
In the curtaIned doorway and announc~
ed caller until nine had been admit
ted. My spirits scared high as the gen.
tlemen from the Prescott Arms ap-
peared one after the other. The ear.
lier arrivals rose to greet the later
ones, aud ~ they were all In evening
clothes | experienced. as when l had
seen the same gentlemen In their after
noon raiment crossing the stlle. sense
OF something fantastic and eerie 10
them. Ia the interest Of brevity aud
TO avoid confusion, tabulate them
here with notation as TO their resi-
denee gnd occupation. taking such data
from 1fhe notebook In which. at slibse-
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
l.inDaeus Il Henderson. planter. Roa
noke. Va
Cecil Hugh. Lord Arrowood. no oc.
rupation. Arrowood. Hants. England.
Daniel r. Ormsby. manufacturer OF
knit goods. Utica. ~ Y.
S. Forrest Hume. lecturer ON Scan,
dinavian literature. Occidental univer.
slty. Long Trail. Okla.
John Stewart Dick. pragmatist. oma-
ha. Neb
I'endennis j. Arbuthnot, banker and
borseman. Lexington. Ky,
Pprcival II. SiaIlenberGer. novelist
and small fruits. sycamore. Ind.
George W Gorse, capitalist Red
Sspss. Cal.
We rose and stood In our several
places when moment later Miss 0c-
tavia entered She greeted the suitors
graciously and then IN her most charm
Ing manner called one after the other
to SIT beside her on q long davenport,
the time apporticned being weighed
with nicely. 80 that none might feel
himself slighted or preferred. These
interviews consumed more than half
an hour. and the movement thus occa-
sloFbed gave considerable animation to
the scene.
II mny seem ridiculous that nine