Perth Amboy evening news., 1913-02-18
Continued
CHAPTER Xxx.
y Gold Reeds.

III WATCHED her hands ns the.
deftly cut and fashioned some
dry reeds. The air grew warn
MS the sun climbed to the zenitI
and HeZekiah flung aside her coat
The breeze caught the ends of her til
and snapped them behind her. Sl,
was wholly absorbed In her task. aut
no boy could have managed IL lnrkpr
knife better. The first reed she made
a trine longer than her hand. IN,
succeeding ones she trimmed to gradn
ated lessening lengths. till seven in at
had been cut. and her she notcheo
them.
Seven" she murmurpd. laying them
neatly in order on her knee. Il ~
member the right number by u poem
] read the other day IN an old mnga
zine
She reached down and plucked srv-
eral long leaves of tough grass with
which she began to bind the reeds to-
gether. repeating:
Seven gold reeds grew tan and slim
Close by the rivers beaded brim.
Syrnix. the naiad. fitted past:
ran. the goat h0ofro. followed fast.
III will be e%aSier." said Hezekiah. iii
you hold the pipes while | tie them"
| found this propinquity wholly
agreeable. Ii WAS pleasant TO sit on "a
log beside Hezekiah. 1t seemed no far
cry TO the storied Mediterranean aud
PAN and dryads and naiads. ,iS Ii-z,s-
kiah bound her reeds to The mrst. uf
u0uplets. There was no self es,Isti0iis-
hess in ner recitation, She seemed to
Ve telling OF something that she had
seen herself nm hour ago.
H spread his arms TO clasp her there
Just as she vanished into air
And TO his bosom. warn and rough,
Drew the gold reeds close enough.
u don't remember the rest" she
broke Off 'Bnt there. limits "a pipe
ft for any shepherd"
She put II to her Hips and blew. !
shall not pretend that the result was
melodions. She whistled mnch better
without the reeds. but the sight OF her,
sitting on the fallen tree beside the
lake. beating time with her foot. her
head thrown back. her eyes half closed
Al " H'p Nh'i Va iblituAf Hi hhS VI lblt
wheezy uncertainties and ineptitudes
she evoked. thrilled me with new and
wonderful lOngings. a heart, a spirit
like hers would never grow Old. She
was next of kin to all the elusive, fugi-
tive company OF the elf world. And on
such a pipe as she had strung together
beside that pond TO this day Sicilian
nbayhnr1 Howe, ,rhttl- 49,.
tune with Theocritgs.-~. ~. ane-a, !.
- sea ar -
you more than ! have. and yet 1t is MI
there. Chimneys. Read the riddle Of
the reeds II you can"
! took the pipe and turned 1t owe
carefully In my hands, but ] fenr my
thoughts were rather of the hands
that had fashioned it. the fingers that
had danced nimbly upon the stops.
''Tbere nre seven r~eeds-seven,' she
affirmed.
She amused herself by skipping peb-
bles over the surface of the water
while | pondered. and ! deliberated
long. for one did not like to hlunder
before HeZekiah. Then ! jumped up
and called to her.
"One. two, three. four. five. six
seven. Not until the seventh man Of
fers himself shall Cecilia have Il hus-
band. Is that the answer"
For a moment Hezekiah watched the
widening ripples made by the casting
of her last pebble. Then she came
back and resumed her seat.
You have done well. Chimney Man
and now I'll not make you guess an!
more. though | found 1t all out for my
self. When Aunt Octavia gave that
memorandum hook to Cecilia | knew 1t
must have something to do with the
seventh man. You know | love ali
Aunt OCtavia's nonsense because its
the kind of fColiShness | like myself.
md the Idea of Il pretty little note
book to wrlte down proposals In was
precisely the sort of thing that would
have occurred to my aunt. And it was
fl the bargain. too. that she herself
should not IN any way interfere Or try
to influence the course of events Ii
should he the seventh suitor, Willy
nilly. And | suspect she's been Il little
scared too"
"Shp hns indeed. She was almost
ready to throw the whole scheme over
last nirht. Your naughtiness had got
on her nerves"
''Ynu missed the target that time
Aunt Octuvia loves my nanghtiness.
aud | think she has really been afraid
Sir Pumpkin Virgins would catch me
Now. | didn't roam my annt's house
just for fun. ] was doing my best to
keep Cecilia from getting into some
scrape about that seventh suitor plan.
! found ont by chance how to get into
llopefield and about the hidden stair
way and the old rooms tucked away
there. Papa really discovered that.
A carpenter IN Katonah who worked
on the house helped to build papa's
bungalow. and he told us how that
ruin came to he there. Tint dvs-
repsia cure man. who also immortal
ICED himself by %inyenting the ribless
umbrella, was very superstitiOus. II"
believed that II he built an entirely
new house he would die. SO he had
bis architect build around and retain
those two rooms and that stairway OF
a house that had been ON the ground
almost since the Revolution. Mr.. Pep