The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-01-21
Gonttnuad.l
CHAPTER Viii.

~O this xas4the child whose devo-
NA~tion had sreHasrea Esaggins so
miserable and the sister of
whom Cecilia Hol1ister and her
aunt had spoken so strangely had
not suspected 1t. She was as unlike
Cecilia as possible, and the difference
lay in her independent spirit and bub-
bling humor-
She Jumped down from the wall, shook
three apples from tree and sustained
them in the air with the deftness and
certainty of practiced 1ugglery. Her
ABSORPTION was complete, and when
she wearied of this sport she flung the
apples away, one after the other. with
a boys free swing of the arm. Her
rick would have delighted in her, Dob
son would have spun her bright hair
into @ rondeaH, but only sAldrich. with
q twinkle in his eye, could have brought
her ND to date in d dozen Ginning coup
let's.
She had gone on up to the crest of
the orchard and stood clearly limned
against the sky, her hands thrust into
the pockets of her sweater. She ap-
peared to be intent upon something
that lagl. beIend5 atld half turned her
head and -summaDed me by .whistling.
I liked this better than the quotation
shriII pipe, that whistle. and she en-
phasized It further by a pefemptory
wave OF her arm. When stood beside
her 1 was surprised to ind that the site
commanded q wide area, including the
unmistakabIe roofs and chimneys Of
Hopeheld Manor, half mile distant
You viii see something funny down
there in a minute. They are out of
sight now, but there's stiIe, the kind
with steps, just beyond those trees.
It's in a path that leads from the
Prescott Arms to Aunt Octavia's.
Look!"
My eyes discovered the stiIe. It was
set in a wall that was, she told me. the
boundary dividing Ropefeid Manor
from another estate nearer our posi-
ton.
Suddenly a silk hat bObbed in the
path beyond the stfle. 1t rose as its
owner mounted the steps, it paused an
instant when the. top Of the stile WAS
reached, then quickly descended and
came toward us, a black blot above
a black coat. I was about to ask her
the meaning of this apart when a
second silk hat bobbed in the path and
then rose like its predecessor, descend
ing and keeping on it's way until hid
den from our sight by shrubbery. A
third, fourth, fifth, sixth. seventh.
eighth and ninth followed Nine gen
tlemen in silk hats crossing a stiIe in
a lonely pasture between woodlands;
so much was plain to the eye from our
vantage ground. But 1 CROPPED blindly
for an explanation of this spectacle.
The bobbing hats and dark coats sug-
gested waandsRers fB4trs some dark Plu-
tOnian cave, bent upon mischief to the
upper world. Their step was jaunty-
they moved as though drilled to the
same cadence.
We waited a moment, expecting that
another figure might join the strange
procession, but nine was the correct
count. I looked down to find Heze
kiah checking them off on the fingers
OF her slim brown hand
a'fHas there been a funeral. and are
they the returning pail bearers?'' L in
Quired.
Not yet" she replied.
Her face Showed amusement. The
twitching of her lips encouraged hope
Z that another of those delightful laughs
was imminent. She said:
Those are Cecilia's suitors They
have been to Aunt Octavia's to tea,
They're staying at the Prescott Arms
probably"
They're terribly formal 1 can't get
rid of the impression of somberness
created by those fellows You'd hard
" expect them to tramp cross country
"a those buds. Such grandeur should
20 on Wheels"
''Oh. they are afraid of Aunt Octa-
via ! She won I LhllosU a motor on her
grounds, and I suppose they're afraid
they might break some other rule if
they went on any kind of wheels.
She's rather exacting. you know. my
aunt Octavia.''
Il was at the Prescott for luncheon
today, and I must have seen these
gentlemen there
"Oh, you were at the Prescott?''
Almost for the first time her manner
betrayed surprise. but mischief danced
N the brown eyes. With Virgins
confession as to the havoc he had
played with Hezekiah's confiding heart
fresh in my memory. 1 felt delicacy
about telling her that it was to see
Virgins that / had visited the inn.
But to my surprise she introduced the
subject of Virgins Immediately and
with laughter struggling for one of
nose fountain-like spIashes that were
SO heguiiing
"Oh. Wiggy is staying there! Do
you know Wiggy?"
Know Wiggy, Hezekiah? I know
no man better
''UiGS<E is no end of fun, isn't he?