Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-04-14
rooms. Mr.. Magee maneuvered so as ID

Il EVOmSs mEs mo6SC nAohCoN SASu ~ 80 w
meet the girl at the foot Of the stairs.
won't you come back" he whis.
pered softly, "and explain things to a
poor hermit who is completely at scar"
"What things?" she asked.
"What 1t all means," he whispered.
"Why you wept in the station, why
you invented the story Of the actress,
why you came here to brighten my
drab exile-what this whole comedy Of
Baldpate inn amounts to anyhow"
She only looked at him with unbe-
heving eyes.
"You can hardly expect me to credit
that" she said. II must 60 up now
and read mamma into the pleasant
land Of thin girlish figures that is her
afternoon siesta. l may come back
and talk to you after awhile, but /
don't promise to explain"
"Come back" pleaded Mr.. Magee.
'That Is all ask"
"a tiny boom" she smiled. Il grant
It."
Laughing, Mr. Magee sought the soil
tude Of No. Z.
after all, I'm here to work." he told
himself. alarms and excursions and
blue eyes must not turn me from my
task. Let's see-what was my task?
| A deep heart searching novel, novel
devoid of rabid melodrama. 1t becomes
more difficult every minute here at
Baldpate inn. But that should only
add more zest to the struggle. l de-
vote the next two hours to thought"
He pulled his chair up before the
blazing hearth and gazed into the red
depths. But his thoughts refused to
turn to the masterpiece that was to be
born on Baldpate. They rOamed to
far of Broadway; they strolled with
Helen Faulkner-the girl he meant to
| marry II he ever got around to it
along dignified Fifth avenue. Then
joyously they trooped to far more
alluring. more human girl, who press
ed q bit Of cambria to her face In a
railway station, while ginger haired
agent peeped through the bars. Soon
Mr.. Magee's thoughts were climbing
Baldpate mountain. there to wander IN
a mystic maze Of ghostly figures which
appeared from the shadows, holding
aloft in triumph gigantic keys. Mr..
Magee had slept but little the night
before. The quick December dusk fill
ed No. Z when he awoke with a start.
He remembered that he had asked
| the girl to come back to the office and
berated himself to think that probably
she had done so only to find that he
was not there. Hastily Strengthening
his tie and dashing the traces Of sleep
from his eyes with the aid Of cold wa
ter, he ran downstairs.
The great bare room was in dark
ness save for the faint red Of the fire
Before the fireplace sat the girl Of the
station, her hair cleaning with a new
splendor In that light. She looked In
mock reproval at Mr.. Magee.
"For shame" she said, "to be late al
the trysting place"
"a thousand pardons," Mr.. Mager
replied. II fell asleep and dreamed
q girl who wept in q railway station
and she was so altogether charming
could not tear myself away"
81 fear" she laughed, "you are old IN
the ways Of the world. A passion TO:
sleep seems to have seized the her
mits The professor has gone to his
room for that purpose, and Mr.. Bland
his broken heart forgot. slumbers Owe
there" She pointed to the haberdash
er inert In a big chair drawn up neal
the clerks desk. "Only you and l In
all the world awake"
"Pretty lonesome, isn't it?' Mr.. Ma
gee glanced over his shoulder ut the
shadows that crept in on them.
T was finding 1t very busy when
you came" she answered. "YOu see
have known the inn when 1t was
gay with summer people, and as l sat
here by the fire pretended saw the
ghosts Of lot Of the people l knew
fitting about in the dusk. The rock
ing chair feet sailed BY
"The what?"
"Black flag flying, decks cleared fol
action-l saw the rocking chair fleet
90 BY" She smiled family. 1--WE al
ways called them that. Bitter, un-
kind old women who sat hour after
hour on the veranda and rocked and
gossiped and gossiped and rocked.
"And l saw some poor little ghosts
weeping in corner" she went on;
"a few that the feet had run down
and sunk In the sea Of gossip. little
ghost, whose mother had not been all
| she should have been, and the feet
found 1t cut and rocked and whispered
and she went away. And a few who
| were poor-the most terrible Of sins
| to them the feet showed no mercy.
And a fine proud girl, Myra Thornhill,
who was engaged to a man named
Kendrick, and who never dared come
| for smile from him. They keep tracA
| Of his goings and comings, and when
he is In the card room playing his silly
old game of solitaire they run down
their victims in subdued tones so as
not to disturb him."
"What an interesting place" said Mr..
Magee. II must visit Baldpate next
summer Shall-shall you be here"
"It's so amusing" she smiled, ignor-
ing the question. you'll enjoy It.
And it isn't all feet and admiral.
There's happiness and romance and
whispering on the stairs. At night,
when the lights are all blazing and the
band is playing waltzes in the Casino
and somebody is giving dinner In the
grill room and the girls fit about IN
the shadows, looking too sweet Tor
words-well. Baldpate inn is a rather
enhancing spot I remember those
nights very often now"
"Many men have loved you" he said.
"Are you reading my palm" she
asked, laughing.
"No-your face" answered Mr.. Ma
gee. "Many men have loved you, for
very few men are blind. l am sorry
I was not the man on the stair or on
the mountain in the moonlight Who
knows? l might have been the favor
ed one for my single summer Of JOY"
1.-THE autumn always came" smiled
the girl.
"It would never have come for me, v