Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1915-06-29

HE Drew a Polished Crystal and
Forced the Girl to Look at II.
home, and had ieisurely followed the
footman upstairs to the door of the
little sitting room.
When he heard her say coolly, even
coldly Tell him that ! am not at
home" he felt as if he had been
struck between the eyes. And then
anger seized him. For she had prom
ised that she would be at home on
that particular afternoon, and now
here she was saying that she wasn't.
OF course there was nothing that
he could do but turn and go. And.
of course, he did these things.
When he was in the open air he
drew a long breath.
IN get out of this damned city"
he said, "and If she happens to want
me for anything she'll find that I'm
the one that's not at home"
Like many other rich men, Barclay
owned q hunting preserve in the
Adirondacks, and seldom went near
it. But the five granite mountains
surrounded by dense forests thickly
sprinkled with lakes was one of
Tommy's favorlte stamping grounds.
1t wasn't so much that he enjoyed kill
ing animals or seeing how many fish
he could catch as that once In
while he liked to be alone, and to
keep alive and comfortable by his
own exertions.
The preserve was real wilderness.
One dirt road led from the railroad
station at Four Corners to the main
camp at the head Of the biggest lake,
but otherwise the region boasted only
a few narrow trails. And you had to
make your way from one landmark TO
another as best you could. And
either you had to take plenty Of con;
densed food in tins or trust to your
skill with rod and rife to keep you
from going hungry.
Tommy would leave the train at
Four Corners, hire a team, and get
himself put down somewhere along
the road leading to the main camp.
His kit on these trips consisted of
a blanket, a frying pan, a kettle,
change of underclothes, very light
.22-caliber rife, four-ounce fly rod,
compass, pipe. tobacco, and a few
other odds and ends, such as matches
and salt and a pair Of field glasses,
and an Oxford book Of verse.
One night few days after Mary
Blackstone had treated him so cav
alierly, Tommy camped on high
ground by the headwaters Of brook
Just back Of his shelter Of balsam
boughs knob of granite stood up clear
above the surrounding forest. Tommy
always called it the hub, because it
was almost the exact center OF the
great ring, traced roughly by the five
mountains, and afforded glorious
views Of them and Of the low coun-
try, lakes, forest and swamp that m
tervened. It was Tommy's favorite
camping ground. He would sit for
hours on the top Of the hub, his legs
hanging over into space, gazing and
dreaming.
On the particular night in question
he climbed the hub after a fine sup
per Of trout and ruffed grouse, filed
a pipe and watched the day fade and
the stars come out. What he enjoyed
most was the sense of solitude; civ.
ilization, Of course, was within reason
able reach in any direction, but
Tommy did not feel as II It was. He
felt as If there wasn't another hui
man being within hundreds OF miles.
There were men at the main camp,
only fifteen miles away, but he pre-
tended that there weren't, and that he
was in the heart Of a vast unexplored
country which no other white man had
ever visited.
Presently the moon began 70 rise,
and that always made Tommy mourn
full and sentimental. If he had been
a dog he would have thrown back his
head and howled. Being young man
he sighed and began TO imagine that
he and she "a romantic edition Of
Mary Blackstone with better manners
and less worldliness) had come TO
this wilderness to escape from the
outside world and to make their home.
What fun it would be! How he would
work to make her happy and com.
fortablei How easy It would be for
them to get along forever without any.
body else to bother them.
Just then his head fell forward on
his breast, and he dreamed that he
smelled boiling caulifower. It was a
smell to which he was particularly
sensitive, and which he particularly
hated. He walked with an angry start,
aud the smell persisted.