Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-09-16

o roof had given him shelter. the
master of Mereside.
The little visit to Jasper Grierson's
library was not prolonged beyond the
invalid's strength: but n~otwithstand-
ing its brevity there were inert cur
rents OF antagonism evolved which
Margery. present and endeavoring to
serve as a lightning arrester. could
neither ground nor turf aside.
Griswold took away from the rather
constrained ice.breaking in the bank
er's library a renewed resolve to cut
his obligation to Jasper Grierson as
short as possible. How he should be-
gin again the mordant struggle for
existence was still an unsolved prob
lem. or the one-thousand.dollar
spending fund there remained some
thing less than half; for a few weeks
or months he could live and pay his
way; but after that. Curiously
enough the alternative Of another at
tack upon the p~lutocratic dragon did
not suggest itself. That, he told him,
self, was an experiment tried and
found wanting. But in any event. he
must not outstay his welcome at
Mereside; and with this thought in
mind he crept downstairs daily after
the library episode. and would give
Margery no peace because she would
not let him go abroad in the town.
How sharper than a %serpent's
tooth 1t is to have a thankless'-what
shall l say-patient. or guest, or
friend?" she laughed, garbling the
quotation to fit the occasion.
Shakespeare said child" he sug.
gested mildly.
And so shall l." she gibed-but the
gibe itself was almost a caress. Some
times you remind me of an impatient
boy who has been promised a peach
and can't wait until it ripens. But II
you must have a reason why l won't
drive you this afternoon, you may.
We are going to have a tiny little
social function at Mereside this ave.
ming. and / want you to be fresh and
rested for It,"
Certainly. I shall come, II you wish
it," he assented. remembering afresh
his immense obligation; and when the
time was ripe he made himself pre-
sentable and felt his way down the
dimly lighted library stair. being
minded to slip into the social pool
by the route which promised the
smallest splash and the fewest ripples,
1t was a stirring of the Philistine
in him that led him to ~prefgure weari-
ness and banality in the prospect.
Without in the least expecting 1t. Girls
void was a Brahmin of the severest
sect on his social side; easily dis
posed to hold aloof and to criticize,
and, as a man eastern-bred, serenely
assured that nothing truly acceptable
IN the social sense could come out of
the Nazareth Of the West.
For this aus he was properly hui
inflated when he entered the spacious
double drawing-rooms and found them
so comfortably crowded by a throng
of conventionally clothed and conven-
tionally behaved guests that he was
Immediately able to lose himself-and
any lingering trace Of self-conscious-
ness-in a company which, If appear
ances were to be trusted. was west
ern only by reason of Wahaska's loca-
ton on the map.
And the charming young hostess
-. Hitherto he had known her
only as his benefactress and the
thoughtful caretaker for his comfort.
But now, at this first sight of her
in the broader social field, she shone
Upon and dazzled him. Admitting that
the later charm might be subtly SEN
suous-he refused to analyze it too
closely-it was undeniable that 1t
warmed him to a newer and a
stronger life; that he could bask In its
generous glow like some alternating
thing of the wild answering 10 the
first thrilling of the springtide. True,
Miss Grierson bore little resemblance
to any ideal of his past imaginings.
She might even be the Aspasia to
Charlotte Farnham's Saint Cecilia
But, even so, was not the daughter OF
Axiochus well beloved Of men and Of
heroes?
1t was some little time afterward,
and Jasper Grierson, stalking like a
grim and rather unwilling master Of
ceremonies among his guests. had
grufly introduced three or four Of the
men, when Griswold gladly made room
In the window seat for his trans
formed and glorifed mistress of the
illnesses. AS had happened more than
once before, her nearness intoxicated
him; and while he made sure now
that the charm was at least partly
physical. Its appeal was none the less
irresistible.
Are you dreadfully tired?" she
asked, adding quickly: "You mustn't
let us make a martyr Of you. It's
your privilege to disappear whenever
you feel like It."
Indeed, I'm not at all tired" he
protested. 1T is all very comforting
and homelike; so vastly" he hest
tated, seeking thoughtfully for the
word which should convey his mean
ing without laying him open to the
charge OF patronizing supercilious-
ness, and she supplied 1t promptly.
$50 different from what you were
expecting: l know. You have been
thinking OF us as barbarians-outer
barbarians, perhape-and you find that
we are only harmless %provincials. But
really. you know, we are improving.
l wish you could have known Wa
haska as 1t used to be-"
ut Is all very grateful and delight
full to me-" he confessed, at length.
IT have been out Of the social run
ming for a long time. but may as well