Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-08-04

-ronaer as they pass ''O ~,
,n.a gateway which admits 10 tne
luass of Wrychester. Nowhere. else III
,,a w. ia there a fairer prospect OF
bns,d y, -'ar,d peace. There before their eyes,
o'' ~ ,he center of a great grcensward'
". :" hv tall elms and giant beeches,
,,o vast fabric of the thirteenth
Ilse. .,rv 49, cathedral It's high spire piercing
~. skies in which rocks are forever
s,sc,ns and calling. The time-wofn
.,.ro at a little distance delicate as
,"o,work. Is transformed at different
a.. ~ the day into shifting shades OF
-. carving from gray to purple; the
..,,,eness of the great nave and tran.
~. Contrasts impressively with the
~..a,,al tapsripg of the spire. rising SO
blrb above trrret and cierestory that IL
a, last becomes a mere line against the
.,hsr In morning, as in afternoon, or
=. .yorine. here Is a perpetual atmos-
..,ro NJ rest and not around the great
..,,cb alone, but in the quaint and
.no,sn, houses which fence In the close
I,,,,o less old than the mighty mass OF
s,one on which their ivy-framed VIM
aatro
observer feel that here. II anywhere In
,hs world, life must needs run smoothly.
,frder those high gables, behind those
,.,,,l,oned windows, in the beautiful old
r,rdens lying between the stone porches
md the elm-shadowed lawn. nothing
ors would think, could possibly exit
ht leisured and pleasant existence
nf
outside the crumbling gateway, scem'
for the moment, far Off.
In one of the oldest of these houses,
half hidden behind trees and SHRUBS IN
a corner of the close, three people sat
a, breakfast one fine May morning.
The room in which they ate was In keep
inc With the old house and Its surround
ines--a long low-ceilinged room. with
oak paneing around its walls. and oak
beams across its roof-a room OF oia
furuiture and old pictures, and old
hooks, its antique atmosphere relieved
tv great masses of flowers. set here and
there in old china bowls: through Its
wide windows, the easements OF which
were thrown wide open. there was ar
inviting prospect OF nign-eagen I,oWer
garden, and, seen In vistas through the
trees and strawberries, of patches OF the
wcsi front of the cathedral, now somber
and gray in shadow. But on the garden
and into this hower-scented room the
sun was shining gaily through the trees.
and making CLEANS of light on the silver
and china on the table and on the faces
Of the three people who sat around 1t.
OF these three, two were young, and
the third was one of those men whose
age Il Is never easy to guess--a tall
clean -shaven. bright.eyed, alert-looking
man, good looking in a clever. profess
slonal sort of way, man whom no one
taG a n
member Of one Of the learned callings
In some lights he looked no more than
forty: a strong light betrayed the fact
that his dark hair had streak of gray
In IT, and was showing tendency to
whten about tho temples. A'strUng. in
tellectually superior man this. scrupu-
lously groomed and well dressed, as be-
fitted what he really was-a medical
practitioner with an excellent connection
among the exclusive society OF Il
cathedral town. Around him hung an
undeniable air of content and prosperity
as he turned over pile Of letters
which stood by his plate, or glanced
at the morning newspaper which lay at
his elbow, 1t was easy to see that he
had no cares beyond those of the day,
and that they-so far as he knew then.
were not likely to affect him greatly.
Seeing him in these pleasant domestic
circumstances. at the head of his table,
with abundant evidences of comfort and
refinement and modest luxury about
him, any one would have said, without
hesitation. that DR.. Mark Ransford was
undenably one of the fortunate folk
OF this world.
The second person of the three was
boy Of apparently seventeen--a well.
built, handsome lad Of the senior school,
boy. type, who was devoting himself In
business-like fashion 10 two widely
differing pursuits-one. the consump-
| hnpnn .
the other, the study of a Latin textbook.
which he had propped up in front OF
him against the old-fashioned silver
cruet. His quick eyes wandered alter.
nately between his book and his plate
now and then he muttered a line or two
TO himself, His companions took no
notice Of these combinations of eating
and learning; they knew from experience
mat II was his way to make up at
breakfast time for the moments he had
stolen from his studies the night before.
| IL was not difficult to see that the
third member of the party, a girl of
nineteen or twenty, was the boys sister.
Each had wealth Of brown hair. in
cllnlng, in the girls case, to a shade
mat had tints of gold in 1t; each had
gray, eyes, In which there was n mixture
OF olue; each had bright, vivid color I;
each was undeniably good looking and
eminently healthy. No one would have
doubted that both had lived a good deal
., an open-air existence: the boy was
Already muscular and sinewy: the girl
looked as II she was well acquainted
WIN the tennis racket and the golf
SUCK. Nor would any one have made
lhe mistake of thinking that these two
were blood relations of the man at the
mead OF the table-between them and
nm there was not the least resemblance
OF feature. Of color or of manner.
While the boy learned the last lines
ot MS Latin. and the doctor turned over
tne newspaper. the girl read a letter.
eVldently. from the large sprawlng
handwriting, the misslve of some girlish
correspondent She was deep in 1t when
a drom one of the turrets OF the cathe
oral a bell began to ring. At that, she
glanced at her brother.
vIheres Martin, Dick" she said
You'll have to hurry"
Many long year before that. in one
", Sne oygone centuries n worthy citizen
NJ sW sWrycnester Martin by name. had left
sum OIL money to the dean and chapter
nl the cathedral on condition that so
iohg as ever the cathedral stood they
nnouiu cause to be rung bell from
Us smaller bell-tower for three minutes
Seo oore o'clock every morning. all the
year round. What Martins object had
Ell Ell no one now knew-but this bell
taerVea 10 remind young gentlemen going
20 q. oihces and boys going to school
ulat the hour OF their servitude was
mear; AND Dick Bewery, without a
word holted half his coffee, snatched
lay with more books on n chair close
99y. and vanished through the open win
uoW. The doctor laughed, laid aside his
tuhewspaper th and handed his cup across
don't think you need bother your
eh aDout Dicks ever being late, Mary"
ne said. you are not quite aware of
me ne power of legs that are only seven
zen zen years cid. Dick could get to any
SSen point In Just about fourth OF
mo mo time that could, for instance
svo,eoVer, svsrss he has a cunning knowledge OF
In,