Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1921-07-21

Poor Butterfly
Indeed
By ROSE MEREDITH


(Ss 1871. ~ Mcclure sswsDaDer syndicAts)
This" said Miss Hesketh frigidly.
''is the best room In the house. You
will ind f. warm In winter, cool In
summer and always quiet. The view 10
pleasant, too"
Marshall agreed that the view Of
tangled old garden that crept towards
the woods would be ideal. He heard
his prospective landlady add that the.
other rooms overlooked kitchen gar
dens, the untrimmed trees Of the spa
cious lawns, and the village beyond
the bridge. He turned to Miss Hes
keith.
IL shall need a quiet place. simple
well-c0oked meals served In my room.
and that il about all" his plain face
broke into q pleasant smile. Il am
sit ND very late at night. or course.
you may charge: for the extra oil 1
may burn" ..
my father. used 10 sit up at all
hours. He was a great student-you
shall have his 'favorite lamp, IL you
wish" Miss. Hesketh almost smiled
as she made this concession to the
paying zguest" she had dreaded to
take into her old house with Its fad
ed grapdeur and It's many evidences
of better days. But failing fortunes
had driven her to this extremity-no
one wanted TO buy the place and she
had resolved that her knowledge or
good cooking combined with the
natural resources Of the place should
exc out living for herself and Archi-
baId's child.
ArchibaId's child, q lovely, dark
eyed girl Of twenty, was the subdued
companion Of the stern, elderly aunt.
Archibald Hesketh had secretly mar
ried n beautiful dancer who had given
up her own life for wee little Amabel
Archibald brought the baby home "a
his Mortified elder sister and later had
been lost at sea. So Lydia Hesketh
who never wanted n husband or q
baby in all Of her narrow life. found
herself in middle age with q child e
bring up TO wOmanhOod. L. IL any
wonder that Amabel was strangely
quiet and restrained7 She had few
girIlsh companions and her education
had been undertaken by Miss Hesketh
but then there was the brown old ii
brary,, dim In summer. coy in win
ter with log fires. and hundreds o
books, and occasionally old friend
dropping In for tea, or there wOul'
be a bazaar at the church. No won
der the girls dark gray eyes wer'
quiet pools rejecting only the fiam'
Of sunrises and sunsets.
my little niece will wait upon you
She is not n laxative child and an
sure she will not annoy you" con
cluded Miss Hesketh after the Pc
cunIary matters had been arranged
She had found Marshall most lii
cral as TO terms, and when he move
his traps into the south room on In
second floor she went downstairs j
the kitchen, humming weird nttl
tune In. minor key. Things locke
very bright, indeed, for the old hOus
Amabel was In the kitchen hullin
strnwberries. She looked up an
smiled as Miss Hesketh entered. an
when Amabel smiled all the gravft
vanished, there was mirth in eyes thu
danced, lips that curved deliciOusl,
dImples I'm the creamy cheeks.
At sight OF this loneliness Lydia He
keith was panic-stricken. Wheneve
she was frightened or disconcerte
she Immediately became very ira
chile. "YOu must not smile like thl
ut Mr.. Marshall, chil0-yOu are q
unusual looking he might think 20
were trying TO fiirt with him. j b
Ileve / should wait upon him myself
Amabel's face sObered. For the fir
time she realized that she had an o
jectionable, unruly face; she had q
ways thought NEST apprOvingly OF h
reflection I'm the dim old mirrors, +
she was her own playmate for maI
years "Why couldn't i wear one
old Hepsy's frilled caps. Aunt Lydi
They are not frivolous. Hepsy ID
some OF them when she went awI
and they are clean and starched,
the linen press" She ran and fetch
one and slipped IL over her dark ha
No one would have suspected that {
quiet face under the quaint starch
sweeping cap was that Of girl In h
teens. With her small stature al
tiny form Amabel looked like chi
playing at grandmother"
Excellent" pronounced Miss HI
keith. 'Now, there Is no reason W
you should not carry his meals Z
stairs while I attend to the 9th
work" But Marshall elected to {
alone in the gloomy dining room. a
he barely glanced at the funny lit
form that waited upon him every dI
Sometimes he read while he ate, viii
Is a bad habit, but Amabel and
aunt quite approved. So, money cal
into the great house and the old VIC
M and the young one reJOiced In
new4. prosperity; they still cultiva
the strawberry beds and the SIN
fruits on the place and made and 8
jellies. Up in the south room Ii
Marshall worked on his play, and v
away sometimes for days riding
his small. high-powered car.
One night in August he had worI
until midTight. He put out his la
and sat down by the open wind
looking out into the moon-bathed (
den: Perhaps he slept q while.
when he opened his eyes he saw
slim, white clad form fitting down
path to the lockwood maze where
old fountain occupied the center.
could see It all from his post. and
smiled when he remembered how
had lost himself In there one day
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