Oxford Democrat., 1921-12-13
Poor Butterfly
Indeed
By ROSE MEREDITH

rs the best room In the house. You
viii find ii warm In winter, cool In
summer and always quiet. The view is
pleasant, too"
Marshall agreed that the view of
tangled old garden that crept towards
the woods would be ideal. he heard
his prospective landlaly 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 quiet place, simple.
well-cOoked meals served in my room
and that Is about ALL" his plain fac,
broke into a pleasant smile. "I al.
writing play" he added, "and ma.
sit up very late at night. OF cours,
you may charge for the extra oil |
may burn"
MY father used TO sit up at all
hours. He was great student-you
shall have his favorite lamp, If you
wish" Miss Hesketh almost smiled
as she made this concession to the
| paying guest" she had dreaded to
take into her old house with its fad
ed grandeur and Its 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 Of
good cooking combined with the
natural resources Of the place should
exc out living for herself and Archi-
bald's child.
Archhbald's child a lovely dark
eyed girl Of twenty. was the subdued
| companion of the stern, elderly aunt,
| Archibald Hesketh had secretly mar
ried beautiful dancer who had given
4 up her own life for wee little Amabel.
Archibald brought the baby home to
| his Mortified elder sister and later had
been lost at sea. So Lydia Hesketh.
| who never wanted a husband or
| baby In all Of her narrow life, found
herself In middle age with child to
bring up to womanhood. Is 1t any
wonder that Amabel was strangely
quiet and restrained? She had few
| girllsh companions and her education
| had been undertaken by Miss Hesketh,
bg. then there was the brown old IL
brary, dim In summer, cOzy In WIN
ter with log fires and hundreds Of
books, and occasionally old friends
dropping In for ten, or there would
| be bazaar at the church No won
| der the girls dark gray eyes were
quiet pools rejecting only the flame
| Of sunrises and sunsets.
MY little niece will wait upon you.
She Is not a talkative child and am
| sure she will not annoy you." con-
| cluded Miss Hesketh after the pc
| cunlary matters had been arranged.
She had found Marshall most lib
| eral as to terms, and when he moved
1 his traps into the south room on the
| second floor she went downstairs IN
| the kitchen, humming weird little
tune In a minor key. Things looked
| very bright, indeed, for the old house.
i Amabel was In the kitchen hull,ng
| strawberries. She looked up and
| smiled as Miss Hesketh entered, and
| when Amabel smiled all the gravity
\ vanished there was mlrth In eyes that
danced, lips that curved deliciously,
Iimples In the creamy cheeks.
At sight of this loveliness Lydia Hes
keith was panic-stricken. Whenever
she was frightened or disconnected
she Immediately became very iras-
chile. "You must not smile like that
at Mr.. Marshall. child-you are so
unusual looking he might think you
were trying to filrt with him. be-
IIeve | should wait upon him myself.
Amabeps face sobered. For the hrst
time she realized that she had an OBJ
Iectionable, unruly face; she had al
ways thought most approvingiy or her
reflection In the dim old mirrors, for
she was her own playmate for many
years. "Why couldn't wear one OF
old Hepsy's frilled caps, Aunt Lydia
They are not frivolous. Hepsy LEFT
some Of them when she went away
and they are clean and starched, In
| the linen press" She ran and fetched
| one and slipped II over her dark hair
| No one would have suspected that the
| quiet face under the quaint starchec
sweeping cap was that Of girl In hel
teens. With her small stature an6
tiny form Amabel looked like CHILD
| playing at grandmother"
/ EXCELLENT" pronounced Miss Hes
keith. wow, there Is no reason VIII!
| you should not carry his meals up
| stairs while I attend to the othel
work" But Marshall elected to ea
| alone In the gloomy dining room, ant
he barely glanced at the funny ntti'
| form that waited upon him every day
| Sometimes he read while he ate. whicl
Is a bad habit, but Amabel and ne
aunt quite approved. So. money cam
into the great house and the old wem
| an and the young one rejoiced In IN
| new prosperity; they still cultivate
| the strawberry beds and the SINAI
fruits ON the place and made and sol
,ellies. Up In the south room Ian
Marshall worked on his play. and wa
away sometimes for days riding 1
his small. high-powered car.
One night in August he had worke
until midnight. He put out his lam
and sat down by the open window
looking out into the moon-bathed ga
/ | den. Perhaps he slept a WHILE fe
when he opened his eyes he saw
, slim: Whitehead form fitting down III
path to the lockwood maze where
5 | old fountain occupied the center. Il
could see II all from his post, and d
} smiled when he remembered how .
$ had lost himself In there one day an
r the odd child, Amabel. had led him o.
of his captivity. ,.,,.,
He watched the form, hardy per.
inc n could be Amabel, for ne na
q nave, seen her without the nideo.
+ cam She was wearing very straisl
d white dress that hung Imply sDo'
e her bare feet A great cloud OF ous1
y hair floated behind her. hei 10
e hardly touched the ground, % hsn.
s ana she skim down the pain IL
Is through the tangled maze. Pungel
m ho~u,ood came To ntln aI