Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-11-10
oaTLY NOVELETTE,
! rur PEPPERMINT HOUSE
p,, r.. Reid Montgomery

THE living wasn't SO fat here
|lrd move on confided Charles to
b. .,.,;o, eoOA'l looked UP from her novel.
Blissaa never find another place where
you y oasy." she retorted, but its
Ne s,oson,e. 70 spent my day. of at
nre lS.or's lonp' Yesterday and the children
ry tIs' or,o This house needs a child
frc 80 ,b,en It up. The old lady gives me
10 brisnraa The way she sits in that
he cleJp room all the time. Tho big
d'rsen1eo don't do her a mite of good v
rounuS what ! was thinking" an :
"Ina5S a5S,or,os. az water and dig and
mcIea recn the flowers nice and no.
yesd ,s w. ,he yard. That high brick wall
bcdy sseorybody out. Seems to me. some
shuts g,' aid Charles that she shuts
tines, rincss % outside the walls. There's
her BENZ ibo sound Of a laugh in here.
reTeI s' had returned to her Ia le OF the
bl'i ioIv who yearned to be down
tueo U,,oonlo and she shook her be-
inons head rather impatiently as
nppsu, nIcosed with his own conver-
CherLsS droned on, Ellen was lonesome.
nuon' hoforn when Charles had been
lor lears he had regarded her with
ycuDto t;yr cves and she had cherished
.pecU''oJr po, Of being Mrs. Charles Winter,
hcpeS " seemed as though the quiet
out IN the Widows home had dulled
iou' aon who did all the heavy work
ne t'eb Tho place. He had gradually
i@uS i@unsd inviting the pleasant faced
hopp..o % out. The grounds were SO
n;nSs ncs; that they could stroll about
tpacipoS anwer scented dusk without
n.,ius @ n 20 outside the tall iron gates
N w. nsre only opened when the mistress
uus mi for her lonely drive behind her
M horses, q unique hgure IN her
Sssvy black garments among the stream,
y swiftly moving motorcors. And
r-,sn, who had found herself unable
~ rsprcss her liking for the plump
Charles, had. in her first angry moments
A disappointment, decided to wound him
Ir,o A proposal and had accepted the
,ttSntions Of the policeman who often
ssme in at the tradesmen 3 gate in the
,sJ al and white wall Of bricks.
Ellen was almost pretty, with her
yock flashed blue eyes and satiny
Mack. hair, but she wanted Charles, and
,oot % refuge in the thought that even If
M almost enchanted stiffness Of thu
ro.ltby estate had doubled him into
,lssnipess he at least courted no other
iii So she contented herself by living
4 Tho unreal world of romance where
.r.ry pretty girl ultimate Y became Il
supsn and never spcculated upon Il
world which would soon be unconlforta-
Nv crowded with princesses md queens.
With no ordinary people to cook anil
tlrap. She did net guess that Charles
had once spoken 20 his mistress about
marrying 49,.
"No," Mrs. Meadows had said. "if
,ou marry Ellen you must both 60. l
rcp't have my routine interrupted.
vas unhappy in my married life AMI
You would be also. | believe 1t IS in
rtab'c. have remembered you both
m my will, substantially. After l have
zone out those big gates for the last
tine you may marry. ] am going to
double both your salaries. though.
Money compcnsates for everything"
Charles had not mentioned the mat
Ter to Ellen. lie felt sure Of her and the
itepy atmosphere Of the place made him,
secretly. that Ellen would have left the
tst living IN the great house, that was
wiftly falling into decay because OF
the owners boarding, to go to cheap
little home with him,
Upstairs Mrs. Meadows felt strange.
y restless. Perhaps the spring had
touched her aged blood with tho old
longincs. Memories Of the past. when
her daughter, long dead now, had flied
,he great house with the sound OF
laughter, aSsailod her. Moving heavily
tross the priceless Oriental rug, With
its symbolic pattern Of the Tree Of