Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1922-02-16

and the
PIPER
Py
Kathleen Norris
Illustrations BY
Irwin Myers
Copyright by Kathleen Morris

Copyright BY Kathleen Norr1
" "Aient they simply shameless" she
t. SAID. u had them all settled down,
! once! Nina, where's Franciscan Nou
see" Harriet said, In rapid eNDlana
. ton Ia Richard II gave the girls my
room tonight So that they could all
, he together, and this Is my reward
1 The girls, entirely unbalanced by
: her severity, had deserted Richard
\ now. and were cingng 70 her With
weak laughter and feeble EXPLAIN.
J fgons.
Francesca unlocked that door, and
rushed into Mr.. Carriers room" Amy
, explained wiping her eyes. And
!, then the boys locked her in there,
The composed reappearancc Of Fran
!, esca at this point, however, added 10
, w. general hilarity,
T. 'hYou did not lock me in SmartieS"
J, rincesca drawled. chlldishly, They
j. pbed to the balcony, and we were
10 III, we were undressing she said
tlchurd, land here they were ham
H. ring and yelling lllie-like 81
. washes! We grabbed our wrappers,
/ we wanted to-"
!, I'VE wanted to lock them out
: therew Amy explained. laughing UNI
4 "a comfortably. But"
And ! snapped off the light"
r Nina iuterposed, with deep Satistac-
D tion.
!. "And, mind YOU"
frt "And Father
And the wonder was that we didn't
die Of fright"
. "Now. look here" Harriet said. In
!, the babel, "I'll give you all exactly two
!, minutes to. quiet down. Never in the
= course Of my life
I Richard thought her maternal indul
sence delightful; he thought In"
young people who chung about her
charming in their apologize and
inughing promises Ward and Bruce
Homer mounted 70 their own region ;
Richard went with the girls and llar-
rlet 10 the rooms that had been nj
Cracked Pilgrim, the tirclcSS. was al
!. Ready there, replacing pillows, straight
!, cnng beds untwiSting curtains. The
!, ''Hrls. with reminiscent bubbles OF
laughter. began to help her
After the last good-nightS Richard
2 and Harriet had no choice hut to cross
the hall again. and they stood there
i for moment, laughing at the recent
+. excitement.
after twelve" Harriet said With
smiling shake Of her head. Aren't
they young demons However she
added In All undertone, ITS the best
thing In the world for Nina. This
sort OF nonsense will blow cobwehs
( away
Richard was only conscious of Il
Z desire to prolong this intimate little
moment Of parental consultation.
''She doesn't speak Of Blondin?' he
asked
\ mot at all The birthday came and
went placldly enough" Hnriet an
swered, suddenly intent after her
laughing And az he did not speak for
second, she looked up 1T him limo
Gently. You don't think she's hiding
anythingT she asked. anXiouSly.
"I--no. | hardly think So" Richard
answered, confusedy Their eyes met
and he smiled vaguely. Then Harriet
slowly crossed the hall to the door of
the guest room, where she was spend
ing the night. and gave him an only
half-audible goodnight. Richard stood
watching the door for moment or two
after il had closed upon the slender
dlmly seen figure. Then he went Ia
l~ Y
enough to move about between the mir
rors and dressing room, windows and
bed. But two or three times he
stopped short aud found himself
staring yacantIy into space all move.
nient arrested, even thought arrested
for whole long minutes at time.
Harriet entering her room, closed
the door noseessly. and remained fOI
long time standing with her hands
resting against it behind her her eyes
alert, her breath coming as if She lHd
been running. There was only night
light in the bedroom the covers were
still tunbled back from her sudden
flight toward the rioting Youngsters II
the hall. She got back into her bee
anu opened h'F bhoh. ''Hi l'i " I'''S
time she neither slept nor rrad: hen
eyes widpned at the faintest sound oi
the summer night her heart tlumpct
madly when the curtains whispered AT
the window, or the wicker chairs gave
the faIntcst crCak. II had not beer
only for Richard that the midnight
hour of responsibility and informally
shared had had its thrill.
One O'Clock. Harriet closed her book
and snapped off her light But first
she went to the window and leaned ont
into the sweet darkness. There was
shadow unbrukcn everywhere; no light
in all the big house WAS burning as
late as her own.