The Washington herald., 1922-01-22

he wondered that any could be found willing
to wrest . living from those fields. That
was the pride Of these moorland people, he
knew: that desperats eiinging to the position
OF landholder. lacking which they must sink
to the iEnominy Of service to others.
His rap on the door echoed back TO him
with almost Righteousness: even II Mira
Toi1ey were within. how would he explain
his coming here again-when he could not
explain # even to himself. The e1traordi-
nary circles Of life and their unseen eonnee-
uons- Elsie Lathrop. the Bsnbrook Gallery,
Mrs.. Ira and himself. seven thousand miles
away. knocking on the door Of this isolated
Dartmoor cottags.
II was Elias who opened to him, the sterile
ehIdishness Of his faes undfrlaid by a glow
Of excitement which faded At sight Of May
nard.
Fl. It's you. On thought a. Z was Squire
Brsgdon come down from Prtnoestown--
Then the glow mounted again In recovered
confidence. But he'll coma you'u sea- In
LITTLE whils he'll b a-srummastng down %
fast a. uns mare can trot Come you In
II WA the same room In which Maynard
had hrst seen the Tolley chair. even a. be
av II now. lerdins It over the threadbars
nsatnsss Of tts surroundings The sight Of
1t awoks again IN him the destrs to carry II
Oh and enshrins II IN some more worthy
plaza Then. a. he locked At the woman.
even the chair faded, for It was she who was
the real pressnos. A she sat there. black
clad bieakiy tmmobls she was IKE some
priestess At temple which. its affairs already
pickering to extinction. waited mutsly for the
touch Of the vandal For her that touch had
already coma he felt; she was merely a. .
mourner who waits the removal, Of the body.
He could imagine her and Elias, with their
meeser bassass piled On . neighbors cart.
passing disposessed out into the rain, the
poisnancy Of their going slimsd BY the grin
Of that tragedy Of pigs
Yet he realized, toe, something Of what
that young stranger had meant when he
spoke Of the meor peoples sense Of the an
OF q situation. The barrsnness Of II made
this drama Of the To,sys . perfect thing.
rooted In son and tradition old - that ago
less Moor ana the centuries Of the Crown
he had been viewing IL from his own angle
Of the chair, but he saw now that TO these
people Of the waste the erux Of It was that
quarterly miracle Of the Toliey rent, with its
suggestion Of something older even than the
son. more potent than the Crown itself. A
false touch would have marrsd the classic
severity Of its outlines: even death would
have been too final. for the harrow Of this
was the going on,
It was Elias who saved the moment from
becoming intolerable: gazing out through the
rain drenchsd panes. hs gave q CRY OF
triumph.
y told you so-ts him. I'd swear 10
Squire Brasdon's mare II = was % dark a.
the Pit rsself. Now us1l SEE
The rattle OF wheels down the lane. q
splash OF hoofs in its pools: the feeling Of an
overbeartng personality about to descend on
them. a grating voice with sort of ,ovial
snarl In It
Hah-so that's you. Elias, is 1T whats
all this-hey7 Mrs Touey not got her rent
what7"
There was no change in the woman. Look
Ing At her carven calm. Maynard dimly saw
the high gods at whose affairs she had %
long been servitor, The grim lords Of Pow.
Come of appeasement left on their shrine
being that unavailing witch IRE Of Elias op-
umism. Il was almost q relief when the
agent hustled in. shedding his overcost, the
plump norfdness Of his face Heightened by q
, varnish Of rain.
what this. Mrs. roreyI " he rallied At her.
in q savage humor. your black magic
hocus-pocus gone back on you-heyf Two
hundred years ago and you'd have been
burned a. q witch. What dye mean by
brinking me all this wsy' why weren't
you at Prtncestownf
Az he listened. Maynard half forsave. 80
ing that the man was secretly m at ease.
clustering against those superstftions which
his position forbade him to recognize bot
none the less insrained in him by q lifetime
OF the Moor. Looking at the three figures
against the background Of that room. he
wondered again how he himself came to be
there. Brasdon. like q high coiorsd print of
the conventional. fox hunting squire. below.
ing himself to . conviction Of his propsr
estate. Elias. with palior almost luminous