The Coolidge examiner., 1931-11-13
Cinderella House
Finds It's Prince
By RUBY DOUGLAS


even the clothespins in the basket
in the laundry with emotions and
/ felt sorry for anyone of them that
/ happened to be left overnight in the
cold clothes yard.
Just now she was weaving ro-
nance around an ancient ruin on &
country road, a veritable Cinderella
( of a house in community of lovely
/ buildings and gardens.
/ If she had had the least excuse
or the financial ability to buy, and
rebuild the place into semblance
/ of its former beauty, she would
/ have done so. AS it was, she
merely kept it always & vision be-
fore her, drove past it again and
again, loving it, cheering it up in its
loneliness by stopping to admire its
one-time charming lines.
1 One day when she approached her
/ Cinderella house she saw two cars
standing between the sentinel trees.
Marie drove up the road and re-
turned to go slowly along the front
She thought she recognized the car
of a real estate dealer in the vii
/ lage and she wondered who could
be looking at the place.
a rather young man stepped out
and waited for some one. Yes; it
was the realtor she had believed it
to be. Evidently, he was trying to
sell the house to this young man.
! Could it be that the man was to be
married and that he liked the
grounds and would, perhaps, tear
down the old house? Marie shud-
dered at the thought.
The two men stood before 1t,
looking up at the roof, the chin
neys, bravely erect in spite of their
age.
"No, | think it is hopeless" she
heard the stranger say.
Nettled into courage she had new
er known she possessed, Marie
turned her car quickly into the
| driveway.
"Oh, Mr.. Hyde." she exclaimed,
addressing the real estate man who
had been a friend of her father, Il
have been looking for an opportu-
nifty to speak to you about this very
house and as saw you out here at
the psychological moment | decided
that | would stop"
"Some old place, said Mr.. Hyde.
1T is a good house, Long Island
/ farmhouse type and rare nowadays.
Need & lot of work but could be
made a gem"
Il have always loved it," said
Marie, scarcely knowing what she
was about to do. II have wondered
why. |, IS one who has visualiZed il
as a beautiful home, might not be
able, working with some one like
you, to make it such. | am conf
dent | could beautify it so that 1t
would bring you lot of money and
be an artistic addition to even this
exquisite section of the country"
Hyde looked at her. by jove,
you talk as if you know what you
wanted to do. Have you definite
plans for it?'
Marie nodded. Mr.. Hyde intro
duced the stranger
Miss Ellen, Mr.. TomlinsOn. This
young man thinks he would like to
buy s home in the country for his
father and mother. He wants a
place on the north shore here as
nearly like the one they had during
their honeymoon, thirtyodd years
ago. as possible. They do not know
it. They are living in the Middle
West and their one dream is to
come back here again"
"What a beautiful idea" said
Marie.
This place looks as if it might
have been similar to the old home
stead, but all know is from
snatches of stories that have been
told to me-and this picture"
He handed to Marie a faded, yel-
lowed print of a house. Her roman
tic soul believed it was the very
house.
The three walked around to the
rear garden where there was an old
beech tree. They stood beneath it,
studying the back of the house. AL
most as if he had been startled out
of his senses, the young man point
ed to two sets of initials framed in
heart and carved on the bark of
the tree.
My fathers initials-&nd my
mothers" he cried.
Nor exclaimed the excited voice
of Marie and the rough tones of
the realtOr at the same moment.
Il will buy the house if you will
see that it is rehabilitated for me-"
young TomlinsOn said to Marie.
IL will try" said Marie. Mr..
Hyde knows have ability-and
background"
After that affairs moved very
quickly in the lives of the three.
When it was nearly completed
and Marie and young Charles Tom
in hn