Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1934-12-20

3EL-
I an glad you cautioned me about
these 6gureS+
-Oh. Ike yOu ALL want you tc
s1zyF
lam glad Of that hope you EfD
know Miss Mercer better. She IL veG
lovely
Z quite agree With youI They have
not always been lovely.
-You mean the teachers -goT.
erneSsesT
Yes. and usually when they found
ont about these figures they went
away They-they we're afraid OF
them"
of their strangeness. perhapsT
-Yes-znd the servants are the same
Ezy-except Bslder.-
Who II BalderT-
The very huge man He came 20
work for my father years ago: and
father jesringIy called him Balder the
Beautiful from Matthew Arnold's
poem. suppose He Il very ugly, but
he Is q strong man to have around
the place And he doesn't mind tia
figures But the country people around
here do. Did Jon zee some Of the
pupils watching the eonidorsF
Yes noticed Il"
There's q queer. superstitious Ira
diti0n In the mountains that the hg-
ures are really alive. No one, sup
pose. actually believes Il, but no ser
want VIII go down the corridor when
they are kept after dark" She paused I;
then said: Tel me. did you know
Mr.. Payne before you came hereT
NO"
He has eyes that look straight
through one"
Z am sure he Is q good psychol-
ogist."
4 am sure of II, too. When know
him better / shall ask him-many
questions"
May 1 ask Jon oner
Certainly"
why were you on that dangerous
clih path this afte-noon7 II was com
paratively safe where we were
there's q bank; but you had nothing
but air between you and that frightful
Ehirl was afraid jon would ven
ture down to the little platform-the
little stone ledge oTerhanging the
whirl"
She shivered ooh. no; they fell
from therer'
Poor childrenI Were there no wit
nessesT
-Yes-an old farmer coming up on
the other side to fell tree-he heard
them shout and saw them Just as they
plunged In. their arms raised trying
desperately to regain their balance.
Then they all went down. Father was
In such agony Of mind because he had
detained Mr.. Haskell from going
along with them to curb their ad-
venturous spirits; he wanted Mr.. has
kell to take down dictation, and they
were shut up on the library all after
noon Then came q knock on the
door. II was Balder to say that while
he was working In the vegetable gar
den a farmer, white as death, had
rowed across the lake In the twilight
to tell Of the accident He cried like
a child. could only cry out for a
while: Doctor Jethrol Ny Godl 1
could not help them. 1 was on the
other side"
The farmers name?
Jerry Moore. He lives about a
mile from here, all alone; his people
have all died"
Hes trustworthy
Jerry? Oh, yes! yes. And he
adored my brothers and sisters They
were SO gay and friendly with every
one"
"Was there ice forming at the time?
Could they have slipped on thatY'
1T was too early for ice. No, Isabel
went too near. lost her balance, sup
pose. fell. and dragged the others
down"
'Then-the fgures-were made"
"Ah, please! He viii tell you about
these"
Her eyes softened as she looked at
them; and he thought Of a day when
she would be much older than the
ages represented by these mannequins |;
and down the long avenue of time she
would still perhaps see her lost BROTH
ers and sisters in their eternal Adde'S
cence; and keep them In a playground
Of memory from which they could
never emerge adult and weary. Her
own brilliant beauty had an element
in it which he felt would be there
through all her life-the indestruct.
ible element of the soul.
"Shan I shut the door,"
"Yes; you see, there's a small cir.
Gle Of glass let into it-so Mr.. Haskell
can look inland see that they are
highland in their places"
"But why look in-why have them
around at alp
at was a clause In fathers will. .
she said at needn't be-after I am
twenty-One. Oh, Mr.. Haskell will tell
you"
They shut the door quietly as II not
to disturb those waxen scholars, and
down the corridor they went to-
| gether. At the foot of the staircase