The Coolidge examiner., 1937-01-14

like it,
Ace and Mark and I were al
ways good friends" l commented.
That's right! And Ace and
were great friends. Damn it all, I
loved Ace. 1 love him still. That
story Walter told me yesterday
rocked me more than anything
that's happened in long time. But
there was something about Ace"
Il suppose he had more natural
charm than any human being I
have ever known"
1t was that charm that ruined
him." Patrick carried my thought
on. 1T brought him so many
things when he was young that he
thought he could keep it up for
ever. Yet, by God, l shall always
feel about Ace"
ITS one of the puzzles of life"
1 said. "Once or twice in a life
time, this happens to everyone
Charm is as strong as the force Of
gravity. People who have it sweep
our hearts along in the very face
of disappearing judgment. That
was Ace"
l think l raised my voice a lit
tie; for Sylvia, suddenly abandon
ing her dress-making, seized a
freshly dressed Dorinda Belle and
came pattering into the living
room. She seated herself on a
cricket beside the low table on
which stood a telephone extension.
Patrick" she said, did you know
that Doctor Ace had gone to Heav-
en?"
Before Patrick could answer the
question, her eyes, wandering over
the surface of the table, fell on
little Dresden box there. Now Syl-
via has been brought up not to
touch bric-a-brac or books without
permission. She is an extremely
docile child and l cannot recall that
she has ever broken anything in
my house. Now her eyes fixed
themselves hard on that Dresden
box. Her fixed gaze recalled no
association to me, but apparently
it suggested vaguely something to
her. Suddenly she jumped up from
her cricket and lifted the cover
''Oh there it isl" she exclaimed.
There's the beautiful buckle 1
found. I forgetted all about it.
found it-I found it.
Her eyes seemed to look inward
in the effort of her concentration.
Il found it the day after the party"
A silence as bleak and cold as
ice seemed to fall on my piazza.
For when Sylvia's tiny fingers lifted
the brilliant buckle-old paste and
old silver-from the box, a series
of mental cataclysms shook me-
They came as fast as successive
shots from a revolver. Instantly /
recalled Sylvia's entrance to the pi-
aZza early Saturday afternoon, car
rying a Dorinda Belle who glittered
with a magnificent an alien
-splendor. l remembered taking
the buckle from her and, as the
telephone rang, slipping it into the
Dresden box. Suddenly too now,
1 recalled, though / had not re-
called it then, that that buckle was
one of a pair which ornamented the
slipper which Myron Marden wore
of fIo Ia Fcfn nrnfI
I recalled another thing that I
would have said must have depart
ed completely from my memory
departed, leaving no trace behind.
And that was an event of Sunday
morning-waking and going to the
bathroom for a drink of water, re-
turning and for an instant gazing
out my window onto the fog-laden
scene. What I saw in that instant
merged completely from my mind
in the oblivious WEAKNESS with
which 1 again sank back into sleep.
Yet now, saw the picture perfect
ly-Myron Marden coming out of
my Spinny and up over my lawn in
the direction of the park and of his
own home.
Patrick's eyes had narrowed.
Never had l heard silkier accents
than those which emerged at that
moment from his throat. Come
over here, Sylvia" he Wheedled. Il
want to talk with you. Bring the
bIIcl1le with Won -
Sylvia battered over to him and
he lifted her onto his lap. She
opened her little fist and they sur
veyed the paste together.
How it sparkles!" Patrick COM
mented. How lucky you were to
find it! When did you say you
picked it up?"
Saturday afternoon" Sylvia an
swered with childish explicitness.
Right after lunch!"
And where did you say you
found it?" Patrick asked, turning
the buckle this way and that, SO
that it flashed fire.
Near the path to the Spinney."
where were you going?" Pat
rick asked in the most casual of
tones.
Il was going to the Little House
and l saw this buckle in the path.
So l runned right back to get a
ribbon to tie it OH Dorinda Belle"