The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1940-05-09
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NV Mrs. Harry Pueh Smith ~.

en- blue rug. Upstairs, prlm rut
fled white curtains framed the
windows of bedrooms in which
there were mahogany fourpostel
beds and slipper chairs anc
chintz-covered chaise lounges.
almost Finished" breathed ia
net one sultry afternoon toWare
the middle of August. ''The soon
err I get away from here the bet
ter. The first thing I know I'll be
breaking down and sobbing or
the interloper's hearth rug"
A man stood at the foot of the
stairs. "I'm sorry" he said. g
didn't mean to startle you.
He was a slight man, thin fol
his height. He looked to be abou
forty-five and his extensively tai
lored gray suit was little shiny
at the seams.
"You are Miss Phillips, o.
course" he went on. "1'm Steve
Hill, friend of Tony's. He's done
me a great service by being
alive"
The next afternoon he was ir
the library when she arrived, sit.
ting on the cushioned window
seat, turning the leaves Of an ex,
ceptionally fine copy of Tristan
and Isolde.
"Allah be praised, you don't
buy books for the color of their
bindings!" he said.
Janet stared at him critically
as he talked on. He did not sound
like a bum, but neither did the
Earl of Jersey. Steve Hill had q
sensitive mobile face, and he
seemed to have read everything
worth reading and to have seen
everything worth seeing and tc
have known everything worth
knowing.
Sorry" he said, glancing alb
ruptly at his watch, 'I'm afraid
I've bored you"
She discovered with an incre-
dulous start that they had been
sitting there for an hour while
he literally charmed her with the
gently satirical flow of his con-
versation. ''No." she said, "you
haven't bored me. I doubt if you
ever bored anyone in your life -
To her dismay his mouth twist
ed with pain. II failed lamentab-
ly with one audience in the world
which mattered to me-" he said
and walked quickly away as if a
horde of tormenting memories
had been loosed about him.
But he was back again the
next afternoon. Janet was hang
ing pictures.
'Nothing's lacking" she told
Steve Hill, Except the portrait
OF my great-grandmother which
is in our living room at home. 1t
belongs here, commanding the
whole house." she indicated the
space opposite the wide staircase
and the entrance to the library.
But nothing could persuade us
to part with it."
She laughed unsteadily. "There
are some things you can't put on
the auction block unless it's a
matter of life and death. At least
we've managed to eat without
pawning great grandmother"
She regarded him defiantly. "A
bit of maudlin sentiment, Ell,
what? as the Earl of Jersey
would say"
Steve Hill smiled. "There was
time when I thought I'd out
grown the old gods, but that's
merely a phase, you know. In the
end you realize that life without
sentiment is wine without bou-
quet."
She caught her breath. "Td
like you to know my mother"
she said, and blushed because un-
til then she had not known she
approved of him to- that extent.
Would you like to go home with
me tonight to dinner? It'll be in
formal. We live in a flat and we
can't entertain on an elaborate
scale, but Mothers the only per-
son l know of in this town who
could talk to you about books and