Missy

a heap of magazines near a heavenly attic window, Missy and

or reading was entitled "Airy Fairy Lilian

es. The room is deserted; through the half-closed blinds the glad sunshine is rushing, turning to gold al

ng-room"-"large, dull, hands

scription of the

y little wandering threads of gold that every now and then break loose from bondage, while her lashes, long and dark, curl upward from her eyes, as though hating to conceal the beauty of the exquisite azure within... There is a certain haughtiness about her that contrast

l it must be to be a creat

occasionally, darkened with the mystery of sorrow. There was the reiterant magic of greening spring; and the long, leisurely days of delicious summer; the companionship of a quaint and infinitely interesting baby brother, and of her own cat-majesty incarnat

ures discarded by departed tenants of the old Smith place) th

nly); and fairy tales never old; and, almost best of all, the Anthology, full of poetry, that made yo

th

ductive as the Blue Danube played on a gol

d up from h

r book?" s

nderful," br

escription that remind

incred

lis. She's not pretty, but she's

read the description of the strangely charming heroi

with brown hair that hangs in rich

hile her heart palpitated, "my

d your eyes, too, are something like Phyllis's eyes-great grey eye

owever, she was enthralled by Tess's comparison,

issy blushed and was silent. Just then, even had she known the proper reply to make, she couldn't

rom the delightfully embarrass

" she murmured dreamil

murmured Miss

so-so baroni

ighed again. She had always loved Cherryvale, always been loya

t dissatisfaction. It was an adequate, even pretty room, with its flowered wall-paper and lace curtains and bird's-eye maple "set"; and,

n; of velvet, spindle-legged tables hung with priceless lace and bearing Dresden baskets sm

l. "Rich chestnut tresses!" She lingered to contemplate, in the mirror, the great grey eyes which loo

a phase in Missy's life which was to cause her family b

ions and, even if they don't laugh at you, you have the feeling they may be laughing inside. Her present thoughts were so delectable and engrossing that Missy did not always

hat's the day-d

made an evasive answer; but now, so much was she one with the charming creature of her thoug

I just feel so

hed parent, using Missy's pron

s! What mak

r she'd made use of the effective new word, did Missy pause to ponder whether she was really sad or no

e's sad?" she asked in a b

ometimes one dees," put

gnore Aunt Nettie-she was mother's old-maid siste

red girl, came to clear off the table. Missy r

in Cherryvale," she obs

cy's sake!" ejacu

sked father. It was an abrupt change of topic, but Missy was

ncient Greece'-that's all I think. And oh, yes-I got

dictionary!" c

rked Aunt Nettie, incomprehens

rl?" demanded Missy, in

ask me, her he

m mother brought Aunt N

implied criticism of her

gainst Tess O'Neill. I'm very proud to be epris with h

d Missy. Father and mother stared at her and then at each other. But

nd she actua

eathly mute, even to the lips", but she man

mean, Missy?"

d very wise man, and Missy had sometimes found it possible to talk with him about the unus

at him and sai

e in intense s

u find that in the

s,

up foreign languages if we're to have suc

, she was so unlike Lady Chetwoode, the mother in "Airy Fairy Lilian." Lady Chetwoode wore dainty caps, all white lace and delicate ribbon bows that matched in colour her trailing gown. Her small and tapering hands were covered with rings. Sh

ent the peaceful scene before her. Usually she had loved the side porch at the sunset hour: the close fragrance of honeysuckles which screened one end, the stretch of slick green grass

gurgling streams, on to the Park where roamed herds of many-antlered deer and where mighty oaks flung their arms far and wide; while mayhap, on a topmost branch, a

nchan

nor pleasure-grounds nor Parks

e steps of the porch and rubbed herself against her

stinguished kind of pet than a black cat. A black cat was-well, bourgeois (the last rhyming with "boys"). Airy fairy Lilian's pet was a Skye. It was named Fifine, a

Down, sir!" murmu

obile, blinked upwar

You MUST not kiss

ress was conversing in a very strange manner; and the strangest p

her name was no longer P

e; but, strange as it may seem to you, she spent the hours till

land of her dreams. Events came and passed and left her unmarked. Even the Evans elopement brought no thrill; the affair of a youth who clerks

pirit, and could speak out of what was filling her soul. There is nothing more satisfying than to be able to speak out of what is filling your soul. The two of them g

afternoon when she was in Tess's room, watching her friend comb th

ay some visits to the gentry. Later she's to dine at

the gover

rness-cart; and her answer was

r blindly believed he had invited the O'Neills for supper-that gave Tess one of her most brilliant inspirati

nction. Life for the younger set in Cherryvale was so bourgeois, so ennuye. It devolved upon herself and Missy to elevate it. So, at the next meeting of the crowd, they would broach the idea. Then they'd make all the plans; decide on the date

vings. Mother had very strange, old-fashioned notions about some things. She MIGHT be induced to let Missy help give an evening dinner-party, though she held tha

ed to Missy's mother with carefully considered tact, she bore up with puzzling but heavenly

say?" she repeated, her eyes appa

answered. Missy's heart, an anxious

! What next?" ejac

cond longer before she brought her eyes back t

nk you wanted to g

n inch, and she drew a long breath. B

ennuye'. We want to do something novel-somethi

," replied Mrs.

sk me-" But Mrs. Merriam silenced her sister with an

ening dinner wou

gerly: "We've got it all planned out. Five courses: oyster cocktails; Waldorf salad; veal loaf, Saratoga chips, devilled eggs, dill pickles

kinds o

cake for their share-they say their mothers won't be bothered wit

t have you allo

this question; Mother's grave inquir

ould furnish the hea

other looked perpl

iked the name-it's so alluring. Beulah s

of fruit chopped toget

t deal of fruit-and pickles?"

y, "at a swell function you don't have to

got-this is to be

ted palms and hand-painted place-cards and orc

on't it be daylig

window shades," said Tess, undi

ouldn't keep still

here you're going t

he date on a band-practice night. I guess they'd be willing to

gasped Au

ch e'clat to an affair,"

all right," commented Aunt Nettie, add

scene of Tess's description, di

a butler!" she m

again, but caught an almost impe

began, "you don't

st impercept

poison in the system, it is best to

was Mother t

o linger on any side-question-anyway, grown-ups were always making in

ly have the part

her, a rather fun

t of us may as well

Mother

h, ra

person, and Missy had no more prevision of all that decision meant than Julie

the old Smith place into a sanitarium; and, to use the Cherryvale word, he had several "rigs." However, when the eventful day for delivery arrived, Tess disc

ot known as "the hired man"), was wont to take convalescent patients for an airing. Tess realized the possible lack of dignity

e proved the only animal available that afternoon. Ben suffered from a disability of his right rear leg which caused him to raise his right haunch spasmodically when moving. The effect was rhythmic but grotesque, much as if Ben thought he was turkey-trotting. Otherwise, too, Ben was u

n the package she carried under her arm. It held her mother's best black silk skirt, which boasted a "sweep"; a white waist of Aunt Nettie's; a piece of Chantilly lace which had once been draped on mother's skirt but was destined, to-da

n her black silk skirt, but her blue dimity likewise boasted a "sweep." A bouquet of artificial poppies (plucked f

oppy-artificial. The purpose of the former was to give a "shadowy look" under

verse to these unfam

el sort of queer-like it ne

ike a bourgeo

lied the

lifted-fell, in irritating rhythm as his bulky feet clumped heavily on the macadam. Tess had insisted that Missy should occupy the driver's seat with her, though Missy wanted to recline luxuriously behind, perhaps going by home to pick up Poppy-that is, Fifine-to hold warm and perdu in her lap. But practical Tess pointed out that such an a

. It was fitting that Raymond should receive the first billet doux. So, at the corner of Maple and Silver, Tess pulled the rein which should have turned Ben into the shady street which led to Raymond's domicile. Ben moved

" asked Missy. "Is

was anxious. "I guess that it's just that he's use

stop at Lester's first, a

Avenue. Doggedly ahead he pursued his turkey-trotting course, un-mindful of tuggings, coaxings, or threats, till, suddenly, at the

her balance. "He IS wild, is

an's suitors. Like Archibald, the stranger was tall and eminently gloomy in appearance. His hair was of a rare blackness; his eyes were dark-a little indolent, a good deal passionate-smouldering eyes! His eyebrows were arched, which gave him an air of melancholy protest against the world in general. His nose was of the high-and-mighty

re blond Raymond Bonner, handsomer but less interesting-loo

What's up?-join

ad occasioned uncertainty as to their unshadowed empressement. Still no doubts concerning her own personal get-up had clouded Missy's mind. And the dark Stranger was certainly regarding her with a look of intere

d when she found herself looking away suddenly-blushing. Why couldn't she hold that gaze?-why must she blush? Had he noticed her lack of savoir-faire? More diffidently she peeped at him again to see whether he had. It seemed to her that his expression had alt

nown to herself. She wanted to laugh and cha

ing of Raymond, had refused to heed Tess's tugging effort to bring him to a standstill. To be sure, he moved more slowly, but move he did

those of a small town, and in Cherryvale it was not deemed decently permissible, but disgraceful, to have aught to do with

et up!" rang an

hended the feeling which had so often overcome the fair ladies of England when enmeshed in so

been able to vision herself, in some like quandary, also ordering a

ere's a goo

ld Ben-

a tangled web Fate weaves, and how amazingly she deceives sometimes when life looks darkest. Raymond and the Stranger (Missy knew his name was Ed Brown; alas! but you can't h

s exactly what old Ben was doing. He was watching for Tim. Ben had good reason for knowing Tim's ways since, for a considerable time, no one save Tim had deigned to drive him. Besides having a natural tendency toward being "set in his ways," Ben had now reached the time of life when one, man or beast, is likely to become a creature of habit. Thus he had unsw

im, who had been spending his afternoon off in his favourite club, was attracted from his checke

"box"; the two girls, "naturally covered with confusion," were only too glad to sink down unobtrusively into the back seat. Not till they were at the sanitariu

t would people say? What would her parents, should they hear, do? And what,

"-though of a more pleasurable kind. He and Raymond were become familiar acquaintances by this time. "What's

he other one, Missy Merriam, gets sorta queer streaks sometimes-you don't k

one with

turned and stared

ented, almost

the other, gazing after

y; but not so cast down that she had lost sight of the obligation to invite to her dinner a boy who had rescued her-anyhow, he had tried to rescu

glanced up suddenly and caught father's eyes on her with a curious expression. For a second

o to bed early. "You didn't eat your suppe

thing unspoken. A curious and uncomfortable feeling. But, then, as one ascertains increasingly with every year one lives, Life is filled with curious and often uncomfortable feelings. Which, however, one would hardly change i

dvantage of her mother's suggestion and went up t

er bed, bringing some witch-hazel to bathe her forehead-a dozen little pretexts to linger. Mother did not always perform these

sometimes so

nder, given and received. Left alone at last, on her little, moon-whitened bed, Missy reflected on her great fond

d chairs of velvet; priceless statuettes; a few bits of bric-a-brac worth their weight in gold; several portraits of beauties well-known in the London and Paris worlds, frail as they were fair, false

rchibald Chesney's "den," the seated

h a saucy smile-a slight graceful creature clothed in shell-pink with daintiest lace frillings at the throat and wr

ir?" she demands, sendin

sa," he replies, springing up to kiss her tapering finge

of days

ppy's kiss to awaken her. The empty bed surprised and disconcerted Poppy-that is, Fifine-upon her

isements, which she might trace upon cardboard squares and decorate with water-colour. These were to be the "place-cards"-an artistic commission Missy had put

-sweepers and dusters; and, no sooner was the house swept than appeared a gay and chattering swarm to garnish it: "Marble Hearts" with collected "potted pal

spiration in the sight of Marguerite polishing the spare silver; to the side porch, but one cannot work where giggling girls sway and shriek on

he kitchen, peeling oranges and pineapples and bananas for "heavenly hash." Marguerite grew cross. The Baby, who missed his nap, grew cross. And Missy, for some reason, grew sort of cross, too; she resented the other girls' unrestrainable hil

use grew quiet. Missy's head was aching. Flushed

ame to t

getting dressed, dear?

ore feverishly over the "place-cards"

tted Swiss for you,"

e had a more befitting dinner gown. A black velvet, perhaps; a "picture dress" with rare old l

ink and baby-blue, with ribbons fluttering; delicately tinted long gloves; delicately tinted slippers and silken stockings on her slender, high-arched feet; a few glitteri

d you haven't even combed your hair

ippling, wanton effects. She could hear the swelling sound of voices and laughter in the distance-

icate her, and buttoned the dress w

," she said in a voice meant to be soothing. "T

la

must file out to the dining room. Missy hadn't had time before to view the completely embellished dining room and, now, in all its glory and grandeur, it struck her full force: the potted palms screening the wind

the scene of a function

ion one leads the whole table's activities: conversing to the right, laughing to the left, sharply on the lookout for any conversational gap, now and then drawing muted tete-a-tetes into a harmonic unison. She is, as it were, the leader of an orchestra of

t. She is served first, and takes exactly the proper amount of whatever viand in exactly the proper way an

ush at the last, had something to do with it. Perhaps the spectacle of the long, adorned table, the sc

how his devotion to tippling Tim had

xicatingly. The sound of her own gay chatter came to her fro

l delicacy possible in an inland midsummer thanks to the can

ry strength of her desire some approach to a proper servitor. If only they had ONE of those estimable beings in Cherry vale! A butler, preferably elderly, and "steeped in respectability" up to his port-wine no

and Snowball engineered all the Shriners' gustatory festivities from "repasts" to "banquets." Sometimes, at the banquets, he even wore a dress suit. It was of uncertain lineage and too-certain present estate, y

dress suit as he came bea

ond Bonner, genially. "Didn't k

erie! With deliberate

forget to fill the gl

e was more impressed by the formality of the function than

n righteous complacence, lowered

heav

ith this new, intoxicating feeling, that she had real

ysters with her afte

fork was lying there o

ood h

er spine, spread out through her whole bei

f she could sink down under the table and hide away from sight. But she didn't know how to faint; and hostesses do not weep for their mothers; and, in real life, people nev

ear h

g their oyster cocktails with t

ad to fight off a spasm of laughter. She fe

ized that Mr. Brown

r?" he was saying

ny that she laughed; a

ning almost naturally, "because I suddenly found myse

ing his spoon. "Well, if you ask ME, I'm glad you started off with

that way. But, nevertheless, Missy le

was a mistake," she murmure

t. "Always worrying over nothing." He retur

rk eyes, gazing at her full, kept Missy from aski

ng with a toothpick and get

ocial savoir-fair

and to remove the cocktail course. She felt

t to lay the spoons when y

own la

u ARE funny when you hand o

et, for some reason, Missy didn't feel disappointed. She blus

highly successful. To be sure, after the guests had filed solemnly from the table and began to dance on the porches, something of the empressement died

d Raymond, and she was sure she would never want to do anything unkind-yet why, at th

having a g

her, lurking unobtrusiv

see that Missy's come ba

id father m

mber whether or not it was in the baronial spirit. She was entirely uncrit

by all! I guess I don't h

et Missy, with Mr. Brown's eyes upon her in an openly

hite bed, on the silvery tide of the moon, it carri

pretty consciousness of her own grace, she advances into the bower. Her throat is fair and rounded under the diamonds that are no brighter than her ow

rceptibly at her entrance; a tall and eminently gloomy figure, with hai

toward him, happy and radiant, for

rown?" she cries with charming n

earer," replied the other

Who dares compare me

e, the coquette, with slow noncha

cedes, "for there is positively no one to

ath Mr. Brown's arm, and glances up