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Show HER UNINVITED GUEST By WILLIAM BURTON. Always when ah dreamed her fa-rsrtte fa-rsrtte dream that of some day living In an apartment of kar own abe occupied oc-cupied her fancy more with the spare room than with any other. This was curious, Inasmuch as she was a woman not much Inclined to sociability, being fond of her own ao-clety. ao-clety. So why In fancy she should atwaya be furnishing that spare chamber, cham-ber, laying the gray rug on Its floor, hanging the dimity curtalna and smoothing the Maraellles spread, she herself could not explain. She even arranged the books tn the little white case, books calculated to put a gueat In good humor with himself, him-self, books which would bring about that peaceful state of mind conducive to sleep. She would have no exciting novels, no passionate poema, no sociological soci-ological firebrands in her guest chamber. There should be such volumes vol-umes as "The Measure of the Hours," "Society and Solitude," "Sesamo nnd Lilies." Theso would become the sholves and gratify a guest even If ho nover got beyond tho titles. So when by a generous lncreaso In her salary the apartment was made possible she took ono with five rooms Instead of four, because, as she told the agent, sho "must have a spare room." Tho rooms of reality aro never as well furnished as uro those In tho houses of our Imagination. Still, hor guest chamber wob a marvel of whlto-.less whlto-.less and daintiness. Thero was a !oely gray hand woven flower bordered bord-ered rug on tho floor nnd n French striped paper with a pattern of tiny rosebuds on tho wall. Tho woodwork was white, and so wore tho llttlo Iron .bed nnd tho enameled drosser and tho stiff chnlr. Thero was another chair, a rocker, covered with cretonne of much tho samo pattern as tho paper, and it stood closo to a low wicker tabic, ta-bic, on which was placed n small rainbow rain-bow glass vase, an Indian basket nnd a few books. Tho covers of tho books woro of tho samo colors as thoso In tho wnll paper pink, to match tho buds', or green, to match tho buds' lnavcw xnd they looked like the kind of books 'one is proud to buy, but nevor has time to read. But "Tho Mrnsuro or tho Hours," "Society and Solitude" nnd "Sesamo and Lilies" stood up fresh and inviting. It was a conventional room, but It had cost much thought and selt-donlal to procuro It. And It was ten times more costly then her own, But where was tho guest? After threo months of residence In her new homo sho had never turned down tho Marseilles spread nor put flowers In the rainbow glass vase, nor brought out tho guest towel that bIio herself had embroidered. Of courso, all sorts of Imaginary persons had bccupled tho room nnd had oxprcssed themselves as having slept tho Bleep of tho just and of Infancy, and of having felt a strong desire nover to ho obliged to emerge from tho roso colored comforter com-forter nnd the Marseilles spread that covered It. Sometimes the guest was a cousin whom sho had known In her childhood child-hood and who had gono through Har-I Har-I vard and was now practicing law In Boston; tho roso comforter and the I "Sesamo and Lilies" would be none too flno for him. Thon again It was i an old friend of her father's, an arls-'tocratic arls-'tocratic woman, who had visited them In the days of their prosperity, and who,' being literary In hor tastes, would bo sure to appreciate the quality qual-ity of the quilt and to pounoe upon the "Sesame and Lilies." One day, a mlnutu after sho had oloaed tho door on the grocer's shabby boy, who, had consented to deliver her groceries after she had returned home at night, she heard a crash on the ; back porch and the sound of some one falling. She opened the door quickly and turned the electric light upon the wbtto face of the boy who but n moment mo-ment before had been explaining to her why ho had brought whlto corn-meal corn-meal Instead of tho yellow sho had ordered. Now his face was as whlto as the meal and ho looked as If ho would nover again dollvcr groceries. Ho was only a mlto of a boy and she had llttlo difficulty In gottlng him Into the guest chamber and on top of tho Marseilles spread, where ho remained re-mained until tho arrival of a strango doctor, who ordered that be bo placed under this prized covorlet and that ho remain thoro until able to bo removed re-moved to his home. That was not until un-til tho md of tho second week. Thoso two weeks she declared to bo tho happiest of hor life, though the guest who occupied her spare chamber cham-ber showed no Interest olthor In books or bouquets. Aftor ho had gono sho used to lovo to sit alono In tho llttlo rocker, staring medltatlvoly at tho Ijacks of tho books and at tho rosos on tho wnll. But this la not all of tho story. Sho married the doctor and turned her back forover on tbo little room that .never know tho presenco of an Invited In-vited guest. Yet she says that the spare chambor morn than fulflllod Its purpose It brought Into her life a I guost who romalncd. |