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Show -r- - III .THE ABSERCE OF AOAIIIA 8 LJi'sLift.' "And jour soul from thin old chamber MUsed In fifty llttlt things!" -Owen Meredith. "It In from Helena " Mr. Ardell Isld down th letter ami twirled her plnec-net iK-twe-en her taper Anger tip. "She want A-nttia to pay her a visit. "Agatha1" exclaimed May In astonishment 'What doe the want with Aratha" Mar was the beauty ot tho family. "S'.c does not speak n word of French or fipanlah!" declared Ida, who had pone In for the Inngungrs. "Nor line a note' ' cried Grace whose voice waa her particular pride And the J three. In quite honeat Ignorance otthe Hl-hrrcdUg their umaionienl ImplIcJ, tare I arrtws the table at Agatha, Her mild little ninther looked nt her, too but with covert icnilcmrea llcr father fath-er lifted Ma gentle absent Rite to the countenance of his )oungrt nnd least accomplished daughter And Hairy, the ion ot the home, pautcd In hli eager effort to dispose of all the but-tered but-tered toait on the table long enough to remark tint Agatha could make crackln good cake, you betl Hut thla eulogy panted unheeded Mr. Ardtll reread the letter ot Invitation, In-vitation, thla time aloud, Mme, do ' Vllllera wrote that ihe had alwaya en tertained delightful rncmorlea of the i villi Agatha bad paid ber when the latter waa quit a Ilttto girl. If the , young lady waa oa dear aa the child ihe had been ahe would love to have her ipend a few wecka with her. "Wo called, you remember, mamma, ilnce ahe catnbllshcd herself In Chicago." Chi-cago." Hay, "faultily faiiltlcis" of feature, mid complncently conacloua that her new Minima waa bccon'ng. i looked languidly toward ber mother. I "She, baa a grent, gloomy old barrack of a homo. I don't bcllce thero'e a bit of furniture In It Icaa than n hun- ' drcd yeara old. I wouldn't lilt thero I for tho wor.i!" 1. ".My aliter la trying to mnko hor l northern residence ai much like ai poulbte to the I.oulslana homo of '- which the was ao fond, until unbear ably aad rncmorlea caused her to ( abandon Itl" put In Dr. Ardcll. "8ho has even bought lota adjacent ' to her own that ahe may have, a f wallcd-ln garden, I'vo been told," sup- plemenled Grace B"Wcll, I ahouldn't have gone had , she asked met" put In Ida with decis ion. "She baa lota of money, but sho can't bo expected to die for many a year, and" , "Ida!" Interrupted the doctor, stern ly. She colored and brenmo silent. Mrs Ardcll spoko with amicable haste. "We have not allowed Agatha to aay IfU a word. Do you wish to bo, Agatha?"' S "Would I?" glowing with delight at the possibility. "Indeed, yes. I had such n lovely time when I , lilted I Aunt Helena In New Orleans Of course, tbat'a a long tlmo ago. I was Ll only ten then. Now, I'm twenty- jl two'' 'i Harry snickered. "That's three J yeara younger'n draco, and lite years j youuger'u Ida, and" f "Harry, leavo'tbn rooml" cried May ' crimsoning. Hut Harry only winked at her and helped himself to more toast 1 "Agatha shall go If she wishes," said tho head ot tho house, rising. "Even If tho chango Is only from a western suburb to the South Side, It will do her r lod." "Why, rhe Is alwaya well." May lifted her brows slightly. "Aren't you, Aggie?" "Of course," chimed In Ida. "No studies to tax her mind." "No long hours of practicing," agreed Grace, "I'm going to my lea-son lea-son now." "My Spanish conversation class meets nt 11," said Ida rising. "O, I'd almost forgotten my appointment ap-pointment with tho dressmaker!" ejaculated May, llvrn Harry announced that ho was "goln' Dshln' with a feller," nnd disappeared. Agatha, tho llttlo brown sparrow ot tho house, tho Martha who "was soil-1 soil-1 cltous about many things," had Lean gono ten das when old Dr. Aruc.l brought a young phalclau home with him to dinner. Ills iinmo was n familiar fami-liar one to the household, Ills fame as tha most promising young surgeon of tho city had been exploited 1 ho conservatism ot tho elder medical raau bad mellowed Into liberal praise when bo spoke of tho Intellectual power and scientific arhluvemeius of tho young er, 1Mb welcome was assured, lie was lluttcrlngly received by tho tbreo young ladles and their mother Not one of them, howoicr, waa prepared for bis dashing presence and personal charm. Mny rejoiced that her hair I waa elaborately colrfured, and her gown cut to show ber round throat to advnntnge. Ida kept tho conversation conversa-tion scintillating and rather unintelligible, unintel-ligible, by her brilliant remarks made In different foreign tongues An after af-ter dinner Grace played ber noisiest and sang her loudest for bis especial delectation. Hut throughout tha din-, din-, ner and the social evening that fol- lowed, Dr. Ilyder was frequently perplexed per-plexed by the reference to Agatha. These began when bia host made a i little testy rerr rlt about tho aoup. "You know Agatha la not ai home," his wife reminded him. "Sh '(ways attended to that." Ida spoke of having been allowed to Lake a rare reference book home from the public library on payment of a i deposit, "I might as well take It bark at 'once," ahe concluded, with a rueful taugh. "I had forgotten Agatha v not here to copy out the pages I w.Mi to study." Grace, turning her music uptlde down to And n particular plei e, apologised for Its untidy conditio l by saying that when Aggie waa abicnt they did not know where to Had things When Dr. Ilyder asked about the Internal management of a certain city hospital It wns his host who replied re-plied If my youngest g rl wero here tho could tell you annul that. Sio visits there" Mrs Ardell smilingly protested her Ignorance ot n ccrtn n book. "My sight," ahe said, "will not permit me to read much .Asatha nl-wa)s nl-wa)s reads aloud to me." Harry added ad-ded hla unconsidered tribute to Ml sister when Dr Ilyder had helped him to unravel a snarl ot fishing tackle over which he was floundering "Jlmmlnyl" ho exclaimed "You're most as smart ns Agl I a n t had a real easy tlmo since sho went away." "Where Is sho?" ashed It) dor, his curiosity arouird. "Over to Aunt Helena's, on tho South Side De Vllllera her last namo Is." "Not from New Orleans?" quickly. "Thai's It. Do ou know her?" "I used to know her well, Indeed, once. 1 waa only a boy then. I'm a Southerner myself, you know. She was good to me," "She an' Ag pull It off together. The other girls ain't got much uce for her, no more'n I." here ho choked over hli Joke, "have got any use for the other girls, sco?" "Good night," said tho host, shaking shak-ing hands heartily when (ho hour for farewells came. "Hopo Acatha will bo back when you come next!" Hut she wns not there on hla subsequent subse-quent visits, nnd ho called frequently. So frequently In fact, that May had two now gonns In process ot creation, that Ida admitted to her own heart that sho had alwaya admired the Saxon Sax-on etylo of beauty, and that draco was practicing tho prcclso amount of tenderness ten-derness advlsahlo to bestow In n slnglo glance when she sang a melting song. Tho truth of the matter was that Mmc. do Vllllera wns III, and Agatha could not leavo ber "Of courso If you need me moro, mother dear," she wrote, "I'll como home Dut she Is rather dependent on me, although thero are so many servnnts here. The old house Is delightful, de-lightful, nnd tho garden will be a mlracln of benutv one ot theso days." No ono went over to seo her except Harry. In triangular Chicago friends who live south, north or west may meet seldom. It cvor. Harry's Information Infor-mation concerning hla visit waa meager and unsatisfactory "She's llvln' In a rummy old palace. She's lookln' fine gltlln' to brat you slide, May. Tho lunch wna a buster that's so, I bad a bnxs tlmo) Say, I told her about the now feller you clrli had cot!" "Who? No? What did aho say?" "Didn't say nothln'. Jest got red-dcr'n red-dcr'n alls out, an laughed an' laugh-cdl" laugh-cdl" Hut there coma a day when Mrs. Ardcll was left long to her awn companionship, com-panionship, and In her loneliness a seuto of maternal Jealousy smote, hor with cruel pain Agatha might grow to enre moro for this aunt of hirs sho must romo home nt oncol Agat.iu 41110 promptly. "Well, jou'vo Improudl" May looked look-ed critically nt the little fae which was not pretty except for Its fine teeth, clear, happy eyes, and shining brown hnlr Qrave nnd Ida Instantly besieged ber with lelllih demands. They told her, too, about their now ard distinguished acquaintance. "Do fix up tonight," May said. She felt pane bealde her youngest a'stel The consciousness made her Irritable ' Don't be n dowdy. He li coming. Look as well as )Oii can." "I will," promlied Agatha, cheerfully cheer-fully And she did. It was not only the charming gown of cerlie foulurl en J chiffon which her aunt had gwn hor that brought out her best points. II r father had missed her and Infcrrod II Her mother was happy to have hi back and said so Harry had givey, her his latest slang with a bear hug thrown In which waa dtllghtfutly reassuring re-assuring And even tho seWih appeals ap-peals of the girls had testified their satisfaction In her return Then thero was n remembrnnre nway back In a corner of her heart which would In Itself hao lent her demure distinction So not even May could find fault with her appearance when Dr. Itydor was announced It was really with n reflected sense of grntllleatlon that ihe duly presented him. "I hac met Dr. Kder before," aald Agatha Hut sho was a roar actor. She turned rosy red. "Where?" niked Dr. Ardcll. "In New Orleans, twelve years ago." It waa the young phjslclan wlo answered an-swered ".My fathcr'a garden Jolnol that of Mme do Vllllera I was eighteen eight-een then Miss Agatha much younger. We bad soue beautiful times didn't we?" "And this," asked Mrs Ardell la gentle surprise, "Is your first molt-Ins molt-Ins since?" "Vol exactly. Tell them tho truth, Agatha!" Agatha looked up nt him Implorlrg-ly, Implorlrg-ly, "You do!" she entreated. "Well, when Hnrry told mo my old friend lived In Chicago, and when I learned the lliuc girl I used to know whom you all missed so much was visiting there, I went over Bine Mme. do Vllllera has been 111 I'vo bfen attending her Now, dear." Agatha lifted her hand. Sho turned shyly the Utile golden circlet on the third finger until n blazing diamond waa revealed "llngagcd!" r-aiped tho beauty ot the family. Tho mother was Lining Agatha ber father shaking Ityder'a hand, "And ahe only speaks L'ngllsat" panted Ida to Grace. "And does not sing or play!" came a horrified whisper In return Harry's ecstatic conwilslons would have, oirn-ed oirn-ed hlri tho title ot "Tho Human Jack knife" "Ilullyl" he cried "I'll go llvo nl'b you, Ag Geo whlx!" Chlcaco T.l-bune. |