| Show bills MOTHER by ALICIA RANN tho the worst of it t Is the secret that I 1 have dreaded so to ta tell you tho secret Is that I 1 am not margaret barchester I 1 am just orphan Alag maggie gle the girl sat very erect among tho the cushions of the window seat in tho the sun parlor of eagles nest the tha newly built abode of mr barchester head of the gigantic business corporation of which bill pogue was proui proud to be considered one of the promising younger members why I 1 want to say eay that I 1 would marry you because you marry me of course when you know knew that I 1 was just an orphan the Bar chesters adopted me bill please dont hate me for being ashamed of it for it quite that out but mr and mrs barchester have been so good to me and they made mo me promise never to tell anyone that I 1 was not their truly really da daughter tighter when mien you began to come to see me ma and when you told me that you wanted me to marry you I 1 knew that daddy barchester wanted me to like you for he Is very proud of you bill and always calls you his bis boy oh I 1 b have a tried so BO hard to tell teil you bill but I 1 just bill yours your mother would hate me it if she thought I 1 had made you think I 1 was really and truly mr chesters Bar daughter for the first time in her talk taut but dill bill forgot all the comforting and reassuring things he had intended to say she held out two imploring hands ind and now that her little speech was vcr her eyes were filled with the tears that she had been keeping back so bravely but bill did not yield to the temptation to comfort her im glad you have told me margaret of course it was the only thing to do ho he said still avoiding lier her entreating eyes im glad too to know your reason tor for not giving mo me your answer ile he paused again as if thinking deeply and then turned and faced the girl watch in hand his voice was entirely changed when he said lets baart now tor for that tong long promised visit to my old homo home its in thi Lother other end of town ones once ott twice as bills car bore them swiftly onward margaret tried to get back to the question uppermost in her mind why lie he tell hor her that the tha fact of her humble origin made no difference to him they moved less rapidly through tho the outskirts of the city dropped down through the crowded streets and on beyond to the older section where sagging pavements pare ments and ill kept green squares proclaimed tho the neighborhood neighbor neighborhood hod to have outlived a once fashionable t era at one such corner bill signaled for the car to stop well got get out here and walk to the house lie said perhaps she thought the street where bills mother lives la Is being re paved but lu in a minute more she found this conjecture to be wrong it was an unusually large and imposing mansion out of date and in not too good repair to which bill turned their steps what a perfectly lovely old home sh sho 0 said as they neared the massive black walnut entrance door secretly she folt felt disappointed it if bill had led her to some simple little cottage or even up flights of stairs to a humble flat she would have felt that the little maggie she had confessed herself to be would find a warmer welcome it is a line fine old home it answered bill with evident satisfaction and some twenty five years ago it was the scene of great festivities pretty good times still go on within its ita walls just then a stout middle aged woman came to the door the mother please said tom and then she expects us shall wo we go straight to her ber study he turned to the little s room on the right of the imposing though meagerly furnished hall ball and entered unannounced noun ced what was apparently his mothers study Al margaret argaret first caught the brilliance of the stand ot of red ge that stood in the sunlight ot of the window to the south then the impression pr on of immaculate cleanliness and then the little mother came toward them from her ber low rocking chair with two outstretched hands bands margaret took one and bill the other so you have brought her smiled the mother with a tone that gave margaret all the reassurance she had longed for and then she found herself bated seated cozily in a low rush bot tom chair at the mothers side and bill in another it Is a wonderful won darful thing to me the mother was saying in her kind voice that not one boy who has haa left us ua and made good has been ashamed when the time came to bring the girl he has chosen tor for his wife back to the old home and not one has been ashamed to introduce me as his mother the old lady paused and laughed and then wiped a tear from her kindly old id eyes and some twenty of them have made good and married but bill was always my boy box especially how well so doa I 1 remember thedac the day I 1 started him himoff off onais first days work at bar chesters he was such euch a shy comical lovable little chap in those days margaret looked at the ithe man she loved in open eyed amazement orphan Maggie and orphan ba bill basald he be said sald rather sheepishly copyright 1916 by the mcclure per syndicate |
