Show by way of an experiment by P J YOUNG copyright I 1 AT A T THE nee ace of forty five raymond A 1 crawford had made his pile to in wall street and add was a nervous wreck the doctors told him abak tha un less he foreshore fore swore stock tickers read the sporting page instead of the financial news in the papers and went to live iho in the country where he be could hoe in a garden and delve in a flower bed his him days were numbered and the numbers did not run very high raymond was scared and being a bachelor with no wife to consult bo took himself to the quiet and rather aristocratic village of Evan ivandale evandale dale and began raising kahlias dahlias and preen green peas in a years time his bis doctor told him that it was safe afe tor for him to snap into the game again but raymond had bad acquired a taste for country life and aid stayed on in ivandale evandale Evan dale then came mrs alm 0 nicholson parsons when wh e n she leased rosebank Rose bank place it was taken for granted that she was a widow and a rich one too for it took money to live in rosebank Rose bank place but bat mrs MM matteson childers who was the first to call b road the information that mrs parsons had bad a husband absent in Bong kong on business and a fifteen year old daughter at bo boarding ar dl ng of the previous life of mrs mra parsons all that mrs alm childers had elicited was the fact that she had lived in new york she has ban a picture of her daughter in the morning room 11 reported mrs childers a beautiful girl very like her mother everybody followed the lead of mrs childers and called mrs parsons gave dinners and teas team in a manner which showed that she was a mistress of the social arts the men all pronounced her a most attractive woman As for or raymond crawford he was always dangling about her at first the women said what a pity mrs parsons Is already married what a suitable sul loble husband mr air crawford would make lierl herl then they began to say gay that he maht to be ashamed of himself lil and the then n that s he ought to be ashamed of herself a married woman I 1 the summer began to wane and mrs lm parsons boarding school daughter did not appear in evandale ivandale Evan dale on a visit to her mother the explanation that she was visiting friends in maine was not satisfactory mrs airs addison calkins who had a r second cousin who was wai a missionary in inning hong kong wrote to him asking 1 if lie knew anything of one 0 nicholson cholson Nl parsons and got a letter back saying he had never neve heard of such a person mrs daniel warburton calling at rose banh place one day picked up from the hoor bloor while awaiting tile the appearance of mrs airs parsons a birthday card on which was written to clara on her thirty farst birthday and put it in her pocket for evidence tills this did not agree very well with a fifteen year old daughter mrs lathrop was sure that mrs parsons had given mildred as the name of her daughter while mrs higginson was equally positive that she had spoken of her as gene aleve in short from an admired ornament orn ameni of livendale evandale Evan dale society mrs parsons became a dark and sinful mystery people invited to her dinners now sent regrets or nothing nt at all with the men mrs airs persons parsons suffered no diminution of popularity but their manner toward her somehow seemed to have suffered some subtle change only raymond crawford remained remal ned the same clara said bald he one day when hn he came upon her sitting alone in a little summer house on the grounds crying softly dort doit you think you have this little adventure of yours far enough oh site she gasped so you knew me all along I 1 I 1 knew you of course but thought you had forgotten me forgotten you he replied not much I 1 if I 1 had find that picture of yourself at fifteen just as you yon used to look when I 1 was in lour our fathers and came out of weekends week ends to his long island eland place it would have recalled clara lipscombe to me olt oli I 1 thought it was going to h such fun sighed clara 1 I was tired of playing the lie part of an heiress of mature age a tingle ongle woman hemmed around with conventionalities conven tignall ties I 1 imagined that a married woman oman would be liberty allowed a I 1 larger n liberty so by way of experiment I 1 came down here un der an nAsu assumed nied name and and everybody was splendid at first and then for some reason rens I 1 cant imagine what they all turned perfectly horrid all except you let me see mee mused raymond when I 1 used to see you out on long island you were fifteen anil and I 1 was thirty quite a dif difference ferenee in dur adesi ages but now you ou are thirty one aind art I 1 am forty six why we tire are of the same age so 86 you wanted to see how lt it would seen seem to be a married woman well suppose you yon try it in reality no make belleve believe this lime iline and he took tier her unresisting hand band what shall we tell mrs childers and her crowd asked clara clam half an hour later tell em cm lie file truth replied raymond that illint we have loved each oilier since you were a little girl the jokes on them i |