i;8 



RECREATION. 



joyed fully the diversions that fell 

 in his way. 



Now was Miss Glenmore's time, if 

 ever, to seize upon and strengthen 

 Ralph's preference for her; to twist 

 the frail rope of attraction into a 

 strong cable. But he was to go to- 

 morrow, and she would make no sign. 



Ralph finished his cigar just as he 

 heard the tread of the village men on 

 their way from the barroom toward 

 the balcony for their nightly gossip. 

 These recalled his wandering 

 thoughts from the window above. 

 He had been staring fixedly into a 

 dusky tree. 



What was that? A light, or only 

 a phorescent gleam in the branches? 

 Only a gleam of light from some win- 

 dow falling on the leaves. It must 

 have been, there was nothing else 

 there. Miss Glenmore was talking in 

 low tones to some child or pet. She 

 closed her window. Many pipes are 

 not as one cigar, smoked by a bright- 

 eyed artist. 



The evening went 'by in tales of 

 strange lands, of adventures, treas- 

 ured by Ralph, whom the men found 

 inspiring. The old friends showed 

 their loyalty to one another in the 

 interest they, in turn, accorded to oft- 

 told tales, paraded once again for 

 the benefit of fresh listeners. 



After the final good-nights, Ralph 

 went up stairs to his room. There 

 were long, transverse corridors and 

 his room lay at one end, not far from 

 the window where his thoughts were 

 so constantly turning. He felt that 

 in this meeting and parting with 

 Mary Glenmore, he was at the begin- 

 ning of a new episode in his life and 

 that it was to have an unsatisfactory 

 ending. 



" She," he thought, "would not care 

 to be a figure in it, so I will hold up 

 my head and go on. I wanted to be 

 on the spot when the animal should 

 be captured, but five days have given 

 it time to reach its native wilds. 

 Certainly it might have taken boat 

 or train, both stop here regularly, 

 and it is used to traveling." 



So Ralph was musing quietly on 

 one side of the hall, while on the 



the other side a tableaux was being 

 enacted in which Miss Glenmore was 

 the central figure. She was asleep 

 in a hammock slung across her sit- 

 ting room. A white shawl was 

 wrapped about her, and the room 

 was dimly lighted by a wax candle 

 under a rose-colored shade. In the 

 shadow of the sleeper, to one side, 

 stood a large basket with cushion 

 and rug. This was the bed of her 

 little dog. Poor fellow, for the last 

 few days he had been banished from 

 her room and affections for a new 

 pet. Now he had entered through 

 an accidentally opened door and 

 stood on the other side of the ham- 

 mock, protesting vigorously against 

 the invader, yet with reserve, because 

 from the basket was lilted a head 

 with long whiskers, gleaming eyes> 

 and sibilant " siss" 



To this scene awoke Miss Glen- 

 more with a scream of fright. The 

 little dog jumped and barked with 

 increased fury, and the strange crea- 

 ture in the basket continued its 

 wauls and hissings. Miss Glenmore 

 had reached the hall and was mur- 

 dering sleep for the other guests, 

 some of whom were thrusting out 

 heads into the corridors. Wild 

 alarm prevailed, and figures scantily 

 clad flitted across the dimly lighted 

 halls. 



Ralph was first to reach the battle 

 ground, in half dress and with a 

 stronger light; at sight of which the 

 disturber of the peace leaped from 

 the basket and made for darkness, 

 through chamber and bath room, 

 into a closet or trunk room beyond. 

 Fido followed with courage and 

 yelp proportioned to the speed of 

 the flying foe. Ralph remembered 

 the light he had seen in the tree and 

 at once associated it with the strange 

 creature that now fled through the 

 hall. He followed and saw it take 

 refuge in the dark recesses of a tele- 

 scope valise that stood partly open 

 in the trunk room. 



Quicker than thought Ralph seized 

 the cover, closed and fastened the 

 satchel and turned to apologize for 

 his intrusion. 



