Old Rose and Silver

an open letter as she came into the room where Rose was sewing and Is

ng for a visit

ro

but not for a vi

getting

sit?" inquired Isabel, mildly perplexe

" said Madame, "and we're to open it

y's pleasure, and wondered with a guilty consciousness of the long

k with excitement as she sat down with th

MADAME

a fancy to see Spring come again on his native heath,

ant to go straight back. You have the keys and if you will engage the proper number of servants and see

you and yours and with many tha

aithfull

HARD

years, and he thinks there is nothing to be done but to unlock the front

Isabel said. "Aunt F

when I was

forg

the garden now. Allison used to come over sometimes and tell me fairy stories. He told me that the long, slender gold-trimmed bottles filled

led Aunt Francesca.

you ever could be. It seemed so queer for you to be a

Isabel. I believe the thorns hurt

tle shudder at the recollection. "I have a scar stil

nt Francesca," said Rose. "You and

were to come in the afternoon. I remember pleading with

lin, and the house has been open only once since. Richard came back for a Summ

nd after the pitiless sword had cleaved her life asunder, had become hers. At forty the Colonel had married a young and beautiful girl.

ry step, she had aided and counselled the Colonel in regard to his son, who had his mother's eyes and bore his mother's name. Discerning the boy's talent, long before his father suspe

taught her one great lesson, and when one door of her heart was closed, she opened another, as quickly as possible.

ss sunlight, she looked old and worn. Rose, looking at her with tender pity, marvelled at the ignorance of man, in

pen the house. Tell me what you want

Isabel without enthu

ed stubbornly. "He

said Rose. "You surely don't thin

crubbing, after all these years. I believe I'll superintend operations f

ill go over this afternoon, and when we

e-I'm sure the pat

out with the keys, Madame waving the

s queer to me," said Isabel. "It'

ed. "Things are much

The garden used to seem like a huge park, but now it's only a large garden. There used to be a great many steps in the stairway, a

h deep conviction, as the carr

lars at the dignified entrance. The garden was a tangled mass of undergrowth-in spite of the s

ps. She was thrilled with a mysterious sense of adventure which the younger woman did

arked Isabel, shiv

enetrated every nook and cranny. The floors groaned dismally, and the scurrying feet of mice echoed through the walls. Cobwebs draped the windows, where the secret s

exclaimed. "Nobody can

Rose. "Soap, water, sunshine, an

room and still another in the library back of it. Isabel opened the door on the left. "Why, there's

d see, if

o go alone. Y

kitchen, but the rusty range

ellar," Rose said

not. Hurry bac

there was no coal. She went back and forth several times from bin to window, making notes in a small memoran

ent from room to room, calling, then concluded that she

eaking stairway. She came upon Isabel in the sitting-room, upstairs, standing absorbed before an

e cried, in

ling. "Look! There's a secret drawer in the desk and

hem in other people's hous

abel, "except when I've been invit

dea of Isabel cleaning a house that Rose la

aid Isabe

ith her smooth, dark hair drawn back over her ears. A scarf of real lace was exquisitely painted upon the dark background of her gown. The longing eyes held Rose transfixed for an ins

is," Isabel

there, grey and spotted with rust. Rose guessed that the bit had been intended for a baby's shoe, but never finished. The little shoe

to quick tears, but Isabel was unmove

full length-a dashing, handsome figure with one hand upon a drawn sword. Printed in faded gilt upon the dusty red satin that

bel repeated, curio

Rose, with a little catch in her voic

as nice looking, wasn't he? Shall

d her. "And, by the way, Isabel, you must never speak

sented the girl

blue attached to it. She took it to the light, rubbed it with her handkerchief, and slowly made

ised the best of a man's life. The medal for military service, the miniature of his wife, the picture of his friend, and the

n before she closed the drawer. "

ly bril

been diamonds, he would n

olonel Kent only a few times, years ago, during the Summer he had spent a

ty rooms. "I'm glad there are no carpets, except on the stairs," said Rose, "for rugs are much easier to clean. It resolves

the open fireplace in the hall. Motes danced in the beam, and the house somehow seemed less despairing, less alone. A portrait of Colonel Kent, in uniform, hung ab

dame, when they reache

iled," adm

" Isabel continued, warming

d people to do the cleaning since you've been gone, and I have my eye up

urtains," Rose went on. "Sha

have help enough we ca

e. Every night she came home exhausted, not from actual toil, but from the effort to ins

"I've cerebrated all day for seven bodi

d Madame. "I'll go over t

s. "I've begun it and I'm going to finish it un

esh with the smell of soap-suds and floor wax and so warm that several windows had to be kept open. The cablegram had c

Bernard herself. She had chosen to go over alone to greet the Colonel

and a bunch of heliotrope at her belt. Rose had twined a few sprays of heliotrope into her snowy hair and a lar

ting-room upstairs. She had filled the house with the flowers of Spring-violets, daffodils, a

e lamp under the kettle with her own hands, then opened the door wide.

him, carrying a violin case under his arm. He wore the familiar slouch hat, the same loose overcoat, and the same

adame Francesca, stretc

ome h

n his strong young clasp, but his father bent

"I'm so glad to se

zed and the kettle sang. "Say," said Allison, "isn't thi

who had brought forth the miracle of home from a wilderness

," he said. "All the dear, familiar sp