The Primrose Ring

d without an effort. She blew the trustees off the door-step of Saint Margaret's, homeward, with an insis

business of the afternoon began to change its aspect. For some unaccountable reason-unless we take Fancy into the reckoning-this sudden abandoning of

lthough forgotten, clung persistently to the frills or coat lapels where the Youngest and Prettiest Trustee had put them. There it was that Fancy slipped unnoticed over the threshold of li

eave their part of the telling to Fancy, and you may believe or discredit as much or as little as you choose; only I am hoping that by this time you have acquired at least a sprinkling of fern-seed in your eyes. You may have forgotten that fern-seed is the most subtle of eye-openers known to Fancy; and that it enables you to see the things that have existed

e they must have dined heavily. But if you do, you know very well that Fancy will answer: "Poof! Nothing of the k

sident

running together in a zigzagging line that baffled deciphering. The President inserted a finger in the report to mark his place, making a ment

ing, happy faces and eyes that laughed coaxingly. The President found himself peering back at them and scrutinizing the faces closely. Oddly enough he could recognize many, not by name, of course, but he could place them in the many institutions over which he presided. It was very evident that they

mself saying at las

g hands pulled at his cuffs or steadied themselves on his knee; more venturesome ones slipped into his or hunted their way into his coat pockets. They were such warm, friendly, trusting little hands-and the faces; the President

to him; there was something pleasantly hypnotic in the feeling of small hands tugging at him. Suddenly he became conscious o

ingly as many little backs as he could

n some one's pockets. Was this why they had searched him out? He found himself frantically wishing that he had something stowed away somewhere for them. His hands followed their

himself, "that a man might keep something pleasan

hook their hea

the weight that had been settling down upon him, in the region of his chest, noticeably increased

. You will only shake it off on the children, and it's time enough

The President a

t-" droned the vo

children-the children." He remembered now-they were th

d his eyes again. And there he sat, immovable, his finger st

y another elderly person, her usual retiring hour was later than that of the younger memb

rhythmic click of her needles. And the results at the end of the evening were usually a finished comforter and a comfortable feeling. This night, ho

ustee prodded her yarn ball with a disquieting needle, "but I

her very elbow; a number of persons must have entered the room, but how they could have done so without her knowing it she coul

noticed how much she naps in the evening, no

s five years younger than she is. That's a sure si

s little peculiarities are growing on her? She is getting so much more dictatorial and preachy. Of course, we know that

nettes of hers and saying, 'My good boy, do you read your Bible?' or, 'My little girl, I hope you remember to be grateful for all you receiv

ear, and I was so mortified I wanted to sink through the floor, And you simply can't shut mother up. Of course she doesn't realize how it sounds; she doesn't believe they hear her, but I know they

can think of-" She opened her eyes with a start. "Goodness gracious!" she exclaimed. "My gra

not been unfolded before; being the one to pay for the news in his house, he preferred to be the first one to read it. The creases proved perfectly satisfactory; so he lighted his cigar, crossed his feet, and settled himself-content in his own comfort. The smoke spun into spirals about his head; and after he h

"I believe I understand now what is im

tle old dame, and scores more; while into the corners of the room drifted others that turned into the drollest of droll pipers-with kilt and brata and cap. It made him feel as if he had been dropped into the center of a giant kaleidoscope,

k his fist at the pipers, who played louder and merrier. "Stop!" And he pounded the arms of his

e time. He would have stopped his ears with his fingers and shut his eyes, only, strangely enough, he could not. But at last it all came

spiciously. "Wh

o pay the pip

according to the adage," and he s

o dance that should pay, but the ones who keep others from dancing-the ones who help to rob the world of som

ething about "pickpockets" and "hold-ups," he ferreted around in his pocket and

asked the head

od money-and I'm throwing it

a professional vagrant; "don't you see you are not giving your soul any room to grow in? A great deal of joy might have reached the world across you

; his tongue seemed to drop back in his throat, choking him. "That would take a great deal of money," he managed to wheez

rful. "It was a great deal of joy, you know," he reminded him.

ng it into the caps thrust under his very nose, and at the same time his pockets began to fill with money-his money. In and out, in and out, his hands flew like wooden members, until there was not a coin left and the last piper turned away satisfied. He closed his e

u need. Sometimes there is nothing so beneficial and spee

st of the Meanest Trustee and scattere

rtime; he had still more to demand of it, and he was deliberately detaching it from immediat

eep over him-as if his body had died. The thought came to him like a shock that he had an active, commanding intelligence, still alive, and nothing for it to command. What did people do who had to live wi

and and could administer to them lovingly-yes, that was the word-lovingly! As for himself, there was no one who could supply for him that strength and power for action that he had always worshiped; he must exist for the rest of his life simply as a thinking, ineffective intelligence. The Executive Trustee forgot that he was dozing. He wrestled with the ropes that bound him like a crazed man; he called for help again and again, u

avily, after the fashion of a

her thoughts, her wishes, her interests were of his creating; she had drawn her very nourishment of life from his strong, dominant, genial personality. It was parasitic-oh yes, but it had been something rarely beautiful to them both-her great need of him. The need had grown all the greater because no children had come to fill her life; and the need of

t; and in that dimness her mind began to stir and stretch and yawn itself awake, like a creature that had been hibernating through a long, dark winter. Sudde

with me," she said, addressing the fire, "b

of the logs on the back; then it sputtered and blazed the

was a little girl and Christmas Eve had come, or Hallowe'en, and-and- What other night in the ye

have liked to remind her that it was Ma

am going to begin to think things and do them again; an

d that one of the logs broke a sap-vessel. After that the fire settled down to its intended

long time, until they became very definite and actual pictur

to "The Board of Trust

ren"; the second was ad

e both sealed and

ndpoint of Fancy or of what happened afterward; moreover, it was ne