He turned on his Heal, but came back for a last word or two.

"Now see here," he said, "we have everything fixed the way you said You

wanted it. And I'll give you ten minutes. That's all."

He stocked away, and Mr. Beecher looked at me.

"Ten minutes of Heaven," he said, "and then perdetion with that bunch.

Look here," he said, "I--I'm awfully interested in what you are telling

me. Let's cut off up the beech and talk."

Oh night of Nights! Oh moon of Moons!

Our talk was strictly business. He asked me my Plot, and although I had

been warned not to do so, even to David Belasco, I gave it to him fully.

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And even now, when all is over, I am not sorry. Let him use it if he

will. I can think of plenty of Plots.

The real tradgedy is that we met father. He had been ordered to give up

smoking, and I considered had done so, mother feeling that I should be

encouraged in leaving off cigarettes. So when I saw the cigar I was sure

it was not father. It proved to be, however, and although he passed with

nothing worse than a Glare, I knew I was in more trouble.

At last we reached the Bench again, and I said good night. Our relations

continued business-like to the last. He said: "Good night, little authoress, and let's have some more talks."

"I'm afraid I've board you," I said.

"Board me!" he said. "I haven't spent such an evening for years!"

The Familey acted perfectly absurd about it. Seeing that they were going

to make a fuss, I refused to say with whom I had been walking. You'd

have thought I had committed a crime.

"It has come to this, Barbara," mother said, pacing the floor. "You

cannot be trusted out of our sight. Where do you meet all these men? If

this is how things are now, what will it be when given your Liberty?"

Well, it is to painful to record. I was told not to leave the place for

three days, although allowed the boat-house. And of course Sis had to

chime in that she'd heard a roomer I had run away and got married, and

although of course she knew it wasn't true, owing to no time to do so,

still where there was Smoke there was Fire.

But I felt that their confidence in me was going, and that night, after

all were in the Land of Dreams, I took that wreched suit of clothes and

so on to the boathouse, and hid them in the rafters upstairs.




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