William Prentiss. financier and bachelor, stormed about when his doctor informed him he must go to a sanitarium. But the case was urgent and the financier consented. Doctor Smith's sanitarium was in the Blue Ridge mountains. It proved an ...See moreWilliam Prentiss. financier and bachelor, stormed about when his doctor informed him he must go to a sanitarium. But the case was urgent and the financier consented. Doctor Smith's sanitarium was in the Blue Ridge mountains. It proved an attractive place for Prentiss, in time, the rest and air brought improved vigor. His interest in life returned. Doctor Smith, head of the institution, had many patients to look after. Feeling the need of rest from overwork, he went into the woods for a stroll. A sprained ankle was responsible for his finding an assistant in Hans, a woodcutter, working in the forest. Hans helped Dr. Smith to old Granny Robbins' cottage. The good woman eased the pain. She promised to send the doctor some of her beneficial herbs by her young daughter, known as the Witch Girl, who seldom left the forest glades. Thanking Granny, the doctor returned. Hans was sent for the Witch Girl. He called from crag to crag, and at last, down by the mountain pool, came a faint answer. The girl came when she chose. She disliked gathering herbs, because it meant wading about in the marsh where Granny's pigs grunted and wallowed. But she made the best of it and took a full basket to the sanitarium. That afternoon it was Mr. Prentiss' turn to be strolling in the woods. Suddenly he came upon a scene that made his eyes open, an elfin creature dancing about a tree on which she had pinned a magazine reproduction of his palatial home. He talked to her. She much wanted to see the wonderful house as it really was. When Prentiss suggested a way she consented. Prentiss met her in his automobile. At the house, she was aquiver with excitement, particularly so when the housekeeper dressed her in an embroidered gown. And then she dined with Mr. Prentiss. The girl's beauty and the wine inflamed the mind of Prentiss; he tried to kiss her. She fought him off and fled upstairs, donned again her ragged clothes and escaped from the house by a second story window. Her pet pigeon, which she had brought with her, she let fly with a note to Granny. It brought Hans and the doctor to her rescue after she had spent the night hiding in the grounds. A year passes. There is much meditation on the part of Prentiss. He decides to go out and win the girl in the right way. Written by
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