She had died peacefully in her sleep. When her personal effects were
administered there was noticed on the mantelpiece in her sitting-room
a mounted tintype, on the paper back of which were two inscriptions.
Of these the upper, in faded ink, was dated forty years before and
read "From Jimmy." The other, recent and written with the pen of an
elderly person, ran as follows: "Portrait of the President of the
United States as a school-boy."




AN EXCHANGE OF COURTESIES


I


In the opinion of many persons competent to judge, "The Beaches" was
suffering from an invasion of wealth. Unquestionably it had been
fashionable for a generation; but the people who had established
summer homes there were inhabitants of the large neighboring city
which they forsook during five months in the year to enjoy the ocean
breezes and sylvan scenery, for The Beaches afforded both. Well-to-do
New England families of refinement and taste, they enjoyed in comfort,
without ostentation, their picturesque surroundings. Their cottages
were simple; but each had its charming outlook to sea and a sufficient
number of more or less wooded acres to command privacy and breathing
space. In the early days the land had sold for a song, but it had
risen steadily with the times, as more and more people coveted a
foothold. The last ten years had introduced many changes; the older