The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1872-03-22
|. Gilbert S Folks.
ny AUeusrA LARNEp.


by AUGUSTA LARNED.
The operation of foddering stock in
December, when the wind is due East
and you are facing il, and the ground
has been trOdden into slush which petri.
fies your feet, is not exhilarating. Gil.
bert was cold, and, if not exactly out o
temper, tired and depressed. He was il
that cheerful state of mind when ht
knew nobody cared for him and that ht
cared for nobody. He was half glaC
that he did not care for anybody, bu
there was a sore place in his bosom be
cause nobody cared for him. His self
congratulations arose from the fact tina
If he had happened to care for anybody
in particular, Eunice Mahew, for in
stance, he knew rs well as he wished {,
know that she never could have careC
Tor him; consequently he was not like
burnt child who breads the fire, bu
ike one who has seen the danger anC
avoided anything more serious than
singeing. Gilbert,s thoughts were a lit
tie confused, and the consciousness thai
he had acted with unusual discretion
made him crosser than there was any
need of being. The chill atmosphere
had quality irritating to the temper
of man and beast. The cattle were rest
less; they pushed with their horns and
gathered in uncomfortable shiverinp
huddles. There was a storm brewing.
The sky was of a dull gray. and little
spits of snow now and then fioated down
ward
When the foddering was over and the
cattle stalled for the night, Gilbert went
into the barn. There was half hour
of daylight still left to him, and the
barn was a favorite place with Gilbert.
even in cold weather, when the wind
came grooming through the cracks and
knot-holes, and drearily rustled the dry
shocks of corn still unhusked, or snow
sifted through the siding and Law i'm
white patches on the hay. Certainly II
was not a cheerful resort, with its great
spaces that in these short Winter DAYS
so quickly filled with mystery and shad-
Ow, and no sound but the hens stepping
about, or the squeak of a mouse. But
the young man liked it. He often sat
on three-legged milking stool in one
OF the empty horse stalls, and reflected
cheerfully on the fact that nobody cared
4 copper for him. There wasn't the re-
mOtest chance of her ever caring for
him, and here the abstraction took the
form of a young woman, not very tall,
with pleasant face little tanned, mis-
chievOus, laughing eyes, a good little
nose that apparently wanted to turn up,
but did not commit any such impro-
priety, and silky hair that quirked and
curled IN distractiug aid altogether
lneXpllcabie manner This somebody,
whose name was Eunice Mahew. was
foreordained and predestined, so Gilbert
reasoned, to fall in love with Milton
Spencer, the teacher of the village high
school. he was young man fresh
from college, and a manly fellow, too.
in spite Of a few airs and graces. He
@ evidently liked Eunice. Gilbert Thought
the situation over calmly and dispas-
slonately, with no personal interest of
course, but, strange to say, although he
judged fairly enough of Miltonis merits
and saw how great were his chances of
success, he heartily wished the Young
pedagOgue in Guinea.
Although Gilbert scOrned foppery. he
had recently procured a small looking
glass, which he hung against a beam i'm
!le stan, ana there spent odd moments
III ~ arranging his neck-tie, and studying
divers modes of hair-dressing. If there
was a sensible, sound Young man i'm flo
whole neighborhOOd, il was Gilbert
freeman. Left an orphan at an early
age, he had struggled hard, ever Keeping
70 the purpose of making the most of
nnlnselI II and improving his Opportuni-
yes; lie read the best books that came
III ms way, and had never been known
70 sPehd time on anything trashy or
aeh'lihehlal. he was not an imagina-
i've young man. There was a locked
poA or bin, where the spare harness was
Kept, and there, strange to saw. Gilbert
Illu Oh late deposited two or three small
Nolulhes Which looked suspiciously like
Ihese works We're placed beside Macu-
LAY history OF England, and Gibbons
iieOiILiei put strange TO say, when Gilbert
~ ~ ms spare moments took out one of
lhese pOnderous tones, which he had
once SO eagerly devoured. the words
swan before his eyes, or faded ENTIRELY
out OF view, and he put the book back
with a feeling of weariness, and tool,
from Its place a little blue and gold vol
ume, sneakingly conscious that the Doef
who sings of love, and perpetual youth.
of stars, and flowers, and streams. alone
has the right of things. For a Young
man who cared for nobody this suddenly
acquired taste for poetry did look rather
strangei but still rs he sat there on his
milking stool, with the shadows creep
ing into the old barn, he was so glad on
account OF the disengaged state of his
1~eioAsi tLidti SlIOhB lellOW as he was,
ne actually covered his face with his
hands, and the color burned in his brown
Sneeks, and wOmanish tears sprang TO
ms eyes, at thought of an impossible
DlIss- he was in a very peculiar state
Ol hlhd Tor young man who knew he
was not IN love. Presently the little
side door leading into the stall was
opened, and the fiutter of a woman's dress
came to his ear, such fiutter as only
one woman in the world could make by
a quick and cheerful step. In an in
stant Euniee Mahew stood before him
She had thrown an old cloak of red and
black plaid around her, and pulled the
hood about her rosy face. There was a
pretty petulance and sauciness in her
air, which stopped just this side of pert
ness, and was very alluring.
"What, you here, Gilbert,u said she,
with a most delightful air of surprise,
"sitting all alone, on a three-legged
stool, and glOwering like an owl in an
ivy bush ?"
81 generally am here" returned Gil
bert; "but what has brought you here, !
Miss Mahew?u and his voice caught on |
/ lump in his throat.
"I am here, Mr.. Freeman" and she /
aueily emphasized the Mr., ''to hunt