Kimball enterprise. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1883, 1883-07-20

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knees with her arms around her sister.
"You did this for us-for me! For
give me-forgive me! Oh, didn't mean
it, Erica, didn't, indeed!"
A canary swinging in his gilded cage
burst forth into great bravura.
Erica rose suddenly
"How shrilly that bird SINGS" she ex-
claimed. ut is deafening." .
3 She went out of the room and Bertha
sat quite. still where she had left her.
Her head lay within the hollow of her
arm, which rested on the elbow of the
racker. Louder and more piercing
came the song from the bird cage,
Stop, Dick!' she cried, irritably.
She caught the late September rose
from her bosom and flung it at him, and
laughed at herself for being so foolish
all in one breath.
Robert sn'herland came up that eve
ming. He was man of twenty. five or
thereabouts, with smooth, clean shay
en- face, absolutely colorless. His nose
and chin were of type long and pro-
nounced, his eyes we're light blue, his
hair light yellow.
The Braithwoods were all gathered
together in the parlor when he entered.
Rick lay full length on the sofa, deep in
the perusal of a seductive Freuch novel.
Dot and Dora drummed duet on the
asthmatic piano in a distant corner, the
younger children clustered around the
etory-teller of the family, who Just then
was RECALLING them with thorough de-
scription of q tight with "Injuns."
"Come in Bob!" cordially invited Rich,
who, had he ever had the honor of a
presentation to the late prince consul,
would have called him ZAP on their
second encounter.
Erica, busy with the homely task of
patching Willie's coat, looked up with
swift compression of her lips and held
him out her hand. Bertha rose half
eagerly, shyly from her chair and came
q little forward to meet her lover. She
was looking very graceful and slender,
and stately in her picturesque dress OF
dull Venetian red, with the ouain,
brooch oftawny gold at her throat,
''Sit down. Have a cigar-the girls
don't mind" murmured Rich in genial
abstraction, his thought still with Celes.
tine.
They were not ceremon1ous al the
Braithwood's. The twins paused mo-
ment to stare at the newcomer. and then
resumed their interrupted performance
shake every petal form the "Last Rose
of Summer" The sensational narrator
adown the room suspended his recital
in the middle Of a startling sentence,
And the toma-," waiting long enough
to run the curiosity of his listeners up to
fever-heat before he concluded, ''hawk
ielll''
Thanks, no! " Sutherland replied, II
don't smoke. Let me move that lamp
for you, Miss Braithwood--so Well
excuse you," with g nod to Rich; EGO on
With your book. I am going to talk to
Thus liberated from the conversational
thralldom, Rick went back to Celestine.
Erica sewed on with brown, bent head;
under its merciless manipulation the pi-
sobbed gasping fortissimi. Once or
twice Erica lifted her eyes and looked
across the room to where Robert Suth-
erland leant above her sisters chair.
de always talking in his slow, absorbed,
nervous fashion; she listening, her face
luminous.
.'What does she see in him?" phe
asked herself desperately, and fell to
plying her needle more rapidly than
before, as though to stitch out an an
swer to her questlo on.
That will do, Dot. Good night,
Doral' she said at last to the relentless
musicians. They ceased Immediately.
And on sudden silence came distinctly
from the distant corner the blood-curdl-
ing words "and Tiger Tommy, pulling
out his revolver, exclaimed"
There was quick, spontaneous shout
ing the thin veneer of ice which had
coated their intercourse.
Tiger Tommy. go to bed!" chimed in
Bertha gayly. Looking rather shame
faced, the youngsters scrambled up.
Robert Sutherland rose too.
"Whatl going, Bob? Where is the hur-
ry? Oh, hang it, you don't, you knowp'
expostulated Rick, dropping Celestine
and her sorrows ANONYMOUSLY on the
carpet.
did I, that have to leave town to-
night3"
The girls dark, velvety eyes dilated.
"No," she said slowly, "you did nottell
me-"
He looked up at her with smile.
sit was such hard luck for me, my
darling, such difficult news for me to tell
/ naturally deferred its mention as long
as possible. received telegram to-
day containing information of the death
of my uncle in Paris. An uncle only by
tarriage, native-b born Partisan, he. I
must go over to protect my cousins in
heritance from the devastating grasp of
those rapacious Gallo lawyers. OF what
duration my absence will be l can form
no conjecture, however faint. This only
/ know. However brief, brisk work and
loving homewa-d thoughts can make it,
it shall be because of-Bertha. /"
A hot rosy tide came flooding Bertha's
sale cheek. But closer around Erica
heart cold fingers clutched in pre-
monition Of pain.
After that the days went by very mon.
otonously, wholly eventually, at the
BIaithwoods.
Rich smoked, and frolicked, and
laughed, kindly presence in the house
as usual; Erica ordered the dinner, and
patched the boys clothes, and took
more than her share of the domestic
difficulties on her own shoulders unob-
trusiyely as ever, Bertha lived only
for the mails from France.
One day in particular, q day without a
laugh or sob, smile or frown, very
nonentity ofa day, she listened, listened
all afternoon for the postman's impera-
tive ring. 1t came at last. She fled to
the door. What dreary, desolate
night! The snow had begun to fall
the first snow of the year.
Only paper. He had not time to
write, SO he sent her this. How good he
was-he never forgot her!
y ~ Il. l.