Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-06-26


i You have had sweetheart and quar-
relied vita him."
..Ireak." uttered Tommy, making {
gaivanic spring toward the mind-read
ing guest.
~. b, no: he quarreled with mo ant
everything concerning me. He WASH
in harmony with my environments. HI
was ri h and hig!i-mInded.
! ..Don't you think girls are very fool
ish and headst ong atout their indie
pendence in these days?''
..No, ma am, / don't.
"Isn't it waste TO You to be sweep.
ing out this railroad station when you
might be making his home happy?.f
.sHis mother can make his home hap.
"May be not May be his heart is SC
set on you that her str ct government,
ava Is nothing. May be, in fact, he
governs his mother with his wishes
instead OF his mother governing him. y
II hope he does. I'd rather he'd ty-
rannize over her than owe. me.
..Cheetr' broke out Dinkum, in hon.
est reproach.
$50 he has other faults?"
"oh, yes. For one thing his names
Smith. ~
The passenger uttered that sound
which is best described as snort, and
wrote rapidly in retort: ''And q very
good name it is. You will find it in
every honorable position. So you don't
want him at all?o
$40; you may keep him.
"Cheepr" uttered the three crickets
in concert, as if they had actually read
every stroke of the pencils.
..Hush. chldren!' exclaimed Camil-
| Ia; "what do you know about lovers
and trouble? She'll let me alone now;
and unless you blab all I've told You
here by ourselves she'll never guess
what dreadful thinking I keep up
80 you are determined not to have
| Mr.. Smith," the tablet conversation
went on.
Positively" AS Camilla wrote she
felt a SILVER running between her
shoulders All the leaves of her IA
miliar woods must be weighted with
water, and the hoary moss cups and
reaching roots lost in frozen rain. ii
it were always late spring, budding,
promising, stimulating ones own blood.
| life would not look so melancholy and
long.
.'ferhaps the Objectionable mother
who rules Mr.. Smith may drop offsome
day." -.. SA
II don't think she will She looks SO
healthy"
Have you ever seen her?'
81 have seen her picture:"
sWhat was she like
.'She looked very much like YOU"
..Surely not like me! Remember /
am only the crickots' gran muvver.
who has come to visit them, and not
such very lively company that / can
count on not being called Cross
81 knew it all the timen' exclaimed
Camilla, aloud. land you only did it
to hear what said to myself"
Confessed" said the elder lady,
making her voice heard for the first
tine, and low, solid, pleasant voice
it was, evidently trained through many
years to control and make the most of
itself.
'.And you said he was coming here
in an hour. 1t can't be to see me. /
haven't anything different to say
HE sent me ahead to make peace, p
continued the elder lady, ''because it
appears to you that l began the war.
Ny dear child, you have no son. When
you have you may be exacting in the
matter of his marriage. | have my
odd impulses, as the way in which I
came here proves; but usually sober
conviction rules me. My sober convic-
ton in this case is that my son is de-
mined to have you, and you and / will
have to make the best or it. Eon't you
think you can take me as mother-in-
law
Camilla extended her hands around
Al, ..1-
across the wires. but said nothing.
Il did not know what nice little
woman you were,' SAID the elder lady,
looking at her watch, ''nor what poor
substitute you have for family in that
cage of crickets.''
"They are perfectly tame and low
ing" burst out Camilla.
$50 is my son. Poor. lonely little
came in here. i was a lonely woman
myself once"
camilla pressed her palm and fingers
against her eyes.
'You shat make me cry" she ut
tered, de6antly. I'm not a crying
woman, if only keep the flood gates
shut
81 am crying woman said the ell
der woman, taking out her handker-
chief, and turning dark about the eyes.
"And came here to have good sob
over your bereavements and my own
old folly"
She arose from her chair, came over
and knelt by Camilla, and the two
claspcd each other in an embrace. and
made the room resonant with sounds
the cri .kets might have been amazed
to hear, had not several solos of the
same kind been delivered in that room
before.
There! that's enough" exclaimed
Camilla, rubbing her wet eyeglasses.
''If 1 don't shut up now. / shall be hys-
terical for week.
And You IL just let the past go, my
dear. and accept his offer-and his
mother?' ~
Your nose is real red,' said Camil-.
Ia. 'How does mine look?'
Fink, replied the passenger, get
i Sup and smiling.
3D. Ash lie she shook down her dress folds,
and while Camilla carefully rubbed her
own cheeks. and laughed at the mi
scroscopic concern which she saw ex-
pressed by the faces of the crickets. q
locomotives scream came through the
woods, and the pounding of heavy
train made the rails beside the platform
,tingle.
There he is now said the elder
lady, complacently.
mot on this train!''
''This must be the train he was to fol-
low on. Isn't it from the south?''
''Of course it is. There goes the