St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-05-24
What could he

do? Only what he did.
When Jeanne returned to take the
half-tinished bowl to the kitchen John
saw, or thought he saw, lust the suspi-
cion OF a smile stirring in the placid
depths OF her eyes; and he read, or
thought he read, its meaning.
A few days afterward Jeanie sat by
the window OF the invalid's room,
thoughtfully plying her needle.
i Through the open windows came a
fresh sweet breath of air, cooled by q
brief shower, and scented by the per
fume caught from the white censers of
the apple blossoms which it had swung
in the wide orchard. The breeze kissed
gratefully the forehead of the sick maa,
who lay dreamily gazing at the busy
/ spinster until he was thrown into the
greatest discontinue by Jeanie's fold
/ ing her hands over her work, and oaz-
ing shrewdly and refectivelv at him.
''D'ye ken what wur thinkin' ABBOTT.
puir mon?"
An upheaval of the pillow as the shay
gy head plunged under it was her only
answer.
John designed this rather ill-consid-
cred maneuver to be Interpreted as
meaning that he ''didna ken or care. -
But the tranquil woman was pleased to
leave it uninterrupted.
| II wur a-thinkIn' how Draw We wad
lux in bonny cap, trimmit Willow
will We haze it trimmit?n
"Waes me! sic daft whigmeleerie, -.
blurted the disconnected man, the
wrinkles of his bronzed face deepening
and writing into something which
might have been a grimace or smile.
1t seemed 50 little at home there that
1 decidedly incline to the latter belief.
IL think Jeanie did, too; for, as the
heaving of the pillow revealed the fur
rowed face, a look of serene satisfaction
settled on her own.
And John saw that look and read it.
His first impulse was to resentment, as
open and obstinate as needful: but the
quiet air of always seeming to defer to
his wishes (although it was evident she
never did defer to them), looked so in
geniouS and so winning that he had not
heart to resort to resentment. Of STRAIT
egy he knew nothing, AS near as he
could approach to it was to form the
policy of neutrality, of non-commit-
ment. But. in the deeper diplomacy of
Jeanie, it was indispensable that he
should be committed. So she contin-
ued:
''Shall we say trimmit wi cherry-red
or wi blue?'
''Jeanie, woman, haze mercy. I am
nae staumrel. | Gamma put my pow in
ony sic bag as that.
Yes; he was committed.
Jeanie busted herself a moment in |
picking the dried leaves from the win
dow-plants, and then, as she turned
toward the door, said:
81 hae it. 1t maun be blue, tae
match your cen"
The soft closing of the door made the
vehement demurrer heard only by the
attentive Watty, who merely wiped his
eyes and stared the harder at the in
valid.
In due time the absurd artifce was
carried to successful issue. Although
the neatly-trimmed cap was commonly
crumpled under his neck, or, when he
grew sleepy, was mashed over his eyes
like surgical compress, he made at
least pretense of wearing it until he
was able to leave the bed.
His convalescence was rapid; but not
so rapid but that before he could leave
his room Jeanie's little hand hadsi
lently unwound the matted and un-
slightly weeds of misanthropy Che
thought it such) from his heart and
touched and awakened chords he never
knew were there. And the strange,
new strings were sweet, very sweet, if
not with harmony at least with
So it came to pass that, more than
once, during their daily drives up the
shady valley road, John tried hard to
say something, something which Jen- |
nie was not at all 10th to hear. And !
though these attempts were usually hui !
failures, he did not despair,
nor she. :
One sunny afternoon he got SO far as
% say, after many preliminary grim
ices: ,
Jennie. woman, are We nae lanely
lftentimes here, syne your brother can I
rang ABBOTT wi ye nae mair?''
''Yes, John. y !
eye dinna''--he ventured, slowly rub /
ling the back of old Meggy with the |
lump of a whip-''Ye dinna Ike tae be {
ae lonesome. Jeauie?" i
l think John did not know what else t
o say.
mae, john t
''Jeanie, woman (John was rub '
ing old Meggy's back very hard, in e
ICED, and making SO numerous and so f
iolent grimaces that that staid animal, ]
boxing back in protest, was utterly dis S
oncerted) sJeanie, woman, hadna we s
etter-you an I-hadna we''- t
But something got into his throat at Il
bis crisis. 1t made his face blush deep Il