Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1885-11-21

/ of the tramp from his shirt button, con
spicuous by its absence, his dirty shoes
called at the cottage. Now Mrs.
! Winters pet aversion was tramp; the
very name suggested visions OF murder,
| fire and robbery. When, perchan e, she
] did give employment to such people, IL
was under the pressure Of some stern
! necessity, and always with fear and trep-
! Chs wanted some kind Of work, m 'nn;;''
! that was the tenor of James message
/ from the kitchen. A hurried and anxious
/ consultation with that ancient and
! worthy domestic, disclosed the fact that
! the "kindling was most out" Relying
upon the assurance Of the intrepid Jane,
] who promised to keek an eye on him,
/ she was told to show him to the wood
pile. Later on, Jane set him down to
/ dinner in the kitchen, and, acting upon
! pre-arIangement, took the liberty Of
! giving Mrs. Winters a wink, Whereupon
! that wise and cautious woman ensCOnced
/ herself behind q convenient ambush
and proceeded to study Mr.. Tramp.
For the first time in her life, her Opin-
| ion wavered. The cap which half con-
! cealed his face when she had first seen
/ him, was now laid aside, disclosing to
view a broad, white forehead, surround
| ed by a handsome crop of brown curls.
| His face was sun burnt, but there was no
mistaking the beauty in every line of it
"a youthful face with not even the
shadow of a mustache to hide the clear
cut refined mouth. He came and saw,
and was almost conquered. There could
be nothing bad, she argued, in that
comedy young face. She had seen honest
brown eyeslike these before, somewhere.
He certainly could not be one Of the
class which she detested so much. Yes,
she would get him to give the flower
garden a hand, also.
They are busy every day now among
the flowers and weeds, Ella and Mrs.
Winters taking a hand. The tramp
proves a valuable acquisition. His taste
and knowledge about matters hOrticUl-
tuTal surprise them. He preserves
stolid silence except when spoken to,
and to Elias surprise never once recalled
the incident of the dog fight. Owing to
her secluded life, Ella Winters ideas of
men and things were mostly gathered
through the medium of the modern
novel; therefore she cOuldnot be blamed
if her imaginative mind found ample eX-
ercise in the study of this brown eyed
youth who so badly played the role of
tramp. His age might be tWenty-One
or twenty-five, and an expression that
Crept over his face sometimes in a furitiVe
manner, reminded her of the pictured
face upon the mantlepiece.
"What do you think of our gardener,
now, mammal" inquired Ella, over her
teacup one morning.
"My dear, think he is just splendid"
answered her mother, looking radiantly
through her glasses at Ella.
What do you think I found him doing
yesterday" went on Ella, with q peculiar
smile.
Mrs. Winters looked up now with q
shade of alarm upon her face. Was she
wrong after all TO allow herself to be so
so easily Invested of her fears? But her.
anxiety was allayed by the smile upon
Elias face.
81 surprised him reading this
mamma" holding up pocket edition Of
"I.es MiEerables," in triumph. SIN
French, too" continued Ella, nodding
her little head in a wise manner.
Ella is helping him to tie up some rose
bushes to-day, and tries to draw him
into conversation. His usually reticent
manner changes a little, and he aston
ishes her by his knowledge of books and
their authors. His language and man
neT eVince the greatest taste and culture
but he soon checks himself, as ifby an
effort, and relapses into almost sullen
silence. To her surprise he came to the
pRrlOr window one day and presented,
her with an exquisite half blown rose,
and she accepted it from the handsome
VagabOnd with as much grace and thanks
as if it had been given by a prinCe-ay,
and blushed, too, under his gaze, as she
pinned it to her bosom. Willie Gaynor
is expected in a week, but there is little
said about his coming, and Ella seems to
have lost much of the fervOr with which
she had awaited his prompt arrival a
month ago. A great change had come
"O'er the spirit of her dream" in that
one short month, and she dared not
question her heart, which even now
could tell her a strange story could it
give voice to the truth.
Mrs. Winters. whose fears had been
sleepinga all this time, began to feel some
slight qualms of sconcience, and was
glad when the work of improving the
garden was nearly at an end. Just now
she is holding a serious consultation with
Jane in the kitchen, regarding the adj
visibility OF dispensing with the "hired
man."
"Things are in the best of order, Jane
averred, winding up with an emphatic
assurance Of his being to her mind
perfect gentleman, never asking a ques-
ton, and always speaking to her (Jane)
as if she were a ga born lady"
The warmth Of the girls defense
showed plainly enough that he had cap
tured that side Of the citadel.
Willie Gaynor's arrival is close at
hand. Ella was restless and nervous to-
day, and resOrted to the inVariable pan
aCea for all her trOubles-the dogs. Call
ing Niggers and Ruby she held up a
warming fOrefngeT, and administered q
lecture upon the evils arising from fight
ing with strangers. Niger and Ruby
Winked in an apologize manner, and
wagged their tails in a way suggestive of
comprehension and compliance, and
Ella bravely tried TO divest her mind Of
tramps, troubles, and cousins for the
nonce. She walked quickly, her nerves
at the highest tension, until she became
Oblivious of time or distance. Even