Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1888-01-19


dignity st is of no consequence
May hope, then, that you will make the
lavender sticks for mes will call for them,
of course said Mr.. Brown.
II will make some more for sale at the
news stand" replied Tulita; mo doubt you
can get them there"
Having administered which little cut
Tulita turned her big dark eyes severely
upon the still tarrying Mr.. Benton Brown,
convinced now that their visit had displeased
the young lady, also turned and glared at the
cause of his discontinue. What was their
surprise TO find that Mr.. Benton had reseated
himself and that he and the sonora had ap-
parently launched into an extended con-
versation
Are you coming, Bentonla said Brown,
| impatiently
"In minute, my dear fellow replied his
friend; Il have just discovered that Mrs.
Lnnavarita and have a whole lot of mutual
| friends up San Francisco"
And the sonora herself, turning to her
daughter, confirmed this in quite an ami
| mated way, repeating several names, evil
| IDENTIFY those of the friends referred to.
| Then Mr.. Browns eyes sought Tulita's
with such solemn protest that she in her turn
could not help smiling. Common politeness
forced her to say, "Will you not sit down!"
| But no, Mr.. Brown would not sit down; he
| preferred to do penance standing. Then he
looked so unhappy, casting gloomy glances
at his friend, which that gentleman ignored,
that Tulita finally began to feel little pity
for the young man. Perhaps she had been
too severe. After all he was very evidently
gentleman, and was not bad looking, and
he had the good taste to appreciate her Law
| ender sticks And so, after little heSita-
ton, she ventured to ask him if he was
stranger in San Diego. She almost laughed
again to see how grateful he looked for this
bit of condescension. In fact this young
man was so modest and courteous-so differ
ent from his companion, for instance-it was
really pleasure to encourage him a little.
Then gradually Mr.. Brown ceased to cast
remonstrative chances at his friend, and pres
emily, when he saw that he was keeping Miss
Lunavarita standing, he consented to sit
down.
1t was growing dark when Mr.. Brown
again arose to his feet and exclaimed,
peremptorily, "Come, Benton, we must gol
l don't know what Mrs Lunavarita and her
daughter will think of u.s.
Now, even if Mrs. Lunavarita's daughter
had cared to give expression to her thoughts
speeches. by her mothers behavior Giving
Mr.. Benton her hand as he babe her good
night, the sonora said, in a pleased and most
vivacious manner "Good night, senior, l
shall look for you tomorrow at 10 o'clock,
and then we will take our little ride"
After leaving the house Mr.. Benton and
Mr.. Brown plodded along through the dusk
and dust i'll silence for some minutes. Then
Mr.. Benton said, women are strange crea-
tures.n To which trite remark his companion
made no reply But having arrived at the
end of his reflections, and broken the silence,
Mr. Benton continued: do you remember
my telling you, Frank, that l had sort of
superstition that your So investment was
going to bring us luckF' And as Brown as
sented, with a nod of his head, "Well, l
think it has, though had no idea when /
inquired the name of your friends, of the
people next door, that the luck was all ready,
laid away in lavender, as it were, waiting
for us to come and get it. Mrs. Lunavarita
has 200 or 800 acres Of land over on the sea
shore What do you think of thats 1t is
the same old story. They once owned leagues
and this is all they have left, and they have
got that, as Mrs Lunavarita says, because it
is not worth anything, although she is wrong
there. At any rate she is holding it for her
daughter, hoping that it may be worth some
thing some day. 1t is all they have got.
Two thousand dollars is the highest figure
she has thought of. If it is anything like
she describes it, and if she will let me
handle it, propose to make it worth $780,
90 in the next year."
"LoolS here, Tom, said Brown, impulsively,
''if you do get hold of this thing, you will do
the best you can by Mrs. Lunavarita, won't
your
"My dear fellow said Mr.. Benton in
rather cold tone, sis it necessary TO ask me
thata / am not devourer of widows and
orphans"
ooh, hang it, don't be touchy," said Brown.
"You know l did not mean anything like
that. Only these two women are so lonely,
and innocent, and plucky, they really have
made quite an impression ON me-"
II noticed that one of them seemed to-" re-
piled Mr.. Benton, dryly, but did not OBJ
serve the other had. AS for the proposition,
If everything turns out as expect, it was a
lucky day for Mrs Lunavarita when l
knocked at her door. And now let us quit
work for the day, and go and have respect
able dinner as a send off for the new firm of
Benton g. Brown, real estate dealers"
A year and half have elapsed It is
Christmas Eve Once more Tulita is watch
ing the sun set, but this time from another
home where Point Iona does not intervene
its huge bulk where she can SEQ the golden
disc slipping down between the blue of
the Pacific and the blue of the even
ing sky, until the last FURNISHED tip dis
appears Then the soft warm air is filled
with rich color as the afterglow stains sky
and water with its hues Turning away,
Tulita proceeds with her occupation of
gathering roses which this celestial pageant
had interrupted, while the air grows heavy
with their perfume. Behind Tulita is a large
so called "Queen Anne' cottage, and ON the
veranda sits her mother, lazily rocking and
tanning herself Next to the sonora sits
an elderly gentleman, and on the back of the
elderly gentleman's chair leans Mr.. Brown,
of Philadelphia As Tulta passes the side of
the porch she dexterously losses rose to the
elderly gentleman, and laughs, as he success
fully catches it, and presses it to his lips with
gallant bow.
"Well well, WE'LL he says, breaking the 81
lence, "imagine being out of door without
wrap, gathering roses on Christmas Eve. And
you really mean to tell me, Frank, that this
place has been set out only yearp
eyes, SIR replied the young man, "just
about. on see, IaIner, IN ULlS country wafer
iseverything If you can only get plenty of
water, things grow like magic. / remember
that is what worried us most when we put
Lunavarita town lots on the market, water
was the great question, and we were afraid
we would have to pipci it from town. But as
soon as we struck that artesian well we were
fixed The property doubled in value in
twenty four hours, and we sold enough lots
the first week to pay for laying out the town,
putting down water and sewer pipes, and
subsidizing a street car line to run motor
out here After that the people used to come
and stand in line all day long at our Office
| waiting to buy lots. We raised the price re-
ligiously on the first of each month, and now
you can't buy lot in Lunavarita for less
than $780, Water is king in California. There
is company formed to lume it down from
the mountains about sixty miles from here;
it is good scheme, too"
at must cost a great deal, said the elder
Mr. Brown dOubtfully