The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1892-06-16

4
Whitcumb did not commune, and there
was but little opportunity for gossip and
inquiries on the church steps after meet
ting.
To DO sure. Mrs.. Wood had called IN
/ greeting across the road TO her. Tho
Woods were all a rather noisy. out-of-
door kind Of folk. and fulfilled most Of
their social duties over gates and fences.
The house was 80 near she could catch
! the drip Of conversation from the win.
dow, for the family all had shrill. high
voices. Il was edifying to hear Angle
Wood, though the country was suffering
from long dry time, express the wish
that the rain might hold of until after
Sunday to allow her to wear her new
dress to church. But Mrs. Whitcumb
was not even amused by tho thought Of
the upper spheres obeying Miss Angles
wish relative to her new gown. She
had often pat up tho same petition to
the weather god in reference to her
crops. and tho thought had never oc-
Cured to her that 1t was in the least I'M
reasonable.
There was q tennis court at the side Of
the Wood mansion. and Mrs. Whitcumb
found q certain resource In watching
the play. Minutes beau came over
every afternoon except sunday. and II
seemed Us though the Woods were hold
ing public festival for the benefit Of
the neighborhood. Miss Mayhem did
not spend much time with her sister-in-
law. After family affairs had been
talked over they did not seem to have
very much to say to each other, and
gradually the invalid faded out Of Oh
servation. At first Il was one Of her
bad spells" that confined her TO her
bed for two or three days. and then she
continued to take her meals in her own
room, passing from the bed 10 the couch.
Der chair by the sitting room window
was empty. and the school children
missed her nod and smile as they passed
BY.
The whole house was open to Sister
Martha, all but this shaded room. and
when she knocked there the door was
sometimes locked and there was no re-
| Spouse. Ann cooked her best dishes for
the visitor. who. rather than take them
alone. ate with her In the neat kitchen.
Mrs. Whitcumb did not mind eating
with Ann. She always shared her
meals with her own ''help" at home. but
her visit on the whole was turning out
lugubriouA Nobody had asked her to
tea or to spend the day; she looked
eagerly in the Littlefield News to see IL
her name had appeared among the ar
rivals. Yes; there II was at the head Of
the column Of town items, Mrs. Josiah
Whitcumb, Of Bath, 10 spending u few
days at the old Mayhem homestead on
Golf street"
Everybody in LittleReld had read that
announcement without its raising q
ripple on the surface. for the Little
fieliliAns, Us q rule, took the village
paper solely to read the locals" contain.
ing facts they all knew in advance; such
Is the witchery Of seeing ones name in
print.
Sometimes sitting up there in her own
room with the three slightly windows, o
wild impulse seized Sister Martha to do
something reckless that should mako
folks talk. She was not a passive per-
son. nor was her mood meditative.
| AllO wan AgAN " uCA O"us oAAu
kept light burning In there all night.
Their windows looked the same way
toward Captain Bligh's house, and in the
small hours when her insomnia was ct
its worst, pinning her eyelids open and
making her brain whirI, she would hear
slight stealthy movements through the
wall, and would know that Vinie was
awake treading tn her worsted slippers
up and down the carpet.
There was light, too, in the captains
/ window, for be sat late reading-or the
Lord only knew what he was doing
long after other folks were In bed. The
neighbors called Captain Bligh heath
en-. he never went TO church, nor did be
often enter any other house than bis own,
but he was keen and sharp enough about
his own interests and had bought up
much valuable real estate in the town for
purposes Of speculation. Sister Martha,
in her own dark room. spied on these
two lights as she heard Vinies stealthy
steps. The two lights had looked across
intervening space OF each other for 6f-
teen years. Sister Martha had never
read the affecting ballad Of the knight
who turned hermit on the mountain to
watch the candle In his ladys window
across the valley, and had she known It
Il would probably have seemed to her
sentimental stuff.
Sister Martha had her own thoughts as
she gazed at the lonely bachelors win
dow, and at times blended with them
was something like twinge Of remorse.
She hoped when the ketchin took her in
the side 1t did not betoken incipient heart
disease. Ann Basket had sealed her thin
lips about Captain Bligh and was not
very communicative on the subject Of the
neighbOrs Affairs. Her opinion that Mis-
Whitcumb was 80 kerryin and Q fetchin
woman" was no whit lessened by the gift
Of the linsey woolsey piece for q winter
petticoat. Ann received It somewhat
grimly with an intimation Of counte-
nance that she could afford 10 buy such
clothes as she needed. She let 1t lay neg.
lected two days on kitchen chair before
she carried 1t TO her own room. AIMS
scorn Of presents was due to her con-
sciousness Of good bank account. She
had saved money during her long service
In the Mathew family. and she thanked
God she waa not hard on her things.
Her principal employment in the long
winter evenings was to at at her clean
kitchen table, with Q brightly burning
kerosene lamp, and make over her old
clothes. A new fashion hardly ever
came up that she did not get some odd
wrinkle Of It on her garments. When