The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1893-04-10
BY THE TIRELIGHT.

into the cold, blue gray sky. The sky
tint, but colder, bluer, harder in tone,
was repeated in the line of mountains
stretching away TO the south. Among
the shifting heaps of fallen leaves shone
CLEANS of color, but the moss had turned
10 brown, and in the cold, windy even
ing the lately denuded trees seemed to
shiver.
A woman came ont OF a pasture with
a pail of milk in her hand. a. slight
wisp of o creature, her cotton gown
hung Imply about her thin form. She
covered as the wind struck her and
coughed painfully, yet she fingered. She
was too much q child OF nature to ex-
plain how the antnmn days made her
feel both forlorn and ~expectant, and yet
was perhaps the more affected by the
moods Of the great mother not attempt
ing to translate them into human needs.
The chatter of hoofs made her turn
slowly. One glance and her heart gave
a leap, sending the warm color to her
cheek. By the time the horsernan had
reached her the color was gone.
"Good evening. Does Uncle Billy
Grimes live here?"
Eyes, sir"
do you suppose he would be willing
to put me up tonight
Il reckon. Light an I'll take your
nag"
The gentleman hesitated as if his gal
lantry would not permit him to allow q
woman to put up his horse, but, seeming
to think better of it, thanked her, and
taking his saddlebags, turned toward
the house.
AT the door he was met by an old
woman, who, learning his wish, cordial
~ made him welcome, offering him q
seat by the side of the hearth, ON which
a great fire was burning. He tilted back
on the short legged chair with the feel
ing of warmth and well being which
follow a long, cold ride, and soon found
himself gently slipping into the mood
he had been trying all day to cultivate.
This had been his home, and after half
a lifetime spent away he had returned to
the land of his childhood only to find
the Carolina mountains less grand than
others he had seen, and the simple life
of the people, which in moments Of sem
timent he had remembered as idyllic,
rough, uncouth and cherries. He was
too far removed from their life for SYM
pathy, too close to feel the picturesque
interest and pleasure of a real stranger.
These people were more or less nearly
related to him, yet they seemed another
race of beings.
He had left his mountain home a mere
boy and had gone west, where q new
life opened for him. Something i'm his
nature always made him reject what
was coarse and vulgar, and when be be-
came suddenly rich his native gentleness
and simplicity Of manner stood him in
stead of breeding and education, dis
arming criticism, till, with the quick
perception and initiative faculty which
were his birthright, he had largely re-
paired the Deficiencies of his early train
ing, acquiring much of the manner and
tom of people of culture. Now he had
come back and was a stranger in his
own land.
But the bright freight dancing on the
waIl illumined the rough interior Of the
farmhouse kitchen, and he began to feel
less remote, less offended by the mean
hess of his surroundings. Memories OF
his childhood rose before him as he
watched the young woman In her prep
arations for supper. She had mixed mp
the corn bread, and now knelt ON the
floor beside the hearth molding it into
loaves and putting them into a large iron
skillet. The freight flashed on the tin
pan. gave a ruddy glow to her thin face,
and turned her dull, ~yellowish hair tc
red gold. As the stranger watched hel
something rose in his throat.
aNancyt"
She turned suddenly.
''Chris!'
II did not know you at first"
Il reckon I've changed" she said
sadly.
''Not>so much. II was rather dark
1t takes the freight to make You lool
natural. But how came you hereY'
"Uncle Billy married my aunt, al
she wanted somebody ter help her, an
hadn't no home"
"Not married."
"No." She picked up her pan and lief
the room.
cit cannot be she has waited all thes'
years for me-" he thought. "Of cours'
not; such--Gonstancy is not to be foun.
among women of her sort. How fadet
she isl These mountain folks, particu
larly the women, grow old early. Poo
thingl | suppose she has had to worl
hard, and she never was very strong
Why, she can't be much older than Loi
Ellison" He shnddered 1t the cor
trast. Miss Ellison was his partner
sister. They were the best of friends
He had proposed to her annually for til
last five years, and yet they still n
manned friends. She treated him kindl
and without coquetry and pleaded
prior attachment. As the other ma
was dead Chris waited and hoped.
Sometimes he had been tempted |
doubt her reason for refusing him, br
it only gave him pain, and he had q
ways made it a rule never to doubt
lady's word. Circumstances had no
and then obliged him to be false in tn
principle. but he had lived nm To IL whe