The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1893-03-07
WYI4IE ADAMS.
The Impetuous Nature OF a Child
OF the Woods.
ssEe-oh. ee-oh. ho-eelv

"Ee-oh, ee--oh, ho-eel'
What a sharp young voice it was;
full of character and independence, and
vet with undertones of underlined
sweetness, evidently needing only cul-
| tivation to bring it into power.
The girl, for 1t was one, stood just
on the bank of clear, running
stream, which might have been either a
river or creek-it was wide, hmpid
and deep.
She was tall and som ewhat angular,
a woman in height, but the short cot
ton frock and short red hair, and some
thing in the way she stood, spoke at
once of youthfulness, had not her voice
been heard. She was in her eighteenth
year.
With one long brown hand shading
her eyes from the glaring autumn sun
set, she stood apparently awaiting
some one.
All about her were the forest trees
in their richest colorings, and the soft
rustic of the leaves with the ripple OF
the water was all that was heard for
a moment after the shrill echo of her
voice died away; then the big black
dog lying at her bare feet growled and
sprang quickly to his own.
Comm at last" the girl said in an
undertone, as the dip of oars, at first
family and then louder, fell upon her
ears.
You're never tardy," she continued
with slight sneer, as small skiff
containing one occupant, young fell
low of about twenty three years Of age,
rounded the point.
He wore a suit of blue denims, a
rimless straw hat, and his feet were
also bare. He was dark almost to
swarthiness. and his black eyes gave a
CLEAN Of satisfaction for an instant.
while the rich blood suffused his neck
and face until it was fairly purple
ST amt Late he said slowly, while
wide sweep of the oars with his
strong arms and brawny shoulders
shot the little boat far upon the
pebbly shore, like an arrow from a
catapult
awful smart, " the girl said, senten-
tiously, giving the huge brute at her
side several sharp cuffs on his ears to
emphasize her words and give vent to
her temper.
81 wouldn't kill the dog cause yer
mad at me. he said.
xiii nothin'," she calculated, sullen-
". What time dye reckon tits, Beech
nut Lord?"
Nigh onto six, guess" he an
swered, quietly, stepping from the
boat and drawing it still further on
shore. 'Um. UNI, it's after seven"
He fastened the little craft, and then
as she started up the path he followed
her at the heels of the dog, and in
much the same detected way, through
the thick, winding interlacing of leaves
and vines.
The faint tinkle Of bells could be
heard In the distance, as the trio fol-
lowed In the foot tracks of the lowing
kline, and anon the whir of partridges
and twitter Of night birds. Darkness
fell as they reached the bars, where the
big eyed cows stood in the fading grass
and weeds, quietly waiting.
Beechnut took down the bars and
drove the cows into the yard, Wylie
following with her pink sun bonnet on
her arm, her sa1low face full of discon-
lent. He put up the bars again.
Good night" he said, kindly, and
turned away.
'sAin't We comm imp Wyie turned
suddenly and scowled.
"Not might and he was gone.
Smart, / like that, she commented.
The big black dog still skunk at her
eli sf& taax Oh, an
tered the low doorway of an old log
house, and then he crept under a
coarse bed that stood in the corner of
the :low-ceilinged room, and lay down
with q yawn-
Wyiie Adams gave little start as
she entered the room. A bright fire
/ burned in the wide fireplace, over
which hung an iron pot, from which
issued savory odors.
81 "A tall, middle-aged woman was busy
Esabout the room and stranger sat be-
fore the fire in one of the few splint-
bottomed chairs the cabin contained.
He did not see Wylie when she entered,
as he sat looking thoughtfully into the
fire, but the tall woman spoke.
wall, ye're cum at last?"
Wylie made no reply, but a nod, and
for the first time In her life, looked
down with a blush at her bare feet,
which were both soiled and bruised
It was evidently something unusual
for stranger to be seen near Silver
creek, and this stranger was certainly
out of the ordinary. Wylie's daring
spirit quailed.
He turned and arose as Wylie's moth
er spoke, bowling and offering his
chair, his eyes resting upon the long,
brown feet the young girl was vainly
endeavoring to conceal with her skirts.
Her face was crimson The stranger
slightly lifted his eyebrows.
Don't be a peacock, exclaimed Mrs.
Adams as she wiped her face with her
gingham apron. II rocking this young
feller's seen feet afore, though they
mout be purifier. Come. take hold and
help git supper on"
The crimson never left the young
girls face during the Ito Wyie) te-
dious supper, nor during the evening
as she helped her mother with the
work, while her father sat and
smoked his pipe and talked with the
newcomer.
The gawlxy girl cast furtive glances
at the stranger, and thought how fair
and 'sgocd-lookin' he was, how yell
low his hair and blue his eyes so diff
ferent from Beechnut and other boys
she knew,
Once she discovered him looking
keenly at her, and If she could have
read his thoughts they would have
been in this wise:
'sNot such bad looking girl, if she
was well dressed and educated. Nice
eyes. Badly tanned No, | don't adj
mire red hair. Most too thin and tall
and why does she go barefooted?"
She was not mind reader, had
never heard Of such being. and only
continued to feel humble aud cmbar-
raised without knowing why.
After the young man had been given
''tallow Dip" and shown to the In
ner room, and the rude door closed at
ter him for the night, Wylie crept to
her fathers side.
'swho is he, pap9 an what duz he
want hyer?"
"A young chap as is rich as all glt
out, an he's goin' to build big. fine
house down thar by the old ford, an !
reckin he'll bring his folks hyer arter
that, tho he didn't say"
Wylie Adams didn't wait for more,
but, with a little dry, choking sob, hur-
ried away and up the ladder to the loft
she called her room; but she did not
go to bed; she sat down on the floor by
the tiny window, with a look on her
face 1t had never known before, and
watched the moon as it came slowly
up through the trees and silvered the
waters Of the wide creek.
II hate him." she murmured, and
again that dry, choking sob. There
was a glitter in her eyes that shone