The free press., 1895-08-08

AioAh 1ne llrst, ana might give up IN
the matter of the paint. Oh dear,
I'd rather have the house painted a
bright yellow than to have quarreled
with Nedr'
And Ned rs he tramped noisly
down the street, called himself all the
hard names he could think of for
allowing such trihe to make him use
"dear little Minnie" SO shamefully.
The night passed with very little
; sleep for either of these unhappy
"grown-up" children.
Minnie spent it in tears, while, in
his bachelor apartments, Ned paced
the floor restlessly; but neither felt
like offering the necessary apology,
when the morning came, and SO
another miserable day began.
1t is hard to tell how large noun
tain might have grown out of that in
significant little mole-hill, if some
thing terrible had not rushed to their
assistance at that opportune time and
settled the matter for them.
in the midst of her self-reproaches,
Minnie became aware that there was
an onimous silence all about her, and
that the people in the next house were
gazing at the sky in the west with
anxious glances.
She went to the door, and the sight
presented to her nearly deprived her
of her senses, it was so terrible.
She now heard distant roar and
rumbling, and afar in the west saw
mass of black, angry clouds, high up
in the sky, rolling and tossing about
in most formidable manner, with
narrowpoint at the base which seemed
to be gathering up fuel for the black
browed monsters wrath to vent itself
upon.
ga cyclone !" she cried.
Her first thought was of Ned and
the safety which, she was sure, his
strong arms would afford her in this
dreadful time of danger.
His office was two blocks away, and
without thought of her appearance,
or her probable fate should the storm
overtake her in the street, she ran
down the path, out of the gate, aud
had started with flying footsteps for
Ned's office, when the cyclone struck
the village.
She was lifted from her feet and
carried forward with bewildering
haste.
1t was only the outer edge of the
cyclone which had caught her in its
grasp, and when it had whirled her
about dozen times or more, and had
thoroughly shaken her, it dropped
her as suddenly as it had caught her
dropped her at the very feet of the
young man she had started to find.
Their thoughts, in that first mo-
ment of peril, had been the same and
he was on his way to Minnie's home
when she fell at his feet in most un-
ceremonious fashion.
"Oh, Ned!" she gasped.
"My darling!
He caught her in his arms, and
kissed her white frightened face in
most scandalous manner, considering
that they were in the street-on Main
street, in fact-and that everybody
was tout.
But it so happened that the "village
gossips" were too busy just then to
make a note of this item and it passed
unnoticed.
"Dear Ned," said Minnie, meekly,
as soon as she regained her breath,
.I-I don't mind if the house is
painted green"
"I've acted fool, Minnie" he said
humply. 81 don't care copper what
color the house is. I've wished
hundred times since last night that
there wasn't any house at all.
$50 have l." said Minnie.
And later in the day they discovered
that the cyclone, which had brought
them together with such unbecom-
ing haste, had also removed the cause
of their quarrel.
The new house had been taken up
carried several rods, and set down, IN
a pitiable condition, in Farmer Jones
barn-yard. -,
81 was just a-goin' to build a new
barn this summer on that very spot,
he said to Nod short time after the
the storm, ''an' if yell sell 1t sort o