The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-06-16

III.
tered, as she sat alone in the kitchen.
Long she sat there. dreading to enter the
little room where she and her daughter
vlra sitting, accusing and rebell!ous, by
me window, ready with some of those cut
ting little speeches of hers. such as only
youth and ignorance in the grasp of first
passion can utter. She pictured her so.
staring out at the mo )nlight, armored by
be undressed and in bed. crowded as close
as possible TO the wall. There they would
lie through all the night, sleepless, saying
nothing.
''Oh. Elvlra. Elvira," moaned the heart
OF the woman and mother She was sore
distressed, and knew not what to do, TOR
close communion of their earlier years had
ceased. The mother had become question:
ing, watchful. suspicious. the daughter shy.
Sitting in her shadowy kitchen. she tried
TO reason IL out.
Its because she's got her growth before
she s got ner education. She's got to turn
her mind to do something. and he's the best
shes ever seen. IL she was only studying
as him II give vn no tn thought be to h
70 talk so TO her mother. She amt had a
IaIr chance. and I've done my. best; On,
my little girl, my little GIRL and the
kitchen table trembled with the rest.
Mrs. Fulson had not always been proud
We woman. Her days of arrogance. tempered
being civil" had come with her matern-
One small daughter had isolated her COM
rletely from her kind. What had satisfied
her for herself did not satisfy her for her
daughter The best in the world was not
too good for that daughter. Some day she
should have It, and be-a lady.
Elvira shant always have to dig the
way, l have. / plan for her to be school
teacher or lecturer. She's got the brains
for it. All she needs is the education. and
l mean she shall have it, if we have to sell
everything we've got"
This she had conmued to Mrs. Rockwell.
her butter customer, who lived in Salna,
ten miles away. Mrs. Rockwell had said,
envy If sSe Will Y he IeH With the work. mora
send her next fall" '''' me- '7''p''e you
All. Elvira. She had not been able to
keep pace with those enthusiastically,
commonplace; satisfied Elvira. As she
ship of her neighbors, and chafed against
the restraints which placed her apart from
them.
They're not your kind, Elvira You've
no time for their foolishness, going TO
their dances, and such. L don't want every
Tom, Dick and Harry to be dancing with
you. Treat 'em polite. always. but remem-
Der you're Fulson and Matney."
WHO were the Fulsons and the Matneys,
anyway, mother" Elvira had once asked.
why, land, child. They were your fore
fathers.
II know. but what did they do" and the
gone ancestors. who in some mysterious
and yet never-doubted way had been better
than other people she had never known.
She had a vague idea that her parents,
good honest folk, had in their youth met
reverses. OF their past she knew nothing.
save that they had come from the East
but who had not? Yet somewhere, there
where the sun rose, she knew that the
Fulsons and the Matneys had gone
down. And there was Elvira, their de-
scendant-so pretty, so bright, SO lovable
-distraught by the cheap pleasures of
ordinary people, and satisfied to be one
of Observation-Disclosures, not with the hard
which W he nf
all whom she knew, but with the isolation.
which was to have its reward in the future.
So the breach widened between her and
the mother. whose really fine nature she
could not understand. and whose crude
ambitions irritated her and filled her with
contempt. Why must she walk along those
high and lonely places where her ancestors
had walked, when Melville of the sunny
hair and joyous coqntenance and glad.
broader plains, and would fain have had
her with him?
There comes to every girl time when
the mother love does not satisfy. Ii had
come TO Elvra.
Bobbie Ballanger was on hand bright and
early the next morning. Bobbie. one of
those treckled-faced. useful boys, was their
mainstay, their man-of-the- house. To-day
he was to help Elvira put up the last wire
along the south fence. On Saturday Mrs.
Fulson carried her butter to market. and
then, If the work was urgent, Bobbie was
pressed into service.
Mrs. Fulson started to town as the sun
rose Her butter bucket hung from the
right horn of her saddle. and its weight
was sufficient to buy twelve pounds of
need 1t at the academy. / might as well
get II now, Mrs Fulson told herself. her
mind on propitious thoughts intent for
the atmosphere OF injury was still dense
around Elvira.
BY o'clock the top wire. was securely
d fastened I'd to fifty rods Of fence Bobbie
volving on spindle. uncoiled. Elvira fol-
lowed with hammer and staples, and nailed
and the beautiful day had sweetened her
mood. Bits of song trilled from her lips,
were deepened and me!owed in the sound
ing tunnel of her sunbonnet. spread abroad,
and were TO the apprecative ears of Bob
bic like meadow lark a-pipin'.'
Their conversation Jagged. because every
uncoil more wire. While Eivira slowly
caught up to him, he sat with his legs
swinging over the back of the seat, rumi-
mating. The scene was conducive to vast
ness of thought. Far to the south rolled
the prairies. They stretched away in
parallel ridges of ever-increasing vagueness.
When that transient bit of scenery-the
cornfeld-was oblterated, these ridges COM
pleted their circles.
terrupted by the appearance of a dark
horse-a dark horse with ridsr-at the
corner OF the cornfied where they had
commenced work that morning.
"Humph.' observed Boobie. spaciously.
How Elvira knew that Melville Wright
was coming, VINO can tell. mat she knew
it Is certain. for at the sound of those hoof-
beats she did not turn her head as she
would have done had she not known She
kept steadily with her work. 1t is
also certain that she could rot see him
without turning. for her sunbonnet per-
mitted no warrant slances.
Well, Elvira, we mad yit?' staple was
driven home with nicely and precision. and
Elvira moved to the next post. He
followed. and. again refining his horse,
leaned forward easily on the pommel OF
his saddle
hyer I'd make we answered. We be a Full
son and Mathey. How air the Old fossils
they're more sociable N you be-leetle gal, .
tenderly. And then Elvira's hammer went
wrong and hit her finger TIC hammer
depths Of that bonnet.
Jest be keerful o. them hands Miss Full
son. When l ak of with en- / want 'em
in good condition. He touched his horse
and rode to the wagon.
What bride was offered to the severe.
exactng conscience of Bobb:e is rot known.
but soon he was mounted on tie dark
horse and was off with the wind
EIvira,e still soothing her finger, heard
those well-known steps return. and knew
that the moment had come-the fateful
moment which in her heart was already
decided.
One Wild spasm OF pity for that uncon-
scious mother chilled her and passed She
had no room then for alien sorrows
Melville Wright pushed back his broad
gopher mound. ciasped his knees and
spoke:
THE all-seein' eye hes removed itself an
I guess you an / will build this fence,
Elvira. But I've got a few things to say
first. You needn't be afraid. amt goin'