The record-union., 1897-10-30

her as she sat in the dusk alone Night
after night the craving for the old life
had seized her; each time it had gained
nercer hold, and she knew what the
end must be- And now again she ask
ed herself: What was she doing among
the fettered house-dwellers of a power
ty-stricken hamlet-she who was of the
true Romany blood, and to whom free
dom to wander where she willed was the
very breath of life? How could she let
, herself be chained to the hearthside of
a boorish laborer, who kept her there
because she was able to cook his food
| and mend his clothes? She had come
TO him in fit of pique after quarrel
with her people, and he had been only
too glad to have her for her handsome
face; but he too, had changed of late,
and had often come home sullen and
churlish because the village women had
ridiculed him for marrying a Gipsy wife.
Something that sounded like the tap
ping Of fingers at the window at length
|. aroused the woman, and she opened
the door and looked out into the night.
The force of the wind as it swept into
the room drove her back for a moment
| and she was obliged TO cling to the door
for support but it seemed to awaken
her from her reverie. and she stretched
out her arms and drew in deep breaths
of the chill night air How good ii
waSi The smell of the earth and of
the autumn's fallen leaves seemed to
come with it from the fields and
coverts beyond the heath. There was
the camp fire, too, still burning under
the shelter of the ridge, surely she could
smell the smoke of the smoldering
twigs! A dark shadow obscured the
flickering flames, and she knew that
one of the men was seeing that the
horses were safe for the night The
gypsies were starting for the south in
the early morning-Reuben had told
her that-and they would not return
/ to Suffolk till next summer They
We're free to go where they pleased, but
! She
Half an hour later the cottage door
| again opened, and the woman stole
/ quietly out into the darkness. She
! paused on the threshold and gave a
| glance backward toward the table,
| where her husbands supper was laid
| and the lamp was now lit By it's light
| it could be seen that she had put on a
! dress of ruby velvet-it was the one
! she had worn when she ran away from
| the canTp-and her shoulders were
| wrapped about with a bright-colored
! shawl. She had put on, too, a velvet
| trimmed hat, such as Romany girls
! favor, and its large gray feather blew
/ about in the wind. Her hair hung down
/ in glossy black curls; she had heavy
| gold earrings in her ears, and, instead
of the single gold ring that had encir-
cled her third finger she wore three
heavy rings with flashing brilliants.
| She was a Romany lass again, and she
gave a reckless laugh as she closed the
cottage door.
Before dawn, Reuben Lees van had
! left the heath. He had reused his
brother during the night and told him
he had changed his mind and was go
ing to travel again the northern round.
He would see him again in the spring.
Josh Lee who had caught sight of
a moving shadow in Reuben's van,
| grinned behind a hand that might have
hidden a yawn, and said:
"All right; there's CRIES to be bought
/ cheap that road no doubt, and the
| Tykes and their wenches have always
| got silver for handsome lass who can
tell their fortunes. Black and White.