The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1898-11-09

went on. He tidied the yard, trimmed
the rose bushes and grape vines, and
by the middle of April he began, with
great enthusiasm, to spade up gar
den patch. He had lived on farm
once, otherwise it might not have
seemed SO good to get into the country
again.
Mrs. Austin sighed and shook her
head, and continued to fear that Ar
mold would break down, until June
came. Then, as she saw no prospect
of getting him back, and as she was
lonesome evenings, she took school
teacher to board. She was very
pretty girl, Grace Howard by name,
and, as she was quite talkative, Mrs.
Austin's dinner table was very pleas
ant meeting place.
Arnold was not used to girls, but 1t
seemed to him that Grace Howard
must he different from most girls, he
felt so friendly toward her, and she
seemed such congenial spirit. He
told her all about his house, his garden
and of the long rambles he took on
Sundays. They talked of books, and
agreed remarkably well on Thoreau,
Burroughs and Torrey. She listened
with interest to all he told her of bis
rural experiences.
The summer went by, and Arnold be-
came more and more enamored of
his country home. The Littlefields
were a constant source of pleasure to
him, and the two househ olds were very
neighborly.
Fall came, and still the fascination
of his bachelors hall held him.
Then one night, just on the edge Of
winter, new idea came to him. How
much pleasanter it would be if Grace
were here" he thought, as he sat in
reveric for long time. After that
he kept thinking of her being there
and of ,ow well she would become the
house. Especially did he think of it
when he sat opposite to her at dinner.
In March he began housekeeping.
He tore the paper from the walls,
bought paint and brushes and began
energetically to apply the former
with the latter to the inside wood
work. Then he got large books of
wallpaper samples and asked Mrs.
Austin's and Grace's advice about the
choice of the designs. When he or
dered the paper it was in every in
stance the kind Grace had liked. 1t
took him a good while to do the paint
ing and he began to be impa tent, so
he hired man to hang the paper.
All this time he was getting deeper
in love with his house and with Grace,
but he told himself he would wait till
everything looked at its best before
he brought Grace to see it. After that
he would ask her an important ques-
ton.
1t was in May that one Sunday, after
church. Mrs. Austin and Grace took
the electric cars and went to see
Arnold's house. He met them at the
corner of his street and the three went
along together, chatting gayly.
Mrs Austin admired everything
along the way. and when she came to
see the interior of the house she was
loud ir her praises. Grace agreed to
everything, but did not say much.
They had lunch together, and at
length Arnold went and saw them on
their car, then stood watching till it
was lost to view. He was very happy,
and as he went back home he apostro-
phized his house as it had come to be
his habit to do.
81 think you made a good impress
sion," he said. "And l hope the time
is coming when you won't be left all
alone daytimes."
The next night, as he was getting on
his wheel to go home, he saw Grace
walking along the opposite sidewalk.
He crossed over, and, trundling his BIZ
cycle, he walked beside her.
"How did you like my homer" asked
Arnold as they paused at the Austins'
gate.
'It is very pretty" she said, judicial
ly. "BuS it must be horribly lonesome.
| should die, know, if I had to live in
such place. STILL" she added, smil-
ing, IF you like it, that is all that is
necessary. De gustibus non est dis
putandum, you know. Good night"
Arnold looked after her as she went
up the steps Then, as the door closed
behind her. he mounted his wheel and
rode rapidly away.
When he came to his house he looked
at it sadly. II shall have to give you
up," he said. "It comes hard, but l
have got to do it."
Nearly two weeks passed before
everything came right so that Arnold
could put his question to Grace.
After that, when they were making
plans for the future, Arnold asked:
"What shall we do about house?"
Grace opened her eyes wide, and
gazed at him as though he had asked
very foolish question.
"Why, what is the matter with your
housep I think it is lovely out there.
wouldn't ask for anything better"
Arnold gasped. II thought-you
said"