La Junta tribune., 1898-12-24


Time enough for that when she Is
well enough to see Mrs. Hail." re-
turned the squatter. Women like to
cha, together over that sort OF busi-
ness. I always find"
There is something very odd about
that young chap. with his soft voice
and his shy manner" Mr.. Hall thought
as he walked on to the shed. His
wife suffers from bad eyes. too. yet
she can do needlework--has q nervous
complaint, and evidently is not anx-
ious to be invaded. l wonder what
Pshaw-it's only my fancy. supposed!
A few weeks passed by. and shear
ing was thing of the past. The sta
tion hands had settled down into their
ordinary routine of work. and the ex-
ira men who had been employed dur
ing the busy season had passed on to
find similar jobs elsewhere.
1T is very strange" remarked Mr..
Hall one day to his wife. that one
never sees Mrs. Baynes. What can
really be the matter with her! He
tells me that her eye-sight Is so bad
that she cannot bear the light
That Is odd" replied his wife. for.
II her eyesight is SO bad. how in the
world does she manage to hem these
handkerchiefs SO beautifully? ! never
saw better work in my life"
well. that lis curious!" interposes
Jack Hall. And shutting herself up
too SO persistently in Baynes' hut
makes no end OF gossip on the station.
A fellow asked me yesterday when
was over at Bumberra whether It was
true that We had a maniac shut up
here. II gossip of that sort Is the talk
of place fifty miles away, we shall
soon be getting a nne name for our
selves here at Redmount."
"Oh. as for gossip. you'll find that
everywhere" remarked his father.
"And. after all. Tom Baynes is the
smartest cook I've had for many a day.
and pleasant enough fellow. too. now
he's got over that shy sort of manner
which he had when he first came up
Perhaps he is jealous Of the other
men, father" suggested Mary slyly.
..and does not like them to look at
| her."
That's possible" replied Mr.. Hall.
IT remember a man on board ship once
who kept his wife locked up In her
cabin for three months. and carried all
her meals in to her himself"
what a brutev' cried Mary. do
you mean to say he never let her out
1t all?"
"Only at nighttime in fine weather.
and then he marched her up and down
| the deck for only an hour or two.
Even on these nocturnal occasions she
was SO thickly veiled that nobody
could get glimpse of her features"
Perhaps she was 'pig-faced lady
that he had married for her dollars"
said Jack: "or she might have commit
ted some crime. and he was helping
her to escape. A murder perhaps
Good gracious. Baynes, how you made
me Jump
CHAPTER vi.
As Jack Hall was speaking, Tom
Baynes happened to be passing the
open door with an armful of plates
and dishes, and these he suddenly let
fall with a crash upon the ground.
Dear me-" cried Mrs. Hall, how
dreadfully careless OF you, Tom! How
are We to replace them? What could
you have been thinking about?"
II am SO very sorry, a'am." he re-
piled. II must have slipped on some
thing-I really don't know how" and
he leaned up against the veranda-post.
looking as though but for that support
he would have fallen down.
well, there-don't look SO scared,
mani" said Mr.. Hall good-naturedly.
"Pick up the pieces-why. the lad
looks quite frightened. There are
worse accidents than that at sea-ay.
and on shore. too. for the matter OF
| that"
Baynes did as he was told, but he
had turned white to the very lips. AS
he walked away with the broken
crockery in his cooks apron, he re-
peated to himself
"Ay. and on shore, too. for the mat
ter OF that"
After a few months Mrs. Baynes' re-
tirement ceased to excite much curl
osity, She was an idiot, she was too
ugly to face the daylight. she was any
thing that could possibly be suggested
whenever her name was mentioned;
but Baynes was voted by all hands to
be an obliging fellow and . capital
cook, SO the men soon ceased to worry
him about his wife.
One day Baynes asked permission to
be allowed to repair and occupy an old
hut which stood in bit Of neglected
garden upon the hillside some two
hundred yards or more from the mems
quarters. Mr. Hall told him he might
do as he pleased. SO. with the assist
ance Of one Of the men. he took pos
session Of the place. and very soon
managed to make 1t snug and COM
Portable.
Thither he removed his few goods