Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-02-12
COPYRIGHT, 1897 BY THE AUTHOR.


great rubber bands, the tearing teeth Of
the saws, were all mercifully deadened
to her ears. She was glad they had put
the family burying ground as remote az
possible from all that rattle and clatter.
It seemed an especial intrusion into
the holy calm Of that October day.
Another long, quiet hour passed.
The lace patterns Of the elder bushes
were losing their nice ex~actness Of out
line and growing blurred. What a pile
Of cotton Seth must be weighing! She
settled her turban more securely on hel
head and retraced her steps to where
she had left her drawing materials all
scattered about on the low fiat stone
that covered the remains Of some long
forgotten Strong. She gathered her
crayons and sketchbook into her satch-
Ell with reluctant fingers.
Here, and here only, the peace that
passeth all understanding abides with
me-"
She clasped her small hands and
stood looking out over the gentle land
scape with yearning eyes. Graveyard
point" as the %promontory she was
standing ON was called, lifted its green
head full 200 feet above the water level.
Across the many tinted vines that
wrapped the tall forest trees in royal
mantles Of scarlet and gold she looked
down upon the fiat bottom lands that
lay green and moist at the foot of the
cliffs. 1t was down there that Strong
was making a hermit Of himself. Why,
She was thinking of him. Sorrow
fully, pitifully, tenderly. Perhaps no
n could come as near comprehending
his dark mood as she could. He had
found it impossible to take up the old
life just where he had dropped it before
going to Singleton. But why should
he have tried to do it? He was a man.
The world was all before him. He could
have gone out to grapple with it. She
was a woman. That meant SO much in
the way of restriction and limitation.
She could only stand and wait.
Neck O Nothing looked desolate
enough from where she gazed down
upon it. Faithless worm fences crawled
in decrepit crookedness about its few
acres Of cleared land. A solitary forlorn
cabin, shutterless and implanted, was
his home. A ~starveling pair Of mules,
browsing on the stiff crab grass within
the Enclosure; a shadeless, hard beaten
dooryard, with half a dozen chickens in
full possession; a ragged patch Of cotton
crowding close up about the crooked
fence; one noble sycamore spreading
wide, sheltering arms over all this
dreariness. She took in the details one
by one.
"What was Strong thinking OFF"
Into this dissatisfied reverie came a
heavy, crashing football, and Seth stood
before her, staggering under the weight
Of two rough hewn willow posts. He
flung them down with laugh and dried
his streaming forehead on his shirt
sleeves.
"What now, Seth?' Liza asked,
walking around the long posts inquisi-
lively. "Why, what a Hercules you
are !"
II been thinkin bout you, sissy,
ever n we parted this mornin, and it
come to me, if you was bent on dom all
your picture maxim in this pertickler
spot, I'd better be providin ag'inst ac-
cidents. The rainy season is comm on,
and wen it rains here it don't make no
bones about it. Sometimes we has regu-
lar chunk floaters. I'm goin to put you
up a storm shed. Them's the posts for
it,"
Liza looked a~ffectionately up at the
great sunbulned fellow, with his moist,
yellow hair and his loving blue eyes.
She had pronounced him common in
her heart that very morning, for which
she did repent her.
"Seth, you are entirely too good to
me-. don't deserve one-half that you
do for me-" She patted his STOPPING
shoulders caressingly.
"Yes, you do. honey, you deserves
lots more I sometimes thinks it mighty
rough on you-mighty rough. And I'm
sorry for you, b'dogged If I ain't.V
Liza stopped and loosened a silvery
lichen from the bark Of one Of the posts.
Her eyes were shining and she did not
want Seth to see it.
"What is rough on me, buddy Seth?"
It was the first time she had ever
fallen into the old childish form of ad-
dress.
"All Of it," said Seth gently, "all Of
it. Me and pa and the niggers and the
quarters and-well, everything in a
lump. / sorter feel like we all had
trapped a little hummin bird and was
rumplin its purity feathers all the
wrong way with our clumsy handlin. I
do, for q fac'. You needn't to laugh"
Never mind my plumage. Twill try
to keep it smooth. II will be lovely to
have a storm shed out here, Seth. And
will you put me up a shelf too? One that
will hold all my boxes and brushes, 80
that / need not bring them backward
and forward every day2 That is one Of
my greatest bothers."
"a dozen, IL you want 'em," said
Seth delightedly.
Zone will do. Where 10 your hat,
Seth"
He put a long, sunburned hand up to
his lank, yellow hair and laughed I'M
c~oncernedly.
ITS out yonder in the wagon, full
Of pussimmons. But maybe you've out
growed your love Of pussimmons. ! seen
Z fine lot Of ripe ones. Frost, you know,
last Tuesday, and / thought maybe
you'd like to eat 'em as we driv' home. +"
(which ! expect we ought to be do
ing now. ! promised mother to help her
NTH kha ox~vnnk rokokn ntas TuInoa