The Van Buren press., 1898-12-24

shax Gun never be run to earth. gives
delight To all labor, SO long as the
nerves are moi worn out with fatigue.
| Whatever joy the golfer finds in whaek-
/ ing his little ball must be Of the same
+ essence as is steadily furnished to the
I packers of fruit; and all the toll of men
could be counted as pastime if only our
hours were kept short Of the limits of
exhaustion.
The Young man who operated the
/ grader was in n position of vantage, if
he cared TO observe the girls who were
packing at the bins that his radinting
sponts supplied. lie stood high beside
the wide, shallow hoppers that received
the dumped boxes of ungraded fruit
and from which the oranges distribut-
ed themselves through the discriminat-
ing functions Of the machine into vari
Gus rolling professions IN which each
member WIS just as big as his neigh
Dor. Some manipulation was needed to
keep the fruit moving evenly to the
distribution; but the operators eyes
were moi Sc confined as 10 prevent fre-
quent excursions among the workers
I below and about him. ] believe he had
mentally photographed all the hands
I that, each in its own way exhibiting
that wonderful individuality that WON
4 en- S hands possess were moving grace
fully or heavily through their countless
repetitions And other things he took
note Of and speculated on. after the
~ = = fIs,fA
others SO absorbing that he was unob
served by them Generally of course,
The glances that fell direct Oh his face
merely called in pnssing having as
their ostengible object some high
window beyond or some interesting
constructive feature in a corner of the
roof. But however incidentally. he had
made with all these neighbors AT least,
SO much acquaintance as lies in the in
terchanee Of vision And that is not to
! be sneezed at
lie was from Kansas--a manly-look
1 ing, rather handsome fellow whose
black eyes showed self-reliance. born
of thoughtful and energetic dealing
with the problems of western farmer
/ And thai Judgment. accustomed to ex-
ereiae Oh everything within range. good
at discerning The promise Of horses and
cattle, and under simple conditions. of
men and women also, did not hesitate
i before fresh and inviting problem.
when the new packer sat down under
his inspection.
"She is from Missouri" He guessed
rightly as a first clearing Of the ground
''she is used to horses" :" he added. "and
4 l think they like her. Let's see how she
/ takes hold of her work He quit
formulating comments and dropped
into passive observation his quick
hands all the while passing lightly over
/ the bright oranges and herding them
evenly forward
III were useless TO deny that the
straight and graceful back of the girl
from Missouri grew cramped and tired
as the noon hour approached. and her
nervous endeavar uf speed. while II did
not relax, seemed TO be costing her
something. She understood that, how
ever, being familiar with the breaking
i in process in many kinds of work. and
such fatigue gave her not the least dis
couragement. Il was rather illogical in
i tire grader-man, who observed all this,
and who saw that her quality was quite
superior to such an incident, 10 allow
/ himself an agreeable sentiment of COM
passion. which centered in the red sig
i nal of weariness on her cheek. IT,
! through feebleness of spirit she had
needed his sympathy he would have
+ felt no such pleasure in giving it. He
was only working himself into an
imaginary comradeship. Things were
moving hrisldy with the grader-mun.
In two or three days the girl had got
hardened TO her work and was already
falling into the swing of an expert,
Her special observer had noted the ex-
ceptiona quiel1ness of her acquire
ment, and the decided approval of prae-
tical Judgment REINFORCED his senti-
mental esteem 1t is often so with
Young men of his sagacious turn and
successful habit of life. The heaven of
sentiment invites with steadier allure
ment when il rests on substantial
ground of availability. The heart is in
deed entitled to defy the judgment, but
it beats no less gayly when such def
ance is not called for
Such assuring observations hastened
the period of conscious acknowledge
ment that the brakes were off. Our ele-
waited friend blushed little as he con
fesseu TO himself that he was ain the
ehutes." and that he liked it, il was
not his habit. He never handled horses
that way. and he could not now quite
free himself from reproach for having
dropped the lines But he laughed. new
ertheless, and enjoyed the joke on him
self, along with some other enjoyment.
His craft however, did not wholly
fursake him. He did not forthwith be-
come Che object of general suspicion.
The girl herself may have caught lock
once or'twlce, that seemed 10 bring him
ruther forcibly under her serious al
tention. but he rolled his oranges with
us light q hand as ever and exchanged
about the usual run Of chatting with the
men who dumped into his hopper. the
manager, and all chance eumers
All the while the fingers of the new
! packer were dancing under his eye, and
every orange that was wrapped and
slowed away 10y their deft pressure was
/ brighter by the reflection of his senti-
ment and he felt, every time, as If ne
were being taken possession of and laid
away in the treasury that her strong,
sweet life was gathering.
Il was getting 10 be time for astute