The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-02-22

She could not answer at first. Shc
pointed to the chimney with shame
faced gesture. feeling tempted to hide
her face III her apron. az she had been
wont to do in her youth
1T was because of the cricket" she
confessed.
"The cricket?"
eyes; l was fool 1 thought YOU
would bring me bad luck. The cricket
stopped chirping whenever you came
to see me- -
1T stopped chirping? And why?"
Noeline shrugged her thin shoulders
to indicate that she did not know. And
they both remained thoughtful Their
eyes did not dare meet in tho light of
the smoking rosin.
Before long however, Larrieusscc,
the farmer whom Noelinc had been ex-
pecting. made his appearance
Good evening! salute your he
said after the manner of the peasants,
who give as many greetings as there are
persons III the company
And when he had recognized the
young shopkeeper of old he cried:
What. Jouanin, you here? What
the deuce dlu you come fOrI
~ came to talk over old times. That
does one good at our age.
Eyes, indeed replied Larrieusscc.
''Thc good old times BY tho way. did
not you and Noelinc think of getting
married i'll those days?'
You are right" remarked the mis-
trcss of the mill
''And do you know what prevented
usT' asked the peddler "A cricket"
''Pshaw A cricket" exclaimed Lar
rieussec But. let NE think! l rcnlcll-
Der now He burst out laughing.
ooh, that was Il good joke!" he cried.
''A good joke indced!'
Then he went on seriously
Bah! You are happy. are you not,
both of You? We are all happy here!
So there will be no harm in confcssiny
the little tricks of our youth All. that
was capital one! Listen, Jouanin
We are as good friends as ever, are we
not. old boy? Very we'll 1t was be-
cause I watched you and scratched the
outside of the chimney thero toward
our field every time you came to court
NOelinc. You sec. you were not the only
fellow who was in love with her. and 1
know some one who was horribly jeal-
GUS Of you'll
Then, seeing that this revelation had
chilling effect on his auditors and
that Noeline's eyes rested on him sadly,
he said very generously:
''But that isn't all. I came to tell
you that I accept your price, IL francs
6 sous bag. Will that do. Noeline2"
And NOeline answered in a low tone
''It will do Larricussec.
Upon this the farmer bought some
spools Of thread for his wife of the mer-
chant of Orthez and paid for them at
once without haggling
"Adieu! I salute you!' he said as he
left
The two old lovers remained alone.
They did not say much. Jouanin
slowly rearranged his wares. Noeline
watched him while unconsciously turn
ing and twisting the old silver cross,
which still hung at her throat, between
her poor misshapen and bony fingers
For moment, quite weak and despair
ing, she felt tempted to imprint kiss
upon Jouanin's grizzled hair, once so
fine and SO fair. but she restrained her
self. Her lips were too old to bestow a
caress upon Il man.
'Well, then. good night. Noeline -
said the peddler. lifting his box to his
shoulders.
''Good night. Jouaninv'
They shook hands in some embarrass-
ment and then separated
He followed the moonlit path through
the grove. She. standing at the door Of
the mill. looked after him. while be-
hind the chimney piece the cricket
chirped calmly. clearly. indefatigably.
az il it would have told Noeline of all
the happiness which might have been
hers. From the French For Short Sto-
ries