The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1899-02-04

II WAS the ideal place for Il >ummcI
no!iday-a pleasant old farm with Il
red roof, where lichers grew in patches
e yellow. and the stonecrop and hou>c
lcek in patches of green; a house with
!cng. low rooms. elbow grease. and beds
whose coarse homespun linen sheets
smelt of lavender.
There were. indeed. two lavender
bushes in the garden. as we'll as roses
and stocks. sweet clovc-pinks and "old
man." The farm was stocked with in,
tpresting live creatures-cowS. pigs
chickens, turkeys. and pigeons; there
were sheep dotting the downs behind
The house, and from the front windows.
nc the orchard, where the apples
were beginning 10 grow hard and
round. you could see the long. shining.
hIue line of the sea.
Mabel RoscommOn liked that sea line.
enc She liked the garden, the orchard.
ard the rest of it-all but the turkeys.
She was n little afraid of these. because
she was by profession a high school
teacher and had beer taught how To
IilaBEdSt 1 II pbt IoN ho" " Al-Ni1
age turkeys-an art. by the way, much
simpler. Now she had come to The
farm for her summer holidays. To be
alone was new to her. for she was one
Of a large family: and to be for whole
weeks in this country was new to her.
Too. for she had never before been near
the sea for more than Il week at Il tine.
The down country was to her Il reVe-
lation.
: She had a big sitting-roOm to herself
mud shared the simple meals of the
farmer and his wife. The laborers ard
the maids ate at the lower end OF the
long taAe. Mabel thought il WAS such
- nice plant reminded her somehow
of the feudal system. The dignitied
simplicity of farm life appealed to her.
Gradually a passion of love awoke in
her for the little, ordinary. useful
everyday things the DeedfuI work re
pcated at the appropriate hour. the
changing magic of morn and noon and
evening, the ~restful distances of down
and sea, the intimate fairgrounds OF
hedge and orchard. At first she read Il
good deal, but gradually more and more
time was spent with Mrs. Fry. Mabel
followed her in and out to the dairy. to
the kitchen. to feed the pigs. to collect
the eggs. And the eyes Of the faded
middle-aged woman grew tender.
though her words were always the en-
pianatory commonplace or the mourn
fuI biographical.
But one day-it was the day when
Miss Roscommon first churned The but
tcr-Mrs. Fry sighed and said:
INV little Alice would ina been about
your age if she'd lived. W should
ha' dearly 10 ha' taught her to churn."
II was that night that Mabel kissed
Mrs. Fry when she said goodnight"
and almost wished as she crept be
tween the cold. lavender sheets. that she
lad been born d farmers daughter.
She had discovered her vocation. 1t
MAS not teaching. rs she had steadfast-
" believed. o literature. as h had
secretly dreamed: her true vocation
was the pastoral life-not 10 forget
the great life of the world. the hurry
ard hustle. the ~ciryernesS and bravery.
the wise and the great: not to forget
them-to honor them from afar, but
10 take no further part in the strife and
struggle of strenuous life; To watch it
from the safe haven of the little life. the
quiet. ordered. placid life of the farm
This was her VocatioI-her fate WAS
high school teaching.
When Robert Fry cam home-th"
Only son of his mother. the farmers
wifc-Mabel shared i'm the hustle of
glad preparation that heralded his
coming. He was il business in Lon
holiday, his mother said.