The times., 1899-02-05

| Inc E!Orlda orange season WAS uone,
and the army of drummers for fruit COM
mission houses had dispersed and was
drifting toward Chicago and New York.
Some of the men stopped at way stations
in the middle South to look over the
ground TO which they would be returning
| in strawberry. tomato, or peach time, ana
| others were content to swing themselves
off at each stopping place. shake hahds
with everyone in reach. and then scurry
back into the train. TO their novels, their
cards, and their cigars.
FraZee did not take as much trouble as
that He represented solid" old firm
whose clients were not in special need oil
having their hands shaken. and also, al
| though he knew the region we'll 1t was
just outside of his programme for the COM
ing year. as it had been for some years
before 1t looked as if it were out OF
Gods programme, too, and had been
abandoned as a sort of devils practice
ground for making pits and gullies. Fra
zee propped himself up and stretched him
self out pulled his cap over his eyes. and
went to sleep.
Hello voice said.
He pushed back his cap and stared hazi-
ly into the face of Tarleton, another young
travelling man, who showed him over to-
ward the window and sat beside him.
| Frazee held out a hand. Just come
aboard? ?" he asked. "How far up are We,
anyhow"
Magnolia" said Tarleton. I've been
making bean contracts. You're just from
Florida"
Frazee nodded. Been in oranges and
stayed on to do something in early to-
matoes and strawberries till that frost cut
everything. What's new in Magnolia? :?
How's Miss Lee-still running the Mag
nolia House, and Randall Carter and that
partner of his, Honey Poindexter, with a
high hand?"
Tarleton bored an imaginary hole in the
floor with the umbrella which he was
twirling between his knees. Miss Lees
changed" he said. She's seen hard times.
Have you been there since she married
Randall Carter
Il should remark" answered Frazee
They'd been married year and it appear
ed be an old story to both of them the
last summer l was there
We'll. it got older Tarleton said, "and
| tell you l don't think she was 10 blame
at all. Did you ever see a woman more
on the square than she was. FraZee?"
Never" said Frazee with emphasis.
What happened"
Its queer you haven't heard about it, -
Tarleton said. why. she got desperate
and started to leave Randall and run off
with Pomfret-you remember Pomfret. for
Hagan & Co? Poor little old Honey
stopped her and then Randall came on the
scene and began talking up to her and
Hoaey grpped him by the throat. Ran
dali was armed and Honey wasn't, so Ran
dali shot him and skipped. Ii was self
defence plain enough, but he never came
back to take his chances. Honey died.
Nobody had ever dreamed he had that
much fight in him"
And Miss Lee" asked the other.
'Oh, she's just been staying on to run
the Magnolia House" TarleIcn answered.
There wasn't anything else for her to
do"
Both men were silent for while, and
the red clay gullies swept past them
Well. that's pretty sad Frazee said
at last. Anything else happened in Mag
nolia ?"
Tarleton shook his head. The story he
had told was more vivid to him than 10
Frazee, and his mind was still upon 1t.
81 suppose there was more to Honey
Poindexter than any of us gave him credit
for he said. He certainly loved Miss
: Lee as faithfully as a dog. and as harm
lessly. The t5nguelashings he used TO
| take from her would have shut another
i man up or have sent him to the devil,
d. but there didn't seem to be any leverage
e she could get on Honey, and, drunk or
4 | sober. he was just the same easy going
: chap, and just as fond of her. l never
e saw MIN ruined up but Once-untll tnal
e time with Randall"
e What rufffed him." asked Frazee
e drumming lightly on the window.
= 1T was nothing much" said Tarleton
r but it set me to noticing him little
( | more. Randall was OFF on one of his
= ! sprees-absent three months-and Miss Lee
= | had got to looking so white we were all
s of US worked up about her. She could
= scold Randall sharp enough when he was
Q there, but it was easy to see she haGr'r
= stopped caring for him; and, when she
= didn't know anybody was looking. heI
+ | lips would get 10 quiyering like child's
k | l don't suppose l was different from q
D ! half-doZen men in the house that all had
2 her on their minds and were on the look
e out to cheer her up if they could.
"Pomfret was there, and l suppose thai
= Was when he first got his interest in her
a She was so pretty and so pitiful locking IL
6 spite OF the grit she showed-it used Il
/ hurt me sometimes to hear her let out anC
- scold at Honey, for she seemed too fine
grained for that sort of thing; but ther
p seedlings the only outlet a woman's got
and Honey hung round her. trying It
Il make up for her husbands delinQuencies
until he nearly drove her wild. He,
- boarded SO long with her that he felt al
: if he belonged to her anyway, and h.
:, wouldn't even go down the street to tn
postoiiice without hunting all over th
. house to tell her. I'm going down town
Miss Lee We boys all took IL up and
- was one OF the best things We could wOrl
= TO make her laugh. About evening mail
time when we had all come in from tn
country and had had our suppcrs, an
she'd be sitting out on the gallery gettin
IS her first rest for the day. we'd go string
: ing past her in procession, saying, TT
d going down town, Miss Lee until She
l. jump up ard fairly shoe the last of us o.
1t toward the postofIice. and sometimes she
IS begin to laugh again when she saw u
= coming back | reckon Honey got littl
lie huffy about it. but he didn't let on unit
re they day / took her for a drive. | di
RS more for her than most of the boys. Pom
I'd ffet wasn't in it that year.
y Frazee had stopped drumming on tn
~ window and was watching his companion
III face. Tarleton had never talked TO him 5
much on any subject before, and it SCENE
=, to him that the young man had more tha
~ ~ an Observers interest in Miss Lee; bl
u TarletOn looked up and read the though
~ and answered it. NO, | never was toucl
ed. myself" he said; only. If she ha
:, never been married to that brute and
" I'd never heard her scold. l don't kno
a how it might have been. Anyway, Hone
ia must have got the notion that | liked he
for when we came back from that driv
and / called Pete-yOu remember big blaC
Pete?-to take my horse to the stabl
Honey spoke up good and loud. so th
everybody on the gallery heard, and sal
hs Pete. I'll give you a dollar not TO do il
IL | | tell you there was stiffness for minut
and Pete stood there with his eyes roliir
yn from one of us to the other and then Mi
r Lee said, Pete, you take that horse al
Pete took it. Poor Honey, he got Il
dv ! law laid down to him that time until