Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1899-07-27

little fingers interloeked and stopped
before the mound of earth that the
workmen had thrown up. They had
the air Of people who had arrived, az
they looked about them. Then the
young man placed supporting hand
beneath the girls elbow and the two
scrambled the loose dirt, Laughing
and carrying on" Mrs. Hendon said,
like II couple of children"
Mrs. licndon does not approve OF
Carrying on" and she was distinctly
shocked when the GIRL who had APP
parently got some dirt in her shoe.
sat down on the crumbling clay and
allowed the young man 10 remove the
nonScnsieal little tan affair and shake
out the foreign substance. Mrs. Hen
dropped the shoe and then went down
on his hands and knees in fcigncd
search FOR it, recognizing it with ap-
parent difficulty when he found it.
presumably because of it's minuteness
When Mrs. EIcndon next pceped
through the Stats of he Venetian blind
they were 10th standing looking down
into the Jagged, unsightly foundation
hole, as if it lad been a crater of an
extinct Volcano.
Presently they got down into the
hole and examined the strata of loan,
joint clay and gravel, and then they
clambered out and surveyed the ex-
cavation rs n general proposition from
various points of view. Quite frequent
ly the arm of the young man wandered
to the girls waist, but Mrs. Hcndon
was glad to observe she had the grace
to remove it with much decision, en-
ccpt once, and then she was evidently
too much absorbed in contemplation OF
the south elevation and depression e
notice it,
At last they left the hole and went
and sat down under one of the naples.
Inc young man took a blue print from
his pocket and spread it out upon his
knee and for half an hour at least they
looked at that with their heads very
close together. 1t was dusk by that
time, so it is natural to suppose that
they did not look at the blue print
much longer, but it was another hour
before they rose and strolled off with
their little fingers intcrlockcd as they
had come, and in that time the young
man lit his cigar 1S times by actual
count, and goodness knows how many
times before Mrs. Hendon began count
ing.
Every evening since, with only two
or three exceptions, the two young peo-
pie have been down to the lot. The
house is well along now and the rap
ping of the carpenters hammers and
the grating of the saws sound inces-
sanity. Everybody will be glad when
the thing is finished and the babies get
a chance to sleep. 1t is nice enough
looking little house on the whole. Mrs.
Robertson doesn't like the looks of the
French windows and thinks it ought to
face on the avenue instead of the street,
and Mrs. Hendon's opinion Is that
cupola would improve it and take OFF
the squatty look it has," but, taking
one consideration with another and
allowing for some peoples tastes, the
row will tolerate the structure.
What the row cannot tolerate, how
ever, is the mystery regarding the two
young people. 1t is established that
the young man is Mr.. Trenton. The
boys who now go over to play in the
lot call him Mr.. Trenton and he an
swers to the name with cheerful smile
that inspires confidence. He let's the
boys whoop through the skeleton
rooms, Chamber up the studding and
teeter on the sawhorses at will, and
he has even raised ladder for them
to climb to the roof. Mrs. Hendon
saws she should think he would have
more sense. The question that is agl-
tating the row is whether the couple
are newly married or are about to be
married. If they are not newly mar
ried, the row says it is strange that
no person of experience should ever
accompany them. If they are married
the row would like to know how long
they have been united. Old Mr.. Thur
man pretends that he has never asked
whether they are married or not. lie
saws that it is none of his business. He
likes to be mean and eXasperating. But
the house will soon be finished and then
all things will be made known.-Chi-
cago Daily Record.
cTARnARn VARIETIES.