The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-05-06
ONE AFTERNOON.
Send the road is clear before you.
When the old spring fret comes DER yos
ms the red gods call for you"

when the old spring fret comes DER YOU.
And the red gods call for you"
-Kipling.
One warm afternoon two little girls heard
the red gods" call. LET us take the car
TO Greenwood" said one. Agreed" re-
piled the other. Three o'clock saw them
on the way with light hearts and smiling
faces. Lets pretend this is a railroad
COACH" proposed Minnie as they boarded
the car. isn't ii fun? Why, there are
little wire racks to put parcels in just like
a real train"
Past shops, over the viaduct. which al
ways, made the little girls feel they were
in a strange town. out the long avenue.
down a narrow street and on into the coun-
try. ooh. look at the cherry ~trees."
Quick. see the baby chickens!'' 81 see n
tiny calf" There is a little colt all legs"
What a pretty white house. Wouldn't
| you like to ride on a plow?' why, straw
berries are in bloom.'' Look at the letter
box on the fence. How nice to pull one
out of it," The little girls chartered away.
looked, laughed, breathed deep and were
happy.
When Greenwood was reached hey left
the car and walked aimlessly down the
street or up; they had no notion of dis
tance or direction. Everybody was clean
ing house. Furniture was piled on porches.
Silk quilts and gay calico ones, crazy"
'"T' and basket" patterns, blue and white
counterpanes, chenille and lace curtains.
| carpet rugs and hall strips hung sweeten-
ing i'm the sun. A little boy with a blue
sunbonnet tied over his curls shoveled
| sand with a teaspoon into an empty olive
bottle. A little girl with hat on the back
of her head swung on a gate. Cats dozed
on the doorsteps. A group of girls played
oroquet.
The little girls stopped and hunted four
leaved clovers, found them. too. made
wishes and put them in their shoes. They
gathered dandelions and made curis of the
stems, although they, the stems. were very
short. They gathered "live-forever,"
bruised the leaves and sucked them into
blisters. They saw a rain barrel sunk in
the ground, and Minnie said she wanted
to "holler" in it. 81 dare you,' tainted
Nettie. and Minnie "hollered' till she was
red in the face. They drank water from a
we'll in the yard of an unoccupied house,
the water strongly impregnated with iron,
but they would have thought the nastiest
stuff was nectar that glorius day. They
passed a sawmill, stopped to watch the
sharp teeth cut thin, smooth planks from
a huge log and sawdust run in enchant-
ing spurts from the end of a wooden
trough. They longed to play in the fast
growing pile of dust, but were afraid TO
risk it.
Excepting the sizz of the saw, the village
was absolutely still. Violets grew thick
in every yard, long-stemmed and beautiful.
Bleeding hearts and bridal wreaths''
were everywhere. Crabapple blossoms
filled the air with perfume. The ground
under the cherry trees was snowy with
fallen petals. Soft. white pear and plum
blooms coaxed the little girls itching fin
gers. A sure-enough train went flying by
and they waved their hands to the en-
gineer.
I'm afraid it's time to go home" sighed
Nettie. The other little girl sighed, too.
as they turned reluctant feet toward the
street-car line. How the car flew. Fences
ran backward and telegraph poles stag
gered. The rails stretched far ahead, steel
bright and shining. The motorman gazed
always ahead. The conductor whistled. A
man on the front seat tilted his hat back
and watched the clouds. The western
sky was a mass of pink and violet. What
long shadows the trees cast. What purple
streaks in the horizon. What a glory of
changing browns in the newly plowed
fields. How the birds twittered and chirped
and called. Houses became more frequent.
City noises grew distinct. The pure coun-
try air was no longer felt. The viaduct
was crossed again. The little girls looked
at each other. They said goodbye at the
corner. They were sorry to come back.
But that night. as they sang their dolls
to sleep. the thought of Greenwood made
their voices sweet. M. w. ID.