Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-02-15


times, she thought-the lady. She had
seen everything when she went in to
wait. One day the gentleman touched
her hair. She drew back from him as
though his fingers poisoned her; went
to the other end of the room If he came
to sit near her; walked out alone; cold
wife for such handsome husband, the
girl thought. She evidently pitied him,
he was such beautiful man. They
went away early one morning, how or
in which way the girl could not tell.
Gregory inquired Of the servants,
but nothing more was to be learned, so
the next morning he saddled his horse
and went on. At the farms he came to
the good old looms" and ."tantes" ask.
ed him to have coffee, and the little
shoeless children peeped out at the
but no one had seen what he asked for.
This way and that he rode to pick up
the thread he had dropped, but the
spider and the wagon, the little lady
and the handsome gentleman, no one
had seen. In the towns he Jared yet
| worse.
Once indeed hope came to him. On
the "stoep" Of hotel at which lie
staid the night in a certain little viii
lage there walked gentleman, grave
and kindly looking 1t was not hard
to open conversation with him about
the weather, and then Had he ever
seen such and such people, gentle
man and lady, spider and wagon, ar
rive at that place? The kindly gentle
man shook his head. What was the
lady like? he inquired.
Gregory painted-hair like sllken
floss, small mouth, underlip very full
and pink; upper lip pink, but very, thin
and curled. There were four white
spots on the nail of her right hand
foreinger, and her. eyebrows were very
delicately curved. The gentleman look
ed thoughtful, as trying to remember.
eyes, and a rosebud tinge in,vthe
cheeks, hands like lilies and perfectly
seraphic SMILE"
."That is she! That is she~ cried
Gregory.
7 Who else could it be? He asked
where she had gone to. The gentle
man most thoughtfully stroked his
beard. He would try to remember.
yWere not her ears Here such vio-
lent fit Of coughing seized him that
he ran away into the house. Anil fed
clerk and dirty barman standing in
the doorway laughed aloud. Gregory
wondered if they could be laughing at
the gentleman's cough, and then he
heard some one laughing in the room
into which the gentleman had gone.
1 He must follow him and try to learn
more, but he soon found that there
was nothing more to be learned there.
Poor Gregory!
One day, coming to little town, his
horses knocked up, he resolved to rest
them there. The little hotel of the
town was a bright and sunny place,
like the joyial face of the clean little
| woman who kept it and who trotted
about talking always; talking to the
customers in the taproom and to the
maids in the kitchen and to the pass
ersby when she could hail them from
the windows; talking, as good natured
I women with large mouths and small
noses always do, in season and out.
There was little front parlor in the
hotel, kept for strangers who wanted
to be alone. Gregory sat there to eat
his breakfast, and the landlady busted
the room and talked Of the great finds
at the diamond fields and the badness
of maidservants and the shameful con-
duct Of the Dutch parson in that town
to the English Inhabitants Gregory
ate his breakfast and listened to moth
ing. He had asked his one question,
had hal his answer. Now she might
talk on.
Presently door in the corner open
1 ed, and woman came out-a Mozam-
biquer, with a red handkerchief twist
ed round her head. She carried in her
hand a tray with slice of toast crum-
bled fine and half filled cup of coffee
and an egg broken open, but not eaten.
Her ebony face grinned complacently
7 as she shut the door softly and said,
4 "Good morning"
i The landlady began to talk to her.
"YoE are not going to leave her real
!, ly, Ayah, are you?" she said. 1.-THE
maids say so, but I'm sure you
wouldn't do such thing"
/ The Mozambiquer grlnned
Husband says must go home"
/ 'But she hasn't got any one else and
won't have any one else. Come. now
4 said the landlady. i've no time to
be sitting always in a sickroom, not if
was paid anything for it,
/. The Mozambiquer only showed her
4 white teeth good naturally for an.
swer and went out, and the landlady
& followed her.
Gregory, glad to be alone, watched
the sunshine as it came over the
!. fuchsias in the. window and ran up and
down on the paneled door in the cor.
ner. The Mozambiquer had closed il
y loosely behind her, and presently
something touched it inside. 1t NOV.