The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-07-22


ureiy reconciled. but. as usual. he came
out brightly In the end. and his face was
run OF sunshine when he finally accom-
panied Mark to the station the day before
thanksgiving TO start on his triumphal
progress. Percy was there. too. The
snow had arrived In Farieigh. though
there had been only little fiurries of It
In New York. Mr.. weilnan wrote that
the sieightng vas fine and advised Mark
TO wear his very thickest clothes and not
TO forget his mittens. Arthur and Percy
were confident that Mark was going TO
spend every moment OF his visit. except
while he was eating that wonderful din
ner. IN sliding down the big hills near
Butfernnt lodge. The thought was mad
drning. but they bore up like heroes.
- the train wound on patches OF snow
began to grow more and more frequent
BY the time the Clearpond station was
reached everything was perfectly white.
and the air was nipping. Mark took his
fur cap from his bag and pulled the ear
tabs down. as he alighted He found them
and the thick mittens which Mrs. Well
man had once knit him for a Christmas
present. none too warm.
II seemed very strange to behold await
Ing him at Ciearpond Mr.. wellman In the
beaver coat which the boys had occa-
big box In the barn chamber at Butternut
lodge. The yellow sleigh. too. How
often he and the others had played in II.
in the secluded corner in which II was
slowed away over Summer Put. how
ever. looked delightfully."- natural. or AZ
much OF him as was visible outside of the
warm blanket which his master had
flung over him while he was waiting for
the train
But how queer the road looked, Marx
could hardly recognise. a. they sped along.
the old familiar hooks and corners under
the naked trees
Bare. ruined choirs. where late the sweet
birds sang"
Everything seemed strangely light and
bright. He missed the dark. grateful
shade OF the summer foliage and yet tho
country in this guise was very bcauti-
full. The great stretches Of meadowiand.
sparkling white. and the skeleton woods,
with powdered underbrush crowdin9 their
long. light aisies. were an wonderful, and
filled Marks heart with new and poetic
thoughts.
Mr.. weiiman and he did not talk much
after the first greetings were over. and
the stiffness, following close upon the
roar Of the train. seeFped almost awful to
Mark The absence Of the myriad tiny
bird and insect voices Of summer and
the silence OF the muffied streams made
far greater difference In the country
the occasional friendly observations OF
Mr.. We,lman, Mark might have thought
himself in a dream. He did not feel
entirely at home and like himself until
they turned the cornev OF the dear old
wall, and drove up under the great butter
nut tree. right across the snow piled cro-
quet ground Mrs. wellman, with a shawl
wrapped around her head. was out on the
doorstone to greet him. but the phlox
bushes and the great yellow helianthus.
which had made the summer glorious
there. werc mere shapeiess masses Of
snow on either side of the door.
You mustn't think I am crazy. Mrs.
wellman." laughed Mark, as she ushersd
him into the parlor. where a roaring fire
was blasting for his benefit. But ex-
pect shall say and do some awfully queer
things. for everything looks and seems
80 different here from anything ever
saw before. that don't feel hkc myself
at ALL"
"oh, you'n recognise everything. and
feel natural again after q little" Mrs
Weilman assured him. 'We call IL pref
ty nice up here in the winter. as well
as In the summer. Lyman Walker came
around yesterday to get you to go out
sliding with him up the north road II
Is grand up there, he says but I told
him we wanted you every minute tonight.
IL will be supper time In a little while
now. We are going to have for supper
just the sthinss You like best, az near
as can remember them. There II dried
beef with cream gravy and our mealiest
potatoes Then there liz plenty Of brown
bread, and I have opened a can OF the
very blackberries that I bought of you
last summer during your royal reign"
Mark laughed. II was nice to be pet
ted and made much of. and he knew he
should enjoy the supper. All the same.
he was dreadfuily anxious TO take In the
sliding, and there was Aunt Alice and
Aunt Theresa to 40 and see. ana maybe
the coasting might not come to pass at
all The roads had been trodden Just
enough to make them right for the hobs.
and there was always q chance at this