Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1900-12-20

knew hat Tom was determined tc
marry Clarissy Noon. The views OF
Clarissy herself were locked in the
breast of hat maiden and no one. not
even her grandmother, could draw
them forth She listened to the old
lady's diatribes against Tom, just as
she listened to Toms ardent wooing
and said nothing.
Mrs Noon, her unmarried daughter
and Clarissy lived in a tiny cabin at
the foot of the Little Backbone, a very
pleasant place in summer, though
hat season was brief enough in a
region which is described by its
denizens as having nine months win
ter and three months cool weather
each year. In winter the cabin was
not a pleasant place of abode. Not
only did the snow drift high about it,
but the playful winds entered through
the crevices which Mrs. Moon was al
ways intending to have filed up and
never did. 1t was lonely in winter,
too; not even the most persistent
sutton could find his way to it fire.
quently when the trail was obliter-
ated by snow drifts and when night
came early and suddenly, too, in the
shade of the mountains.
Clarissy was thinking of these
things, as she stood at the cabin door
n afternoon in the middle of De-
cember. It was rather a cool place
for meditations, but her Aunt Phoebe
was on what her mother was wont
to call a high" and any place was
preferable to her immediate vicinity
at such a time Aunt Phoebe's tenn
Per, never very sweet, had i'll with
stood the strain of prolonged spinster-
hood, and she vented her maidenly
disappointment on the nearest OBJ
jects, her mother and Clarissy, who
were quite innocent in the matter.
Seems If 1 CANT please her, no.
how" Clarissy was saying t herself,
II CANT bear that air bothersome
Tom White, but he's bettern' what
she is, anyhow. Sposn' I was t give
him er sign t come n talk t. me err
while!" AS she hesitated she heard
Aunt Phoebe's shrill tones still raised
to danger pitch in the cabin. Draw
ing off the red handkerchief which
was knotted coquettishly about her
dark hair, she ran down the path and
drawing down a branch of the young
oak which stood alone. she deity tied
the streamer to it. The handkerchief
was Toms gift and he had begged
her to use it as a signal whenever she
desired his company. 1t was the first
time she had made use of it, and as
she tied it she was assuring herself
hat she didn't care CT mite fer that
great, awkward fellow" but. in spite
of that fact, her cheeks rivaled the
handkerchief in color. Yielding to
a sudden impulse she scurried into
the cabin regardless of Aunt Phoebe's
tongue.
'.In peek out'n the window an
watch fer him." she thought, San I'll
let him cool his heels a bit waitin', be-
fore I go out. Anyhow, I amt prom
cher up there"
Clarissy had the sharp ara of the
mountaineer and soon she heard steps
coming along the trail and finally into
the clearing, but she never moved,
save to see that her grandmother was
doing in the chimney corner and
Aunt Phoebe absorbed with her quilt
pieces. The latter had passed from
the active to the passive stage of her
ebullitions and was now sulking.
The steps approached nearer and
nearer.
"Ef that old stupid amt comm IN
we're, after ALL" Clarissy thought.
aWell. granny'n send him off with a
flea in his ear if he does, that's ALL"
and she assumed an air Of elaborate
Indifference
Hello, thari" called a masculine
voice scarcely audible t Clarissy for
the beating OF her heart. She made
move and the call was repeated
saint We got no manners, t let
company wait out there that . way"
her aunt said, sharply, and poor !
issy went flying TO the door.
There stood, not Tom, but Amos
Purdy, a near neighbor, az neighbors
20 in q thinly settled country, and a
Of two months standing who
had dropped in once or twice OF late.
He entered now with q sheepish air
which to anyone less preoccupied than
-Iarissy would have proved that he
was on counting bent. He tool
hair near the door and where he
hut ont Clarfssy's view of the win
fright cold day." he ventured, ad-
dressing aunt Phoebe