The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1900-05-10

place ~ the woods to suit you, and my
boy Will take an AK and cut stakes
TOR you and help to put up your
precious tent. Only remember that
when It rains you arc to come to the
house, or you will catch your deaths
with cold and rheumatism. It will be
very nice till the novelty wears off;
then you are quite welcome to the
front rooms upstairs, and Hiram can
take the tent back to Erie the first time
he goes to town.
Mrs. Bartlett had a way Of taking
things for granted. It never seemed
to occur to her that any Of her rulings
might be questioned. Hiram sat gaz-
ing silently at the road as If all this
was no affair of his. +. Z. ss9.
Yates had refused chair and sat
on the edge of the veranda with his
back against one of the pillars in such
position that he might, without turn
ing his head, look through the open
doorway into the room where Miss
BARTLETT was busily but silently clear
| ing away the tea things. The young
man caught fleeting glimpses of her as
she moved airily about her work. He
! drew cigar from his case, cut off the
end with his knife and lit a match on
the sole OF his boot, doing this with an
easy automatic familiarity that re-
quired no attention on his part, all of
which aroused the respectful envy of
young Hiram, who sat on a wooden
chair, leaning forward, eagerly watch
ing the man from New York.
't'Have a cigar?'' said Yates, Offering
the case to young Hiram.
mo, no; thank you,'' gasped the
boy, aghast at the reckless audacitv of
the proposal.
"What's that?" cried Mrs. Bartlett.
Although she was talking volubly to
the professor, her maternal vigilance
never even nodded, much less slept.
IA cigar? Not likely! I'll say this for
my husband and my boy, that, what
ever else they may have done, they
have never smoked nor touched a. drop
of liquor since I've known them, and
please God-they never WILL
"Oh, I guess it wouldn't hurt them, -
said Yates, with lack Of tact that was
not habitual. He fell several degrees
in the estimation of his hostess.
"Hurt 'em?' cried Mrs. Bartlett, in.
dignantly. II guess it won't get a
chance to-" She turned to the profess
sor, who was a good listener-respect-
full andodeferential, with little to say
for himself. She rocked gently to and
fro as she talked.
Her husband sat unbendingly silent,
In sphinx-lile attitude that gave no
outward indicat ton of his mental un-
easiness. He was thinking gloomily
that it would be just his luck to meet
Mrs. Bartlett, unexpectedly, on the
streets of Fort Erie, on one qof those
rare occasions when he was enjoying
the pleasures of sin for season. he
had the most pessimistic forebodings
of what the future might have in store
for him. Sometimes when neighbors
| Or customers treated often in the vii
| lage, and he felt he had taken all the
whisky that cloves would conceal, he
took fve-cent cigar instead of a
drink. He did not particularly like
the smoking of it, but there was GER
tain devil-may-care recklessness in go
ing down the street with lighted
| cigar in his teeth, which had all the
| more fascination for him. because of it's
| manifest danger. He felt at these
times that he was going the pace, and
| that it is we'll our women do not know
OF all the wickedness there is in this
world. He did not fear that any neigh
Dor might tell his wife, for there were
depths to which no person could con-
vince Mrs. Bartlett he would descend.
But he thought with horror of some
combination of circumstances that
might bring his wife to town, unknown
to him, on day when he indulged.
He pictured, with shudder; meeting
her unexpectedly on the uncertain
plank sidewalk of Fort Erie, he smok-
ing cigar. When this nightmare
presented itself to him, he resolved
never to touch a cigar, again; but he
we'll knew that the best resolutions
fade away when man is excited with
two or three glasses of liquor.
When Mrs. Bartlett resumed CONVEX
sation with the professor, Yates looked
up at young Hiram and winked. The
boy flushed with pleasure under the
comprehensiveness of that wink. It
included him in the attractive halo of
crime that enveloped the fascinating
personality of the man from New York.
1t seemed to say:
That's all right, but we are men of
the world. We know
| The tea dishes having been cleared
away, Yates got no more glimpses of
the girl through the open door. He
rose from his lowly seat and strolled
towards the gate with his hands in his
! pockets. He remembered that he had
forgotten something and cudgeled his
brains to make out what it was. He
gazed down the road at the house of
the Towards, which naturally brought
to his recollection his meeting with
the young girl in the road. There was
a pang of discontinue in this thought,
when he remembered the accomplish
ments attributed to her by Mrs Bart
lett. He recalled his condescending
tone toher, and recollected his anxiety
about the jug, The jugl That was what
he had forgotten. He flashed glance
at old Hiram, and noted that the farm