Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-11-10
QUEEN POPPY.
BY CHARLES EUGENE BANKS.
Author of SIN Hampton Roads,
"Sword and Cross,c .Quiet
Music.o Etc.


and box elder were beginning to take
on hues of dun and gold. Dust in the
highway lay inches deep and swelle'i
up in white puffS under Flooding feet;
a man lounging in the doorway Of a
grocery whistled tuneless; a woman
hanging clothes on a line kept up a
one-sided conversation with parrot
perched in the WINDOW of her cottage;
the clock in the jewelers. window
marked the quarter after three. And
over all blue sky, fecked here and there
with bits Of f1eecy cloud.
DR.. Moulton looked from the window
of his Office upon the lazy picture.
Only yesterday he had hung a sign
over the narrow entrance below. The
people here should be too indolent to
catch the slowest disease going" he
unused. Hello" he continued, there
comes fellow who may be in need of
a doctor after all.
A man, tall, dark and yellow was
coming up the street; his iron-gray
hair was untrimmed and fell over his
shoulders. His shiny black coat was
buttoned closely about his attenuated
figure
He kept in the shadow of the build
ings and moved with long sliding
ghostly strides.
If it were midnight instead of mid
afternoon" muttered the doctor, 1
should conclude the cemetery had gone
out of business and its tenants were
seeking new quarters" The tall figure
turned into the hallway, and moment
later the door swung slowly on It's
hinges and the man paced into the
room. DR.. Moulton felt a sudden SEN
sation of fear The great black eyes OF
his visitor were sunk far inuo their
sockets and shone like electric lamps.
You are a doctor?" The voice was
hollow and had peculiar cadence.
Eyes. What can l do for your"
"Behind the church, on the hill yon-
der, is a small graveyard. A narrow
pathway, through it leads direct to my
door. Come to me at IL O'Clock to-
night"
He said no more, but turning went
out as solemnly as he had entered,
passed up the street, looking neither to
the right nor left, and disappeared
over the hill.
Devil or no devil, FL CO." said Dr..
Moulton. There's an air of mystery
about the fellow that attracts me-"
At dusk Dr. Moulton, exercising, as
cended the hill on whose summit stood
the village church. He passed through
the hand polished turn-stile and fol-
lowed path that wound around to the
right of the quaint little structure uE-
der the steep, projecting caves. Be-
fore him lay the burial ground, some
what neglected, but with here and there
a well-kept mound guarded by taste
full marble or granite shaft. AZ child
ish voice. sweet and plaintive, Groom
ing a nursery rhyme attracted him.
Following the direction of the sound
he came upon a little girl sitting by
the side Of a grave over which nature
had not yet spread its softening
mantle of green. Her apron was filled
with maple leaves, painted crimson by
the frost, and her little body swayed
slowly back and forth, keeping time
to the rymth of the melody, the ca
dences of which she carefully punctu-
ated by pressing the stem of leaf in
to the mound. Il will be good -
piped the voice
The little face had a mature lCok,
strongly in contrast with the rhyme.
Il am making the grave pretty she
said, looking up quietly as the dociar
came near. tThe frost has killed the
flowers, and so | use the leaves. They
are almost as bright as flowers
"A thoughtful little girl" said the
doctor softly.
She WIS my mamma; l come every
day. We live in the house over there. "
She pointed to a brown cottage, in the
distance, which Doctor Moulton imme-
diateiy concluded to be the home of his
queer visitor of the afternoon.
The child arose and went slowly
along a narrow path toward the house.
At the border of clump of naples just
at the confines Of the grounds, she half
turned to look at the stranger. A swirl
ing wind came out Of the trees, bearing
in it's eddy an armful of parti-cclored
leaves. About the little figure it swept
and when it lifted its streak of color
from the earth moment later and shot
upward to break into a hundred tiny
whirlwinds she had disappeared
Returning to his office DR.. Moulton
selected a book and read and dozed
through the tagging hours until ii was
time for him to prepare for his first pro-
fessional visit in the town. At the
street door he paused. The moon in its
first quarter hung, barbaric jewel in
the ear of night. A dog howled mourn
fully and rat sc'lrried across the side
walk and sat on its launches in a half
lighted alleyway. When he passed the
grave beside which the child had knelt
he fancied the leaves which she had
planted there held the outlines of hui
man head. A dim light shone in the
cottage window. He hurried toward 1t.
His knock brought the attenuated man
of the afternoon 10 the door. Once
within, his host proved delightful con-
,. versationaIist, despite his grewsome ap-
pearance..
Il am physician Also ne said lat
err Medicine is my slave. | have
conquered the power OF It's greatest
drug his eyes flashed Ike those o.
a wild animal From a snail leatheru
case which he took from stand near
by he extracted two small white waters
and handing them over to the docto-
pressed him to swallow them, at The
same time throwing half dozen into
his own mouth by the way Of assur-
ance.
.sWha+ Il. this7, coufinued the da-t