Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1900-12-20

's<l" White. They also
knew that Tom was determined to
marry Clarissy Moon. The views of
Clarissy herself were locked in the
breast of that maiden and no one, not
even her grandmother, could draw
them forth. She listened to the old
1ady's diatribes against Tom, just as
she listened to Toms ardent wooing
and said nothing.
Mrs. Moon, her unmarried daughter
and Clarissy lived in a tiny cabin at
the foot of the Little Backbone. a very
pleasant place in summer, though
that season was brief enough in a
region which is described by its
denizens as having mine 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
suftor could fpd his way to it fire.
quently when he trail was obliter-
ated by snow d.ifts 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
one afternoon in the middle of De-
cen,ber. 1t was rather a cool place
for meditations, but her Aunt Phoebe
was on what her mother was wont
TO call 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 cain't please her, no.
how" Clarissy was saying to herself,
Il CANT bear that air bothersome
Tom White, but he's bettern' what
she is, anyhow. Sposn' 7 was t. give
him er sign Z come N talk t. me er-
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 branch of the young
oak which stood alone, she deftly 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
irln Sh 0l e
she tied it she was assuring herself
that she didn't care er 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 scurrie1 into
the cabin regardless of Aunt Puoebe's
tongue.
"Ill peek out'n the window an
watch fer him." she thought, ''an' I'll
let him cool his heels bit wait1n', be-
fore l go cut. Anyhow, | ain't prom
ised nothing by tying that handher-
cher up there"
Clarissy had the sharp ears 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 il. the chimney corner and
Aunt Phoebe absorbed with her quilt
pieces. The latter had passed from
the active to the passive stage of her
ebullitioas and was now sutking.
The steps approached nearer and
nearer.
''Ef that old stupid amt comm in
yere, after ALL" Clarissy thought,
"Well, granny'll send him off with a
flea III his ear if he does, that's all!'
and she assumed an air of elaborate
indifference.
Hello, thar" called a masculine
voice scarcely audible to Clarissy for
the beating of her heart. She made
40 move and the call was repeated.