, 1900-11-09

~hollyhocks to the gate beyond, and at
the gate, the woman in the blue print
gown and the eager, happy eyes OF the
man who waited for her. At nightfall
she could endure 1t no longer. The
Count was leaving On the late train,
he was impatient-it must be now or
never, he told Mrs. ~Marchmont, so with
the recriminat,ons, pleading and en-
treaties of her mother in her ears and
a letter in her bosom from the mar she
loved, Honore spurred her horse on
toward the hills.
1t was just dusk when the horse
stumbled along. the dusty lane, now
through the somber wood. There were
only the sounds of the night to be
heard. The low cry of a late bird, the
muifled lowing of distant cattle, the
stunning bass OF a bullfrog by the
stream and the lighter melody of a
iocust's trill. A covey of birds, fright
ened by the passer, flew with a whirr
of brown wings into a hedge by the
roadside. a fluttering bat went blindly
by and the dark range of forest trees
STOOD s]ilhouetted against the flushed
western sky.
She came again to the little house
she had PASSED in the morning and
the girl was waiting at the gate.
Honore refined her horse and spoke
quickly: Il saw you here this morn
ing-l hoped you would be here when
| came tonight, | wanted to speak with
you" She hesitated. Was tina man
at the gate-this morning-was he
your lover?"
The girl peeyed up into the face
above her and answered yes"
Was he-do you love him-are you
happy"
The girl at the gate came closer and
laid her hand on the bride rein. Il
know what you want-I knew this
morning. wanted you to come back.
You are Miss Marchmont at the hotel
over there she nodded her head to-
ward the lower range of hills. Il
saw you that day when you rode past
with the two of them-that little, black
Count and the mar that looks like my
Jim"
"Jim!" uttered Miss Marchmont
Preathlessly, lis his name Jim, too?'
Yes, Jim-Jim Watson" the girl
went on, peering up into the face that
bent down over her.
I've watched you. oh, so often. |
was sorry when he went away and the
other one staid. | just knew you
couldn't love him, but | was afraid for
you. Let me tell you about myself and
then you'll know, you'll understand
I've lived here all my life," she went
on in a quiet, passionless voice. 81
was born in that little room there,
where we cook and eat and sleep, and
when ! was n little thing no higher
than your knee. Jim and me played to-
sether, and he carried ME over the
stony places in the mountains and
brought me the first arbutus and the
finest rout and quail and all the sim
pie gifts of these woods Of ours. When
| was seventeen | went to work at the
hotel. and | saw the other girls over
there, who. like you. had come to spend
the summer, and envied their dresses,
swishing with silk and their white
hands heavied with rings, and when ]
would come home after my work was
over, | hated this poor little path and
| loathed the one crowded room and
spurned the flowers with my feet and
Jim-poor JIM broke his heart.
Il used to sing. n one day at my
work, a lady heard me. She called me
to her; she made m sing again and
again; she showered me with praises
and flattery-and | believed her. | went
away. | worked and studied and sans
and the world was good to me. Maybe
it was one year-maybe two-but one
morning | awoke and my mouth
yearned for the taste of new milk. and
my eyes ached for the mountains ana
the streams and the hollyhocks and
my heart %hungered for love: love, for
which all the wealth and fame and
power in the world will not com
pensate; enough; | came home-and
here / am-and here is finland here
alone is happiness"
She ceased speaking, and the girl
On the horse bent down and kissed the
straight white part where the brown
hair rippled away On either side the
woman's head.
Goodnight" she said softly. God
bless you and yours.
Goodnight" called out the other, in
the fast gathering gloom. Good,
night, and God bless you and jim"