Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1901-05-07
CHAPTER XVIII.

Johns dislike for the new program
grew during the night, so that by the
time morning came, had Hetty given
him the slightest encouragement, he
would have revolted against Uncle Da-
vid's authority and become a, married
man before breakfast. But Mary Elder,
who really had much confidence in In
Gle David's judgment and took care he
should observe she had, shared the girls
bed and was successful in deepening the
impression already made upon her in
favor of a postpOnement of the marriage.
1T amt the way | want it, any more
than it's the way you want it, john"
she said, in consultation with her lover,
but guess it's for the best. We are
young and can afford to wait a little
while, anyway"
There's always risk in waiting"
gro~led John.
Not for US. All the horses amt go
ing to die nor the roads to be built up.
And when | say I'll wait for you, John,
| mean it. l don't care what mother or
anybody else says. There'll be nobody
for me but you, John, if 1 have to wait
for you until Raccoon Creek runs across
the top of the Devils Backbone!
iii make a heap of excitement in
Washington County before I'll stand any
such waiting as that" answered John,
grimly.
But the matter was settled for the
time being, and, recognizing that fact,
he accepted it as philosophically as he
could, even-through a remnant of pique
assuming a cheerfulness that he was
far from feeling, as he saw Hetty car
ried away by Uncle David and Mary.
For few days, the country lad, thus
left to himself among the ashes of his
hopes, felt miserably lonely and could
not shake off an impression that the part
he had played was not one to be proud
Of To be sure the landlord said he had
done quite rightly, but there was a twin
kle in the old fellows eyes and Turk
ing smile on his fat lips that said he
would not have acted so. And he i'm,
agined that Mistress Betsy, too, though
she went so far as to pronounce his con-
duet noble" and prudent" wore
smile of cOntemptuous pity most eXas-
perating to him. He felt that he could
not stand we'll in his own estimation; for
the plain, unvarnished fact of the case
was that, after carrying off triumphantIy
the girl he loved and who loved him, he
had permitted himself to be talked out
of his prize. Decidedly, he said to him.
self, he deserved to be jeered and laugh
ed at, but he would break the nose Of
the first man who gave him that. desert.
The atmosphere of the Farmers Inn be-
came uncomfortable to him, and he hunted
up a lodging elsewhere, beyond the prob
ability Of encounter with any who knew
him. %54
He found this secluded haven in TEN
peranceyille, the then charming little sub
urb covering the sidehill and extending
down into the valley south of Sawmill
Run, below South Pittsburg. Most of
that territory, now covered by great,
grimy, roaring factories, mills and crowd
ed tenements, was then dotted over with
pretty cottages and white frame build
ings, two or three stories high, embow-
cred amid trees and vines and Surround
ed by gardens, glorious in the summer
time with their brilliant and fragrant
wealth of flowers. The people of Tenn
peranceville were rich only in health and
children, for it was a labOring popula-
ton; but the conditions of labor, infinite
ly better then than they have since be-
come, did not involve privatiOn and
squalor as inevitable eoncomitants. Hap
by content was visible everywhere, in the
tasteful, comfortable homes; the stall
wart independent looking men upon the
streets; the plump, good-looking matrons
and the chubby little folks who fairly
swarmed in the place. John felt better
when he had found domicile over there
among entire strangers. At least, the
Monongahela river no longer rolled, be-
tween him and Hetty; he was on the
road that led to home and her.
ITO be continued.)