The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-01-01
MichaeImas Daisiies.

the IRE rose slowly and followed US
Passing through the tumble-dowl
w0oden porch I saw his long. pale. me.
ancholy face light Up for the first timl
with something Ike interest as his eve
fell on my new Raleigh bicycle. "GooC
sir" he said, turning 10 me, you vii
do me a great favor if you viii allow
me to try your new steed; in all ny
travels 7 never saw so strange Z
thing"
On the other side Of the house was
an Old bowling green, surrounded bv loH
grassy banks and yews that once ha-
been clipped and trimmed into fantastic
I shapes Of bird and beast. but which tbs
kind hand OF nature was fast Iberating
from the bonds imposed by the forma
1 art of man.
The stranger was not so agile as he
once nav have been, and he wore g
short black cloak Of a curious cut. thai
1 got considerably II the way. All his
/ garments, in fact, seemed to be of the
most eccentric and antiquated descrip p
+ ton. However, I succeeded at last in
/ placing him on the saddle and The lesson
/ began.
The girl seemed to be as ignorant Of
+ the nature and habits OF a bicycle az The
man. but insisted that she should hold
one handle. and assured her that il
would be quite impossible for me to
( support the machine unless she firmly
+ grasped my right hand that held the
( saddle. Under these favorable conditions
+ we progressed slowly but I could only
now and then get q glimpse Of her face.
( The black cloak tapped and obscured
my view, and more than once we ran
/ into the bank and the poor o-d gentle
man was precipitated over the handles
on 70 his head.
For at this point the girl, with a fare
we'll wave OF her hand and light laugh,
caught up her white skirt and SCI CT
running down long walk green with
the untr0dden moss Of years
! left my bicycle to its fate and lost
no time in following her. but she soon
turned a corner and was lost TO view
At last, as I was just relinquishing all
hope I found her walking quietly IN an
old grass alley, on either side of which
great masses Of Mfchaelmas daisies
shone with a pale lavender glow in the
soft dusk
81 began to think yoV would never ind
me-" she said, as I Joined her and we
walked on together
80 you were really hiding from me!
thought, at last, you had gone home
7 have been down this path q score Of
times and searched behind every clump
of those daisies"
Some people would never find any
thing" Then she continued. 'T planted
those daisies myself They have grown
well and they live long and happily in
this quiet garden"
do you live far from here uow?" Z
ventured 70 say She looked ar me curl
ously. st think you would call Il a long
way; it does not seem so far to me. This
was my home once. I was very happy
here for a time"
"And DO you come here often?"
Sometimes come back, as I have
done this evening. but not very often.
When I come I hardly ever see anyone
No one visits the old place now, except
a few who loved it once as did
Just then there was a cry behind us,
and 7 had only time to press thu girl
back into the pHivet hedge that bounded
the narrow path before, down tho slight
incline. my bicycle whirred past with
the strangers his feet upon the rests. his
black cloak floating out behind him. He
was evidently by this time quite at
home.
IT hope your friend viii not come to
grief" 7 said anxiously, though not /
must confess, very sincerely, for I was
much more concerned for the safety Of
my bicycle than for his bones. For one
who knew so little Of riding a short
time ago he seems rather reckless"
Gle is no friend of mine know
nothing about him He is one OF those
I mentioned who come here sometimes,
but I never speak to him. His memo
RES are quite different to mine"
90 you know his name2"
ooh yes. He was called Sir Walter
Raleigh"
What could she. mean7 I knew Of no
one of that name in the nstghborhood
Was he some monOmaniac. who imagined
himself to be the famous Elzabethan
hero? In any case she was safe while
I was there
Soon afterward he passed US again,
more slowly.
ct hope. sir" I called to him. you
viii take care Of my new Raleigh
His face flushed with sudden passion.
us that the way you pronounce my
name-has England so forgotten me? BY
good Queen Bess-" But at this point
he trembled 50 violently with rage hit
he fell of the bicycle and we hurried
on before he could recover himself
Il used 70 sit here long ago" said tas
girl at reminds me- Of old times. 9"
This did not altogether please me, but
did not like TO demonstrate, and she
continued: 7 fancied 7 was very hap
pv. and then-it all came to an end. 7
felt II very much at the time.
She was becoming 50 sad over her
"reminiscences that longed to comfort
her. had BY this time entirely for
gotten that such person as Unc'e
James ever existed. and 80 seemed Ike
q nalf-century since 7 had sought shelter
from the storm I'm what 7 mashed t.
be a deserted house but Just as I was
dev3sing q consoling remark I was sud-
denly recalled 70 myself by he SCUM
of Cousin EHzabeth's voice calling.
John john and the sight Of her
sailor hat coming slowly down t1e cen
ter path between the prfvet hedges
Making g slight tncohereut excuse r.
my fair companion 1eft her 90 wire
away the starting tear. aud dashed or
70 intercept my cousins further exDlora-
tions.
"Oh. John" she cried. what in the
world have you been doing here We
shall Pc dreadfuily late for dinner
came ont To meet you. and 80 Iast fust
as became quite convinced gen mrst
nave taken another road, CT hs3
f-frhfrul accident 7 saw The fresh track
Of bicycle wheel turn .nE into tho esfe-
way Of THIS cd farm. and came Fri ~
the chance Of finding yeu" eNpia 'ne1
numby how I had taken refuge from
the rain So destructive, as sha kuew q
a new bicycle Here size interrupted
me- 'But 81 has been fine err ~ least
two hours" And thsu 7 went for
IRON i1 the garden. 4 IS SO Quaint and
70 look for soms SUBJECTS
fer sketchirr and ala net "a rad
STAYED go lcnr" Thts. fcrtur ate'v este
fer-H her rut e~-erts6 every instant
trat The ned SIR Waiter Won rice OK
from q. s5a rata Upon us and we
st.l TRYING 20 ccncect PROBABLE teerv
~ account f7r bis possess 'or - nv Pa
ieFh. when turning the c-ruer q. h
house 70 mv t-feuse r-Ilaf saw
standing cnca u5rs 81 she rcreh ~ s1
7~rearsr-o frfact ara uore rae nrse
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