The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1901-07-27
Storn~Swept
Copyright, 1901, by Authors Syndicate.)
THE quarrel had been bitter. No
BY F. H. Lancaster.

go their separate ways, and, yes, to |
avoid each other for awhile, until they |
grew accustomed to the dead feeling |
about the heart. In the meantime,
while their wheels glided on smooth
ly side by side, each found cause for
congratulation that the revelation
had come in time. But it affected them
differently, as was natural, since one
was a man and the other a woman.
To the man the afternoon stretched
into interminable perspective. To the
woman came the determination that
this perspective should be shortened.
'sThese roads seem to be getting
steadily worse" she remarked, with
careful civility. ''Shall we turn
baek?"
"As you like" he answered, mood
lily, for he was a man, and playing
part did not come so easily to him az
to the woman.
They turned, only to realize that
while one storm had burst another
had been brewing. Huge masses OF
blue-blacll clouds, shot athwart con-
tnuously by lightning flashes, tow
crept through the pines-a herald of
the wild northwest wind that would
thresh the forest with its fail, strik-
ing down crest and branch-even lay
ing an occasional monarch low.
They both knew the danger, but
while the girl bent with disdainful in
difference over her handle bars the
man looked around for shelter. He
had dim consciousness of having
passed a wayside building when the
quarrel was on, and turn in the road
now revealed it to nina little church,
log-b,ilt and straw-strewn. He
wheeled closer to his companion, and
shouted against the rising wind, but
she shook her head.
81 say we must" he reiterated.
A moment later he was standing
with his hand on the handle bar, and
they were facing each other in the
midday gloom. Her eyes, ablazc with
unstinted scorn, could read in his
only n logged determination as re-
lentless as The grip of his strong right
hand
The whole congregation was sing
ing. Their hi"h-pitched, nasal voices
soaring through the forest roar
formed tumult fcarfully and Won
derfnlly made. The rain, having driven
in all the men and boys from their
whiting and horse swapping, the
small building was crowded, but Cor
don secured n seat near the door and
motioned the girl into il. Yesterday,
nr even an hour ago, he would have
longed to share it with her. Now he
smiled to observe that by a skillful
arrangement of her skirts she had
made that impossible. a rather I'M
necessary vancouver, it seemed to him
when it was all he could do to force
himself to stand there beside her with
his hand on the back Of the bench.
The united roar of nasal hymn and
thundergust having spent its force
the voice of the preacher arose
against The raindrops on The roof.
Gordon turned toward the man me-
chemically. He was tall, stoop-shoul
dered. sunburnt. Evidently quite al
home behind the plowshares, and yet
his place in the pulpit seemed to sui
him we'll. There was n manly rever
-cnce in mein and gesture, and al
thourh there were lines about the
lips that spoke of much smiling nnt
n twinkle lurlied in his shrewd, kind
~ eyes. there were other lines OF
that wna'hrr-henten face. deep GU
and saha sign that time cannot Sc
save with the stamp Of pam.
In strong. slnw voice he read hi
text: ',Blessed be the peacenakers.
He closed the Bible and laid i
aside, then he turned to his 'congrega
ton.
'.Breihren." lie began. in an eas,
conversational tone. "hrethren, wha
is this here peace that the Good Boo
tecls about. and who ais is the peace
makers it calls blessed? Is it ther
that jaws agin their neighbours cattl
when hits their own pesky fence
that's to blame? What's the reaso
there amt no peace in this here set
Element? You alls is law-abiding cit
zcns: there amt no cattle driv o,
nor sheep stole. Even the hogs ain
meddled with. Brethren, let me tie
you that story agin about tn
shucks."
The attention of the congregatio
took on an added interest Surel
never did ancient Greek delight NOR
lin the ""Buriredean thing" than doe
tire south Mississippi cracker in thi
story of the shucks.' Variously al
piled, they had heard itwithout trim!
,Dver and over again. But Gordon an
the, girl had never heard it.
Moved by the expectancy of n
about them, they reused from the
bitter reveries to listen.
There was two farmers" the o.
preacher began, checking off eac
statement against his horny pair
.'There was two farmers that starte
out to farm on sfeers, each man
put his sheer OF the seed and do h
& sheer OF the work, and they were
divide the crap. Well, brethren, h
ssnrkefl fine. They made a good era
Then comes the diyidin'. They divide