Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-13

she stood In the doorway OF the ranch
house. watching the daily uplifting OF
clouds from the mountains. which, like an
impenetrable barrier, encircled the valley.
At the foot Of the mesa the rushing Rio
Grando cut It's outward way. From a dis
tant arroyo, where vivid but scentless
flowers reared their heads to the perpetual
the passionate pean OF a meadow lark.
The hand Of the woman rested tremu-
lousy on her husbands shoulder and she
drew a long. quivering breath.
Your letters never did Justice to II
all, Charley-never. II is beautiful, beau
tifuL We shall be happy here, very happy,
dearest"
And she meant It. Every word came
straight from her heart. How could che
understand them7 How could she know,
in his hour Of home coming. that there
would be a day when those majestic peaks
would be to her a circle Of implacable
~jailers? or that she would close her win
dows to the monotonous rush Of the river
cutting its way through the mountains TO
the life for which she hungered2
The FIRST year was not so hard. Then her
husband bought the stock and with the cat
tie came the cowboys. Her unframed
shoulders bent beneath this new burden.
In their rough, chivalric fashion the men
adored her, but they also-ate. At first
she rose shudderlngiy each morning to the
unvarying task. Then she became numb
to Il.
More and more she withdrew into herself
There was nothing else. Vaguely and not
rebeIiiously she realized that the volatile
temperament OF her husband was yielding
10 the more debasing influences OF the
IL - NN. Chn Ganman nnWoTlRHG 10
hold him in check. What could she do
when the ranch work pressed upon her
until Il seemed to touch her very soul?
To be sure, he praised her cooking and
vowed that no woman in all Saguache
county could beat her in making baking
powder biscuits. He always kissed her'
too. when, stalwart and noisy and with
clanking spurs. he came In from the range
But there were dreary nights when ne
never came farther than Saguache, the
county seat, and on these nights she lay
b~reathlessly listening for the hoofbeats and
heard only the eerie lamentation OF the
coyote.
But. above II all, the mean surroundings,
the interminable drudgery, the selhsh neg
leet OF the man who wooed her from a lie
of comparative ease and refinement, rose
that passionate longing for music. This
woman WHO knew the score OF every opera
who had heard every noted singer OF her
day. would have cried with Joy at the sight
of a street piano or a negro bantoist.
once when he had made a fortunate spec
ulation in stock she suggested a piano. but
he quoted freight rates across the range
And that night he rode into Saguache, and
was gone three days. When he returned
the cowboys winked at each other and
turned his faded horse into the corral-ali
but one man. He sighed. Perhaps he
thought of the woman who for three Iona
nights had been listening for the hoofbeats
that did not come.
The next mail brought from an eastern
friend a musical journal, but the woman
never cut the leaves. Again she was afraid
and she laid the paper. with a gesture oil
despair, on the glowing Goals. Gay snatche'
Of light opera and piquant college songs nc
longer fell from her lips. Her guitar Leaned
IN an out-of-the- way corner, its strings
brokers . = r.
Perhaps this was the reason that, wher
the child came. his eyes were filled with 9
strange wistfulness. Al the age when otheI
children placidly suck their fingers, gurg
ling and cooling, he lay with tiny hsti
tightly clenched. staring yearningly at thu
loving face bent over him whenever thu
mother could steal from her work.
She was bending over him thus one after
noon when fror a shed near the cora
came a sound that, to the woman, was
message from Paradise. In hutelike tone
someone was whistling the prison song from
"l Trovatore." The womap straightenet
up, her eyes wide open in happy wonder
She covered the baby, then stole from tn,
door. With noiseless tread she crept rounl
the house, nearer and nearer to the rougI
shed.
A young fellow with a careless, hspp,
face was polishing his gaudy riding equip
ment. His hat, pulled over his eyes. pre-
vented his seeing the approaching figure
On her face was a look, half rapture, hal
agony. What II one OF the notes shout
ring false and the beautiful cadence b
marred2 She recalled having had the sam
feeling one night at the opera when sh
thought Of the possibility of the tenor
faitering. But, no, the clear notes swep
on to the triumphant end. and she breathe
. deep sigh Of relief.
The bride fell Gathering from the man
grasp TO the floor. Before him stood h
employers wife. with both hands out
stretched.
Thank you, oh, thank youl"
He was a newcomer and knew nothing
his employer or OF the %latter's family.
college man, with a fair athletic Teputatio
and a much wider reputation among womcl
he was Just at present stopping without Il
pale OF civilization until his father shoul
be in the mood to sacrifice the fatted cal
And looking into the pale, eager face NJ
lifted to his. he realized that this woma
had come from his own world. So /
oiAsped the outstretched hands and thank'
fate for holding the rest Of the men in Il
distant corral,
Life seemed a tribe easier after he cam
For. while the other mon smoked al
snapped yarns in the twilight hour,
swung in the hammock near the kitch'
door and whistled the music she loved, al
the work moved the faster for the inspir
tion. But he did not understand her. I
did not know that this woman was ideali
ing his music, not himself. And one d.
she bent over the baby and whispered, viii
q unnatural light shone In her eyes;
Baby, dear, there's almost 500 now
the old shell box. Just g few more dc
lars and we can cross the mountains. y
and l. Baby, do you understand? The
are organs beyond those mountains. orga
that sound like the Great Amen A
W will stay until we hear them ALT
organs. the singers, the violins and 'cellC
You never heard a cello, dearest, but 4