Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1903-07-22
= @ he
: Chronicles
: OF Electra.

lcrCu N1TS. bdTheES AlLAe 5lIlluS
room Just us the clock was striking o.
Electra, with her hat already on, stood
by the table, writing something upon
the margin of the Weekly Chronicle.
Her forehead wore q puzzled frown,
and she hesitated now and then, NOV
ing her lips in apparent perplexity and
gazing abstractedly ut her pencil. But
she welcomed Miss Wagner with
beaming smile and as soon as she had
written the last word folded the strip
of paper into squares and tucked 1t In
differently into her pocket.
In her longest and most stiftiy starch
ed calico tier Electra had IN air Of be-
ing in full dress. 1t was pink-the
pale. delicate pink that ranked next to
cross barred muslin itself among her
| tiers-and she knew how to make 1t
rustic with indescribable elegance as
she walked. In almost anybody else
the rustling and the elegance might
have betokened self consciousness.
With Electra they were but part of
the natural development Of things, no
more to be considered In the general
scheme Of well being than dimples or
laughter.
a sudden anxiety overspsead her face
es they went down the steps, and, with
b murmured exclamation. which her
companion failed to understand, she
flashed swiftly across the yard and out
Of sight around the corner Of the house.
The sun seemed to shine little less
brightly in her absence Miss Wagner
even fancied that she felt slight chill
Illness IN the air, whereupon she step
ped inside the door again, throwing her
thin cape over her shoulders and fas-
tening 1t at the throat with an impulse
of habitual caution.
"Cold, Miss Wagner@ Mrs. Barker
stopped on her way from the dining
room to the cellar, her eyes resting kind
ly upon the listless figure silhouetted
against the lavish splendor Of the sum
mer morning. tits this entry does 4"
Eshe went on. Most anybody IL shiver
in 1t, no matter what time of day tbs.
/ could use 1t for an ice chist an done
with 1t. tell 'em, If 'twasn't quite 80
public"
Years of experience had familiarized
Il ADulhCl MAlA lCSAAAS SNCAy pho<'S
Of the genus summer boarder, but this
languid young woman was q new type,
not easily classified. The average oc-
cupant of her best chamber, for exam
pie would have thought 1t only courte-
GUS to reply to her remarks Miss Wag-
ner either did not listen to them at all
or quite forgot to answer.
TITS lucky for her she seems to take
to Electry So" Mrs. Barker soliloquized
as she descended the cellar stairs.
Shed be mortal lonesome If she didn't.
AS a central thing, she amt no better
n mute at a fune;ui when try to
Talk with her.-3an' here they two II
travel off .csether, day An an day out.
lite-a pair o lambs"
A moment later Electra came back,
her steps unhnrried now, her whole
small person radiating serenity. An
ancient looking bag Of Java canvas
hung upon her arm, the faded splendor
of its embroidery brought into bold re
lief by significantly bullying outlines. II
sent forth tempting orchard fragrance
at close range, and before the front gate
had fairly clicked behind them Electra
drew from it mellow, richly tinted ap-
pie, streaked here and there with vivid
crimson by the August sun.
Mother says vittles cheaper n doc
tors any day." she announced, with 30
rious wisdom, as she tasted 1t, the reg.
ularity with which one rapid mouthful
s followed another demonstrating he1
hearty concurrence in her mothers
! opinion. For perhaps FIVE minutes after
this she trudged along the narrow coun
try road ut Miss Wagner's side in con
/ tented silence, her feet raising clouds
|. Of yellow dust that obscured at inter
yals her sturdy little shoes and home
( knit openwork stockings. At the enc
! of that time she launched briskly int
!. conversation
"See that brown house over acros
k the field, Miss Dorothy? Mis- McDan
I lei lives over there. Father called he
blamed fool once. guess you'd lik'
to hear about that" her gray eyes fol
lowing the closely bitten fragment o
apple core that was just describing I
! prolonged curve over the fence.
.she come over to stay with me on
time so mother could go down to th.
Center with father. He'd got to hnv'
wisdom tooth hauled. Well, the,
hadn't been gone no time before he
daughter Lizbeth,s husban' come afte
her. He said they'd got company t
home, an she must go right back witt
him at any rate. So she got ready Il
an orfe hurry an took me along witt
her. But she looked out to put ava,
mothers silver spoons. all SIX of ZEN
in the parlor stove before we started
An she just wrote out In great big lei
ters," balancing herself on her toe
here and speaking with dramatic fer
vor, "'N. B.-I've put the silver In th
stove IN she pinned 1t right up out
side the winder. She did that. sh
said, 80 mother shouldn't worry on
mite about the spoons. an when fathe
saw 1t he called her blamed fool"
A little red squirrel glided past o.
stone wall and darted up into
chestnut tree with the mysteriou
grace which nature has bestowed upo
her woodland creatures Electra watch
eu II eagerly, She made a low, chi,
ripping sound which the squirrel az
| parently saw fit to regard as threaten
ing. There was swift scurry anon
the branches. q sudden swirl and flu,
ter of the leaves and then perfect d
lence.
"He's HID" decided Electra after
brief interval Of waiting. Squirrel
atn't no fools-whateyer!
want to know why father calle,
Mis- Mcdaniel blamed fool7" sh
| went on seductively. II asked hin
afterwards, an bio said .twas becaus
| the dentist most broke his jaw haulin
that tooth an he felt ugly. too ugl,
to live father said. But found ou
for myself why he called her blam
ed" :
| Please don't repeat that part, Elec
tra. Lean remember 1t now.r
why be called her-it You see
fathers name was Noah Barker, an d
/ tnadded him to hive hia sptfials ~ "A