The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-07-31

1t was not her first love. She had
loved before, but never in this way.
She looked with a certain plying scorn
on the fleeing attachments of two
years, year, six months ago.
II was very young then" she
thought, looking up through the apple
! blossoms under which she lay.
She was 10 years old now. Ten just
the day before yesterday. And the
day before yesterday was the first time
she had seen HER. 1t had cost her
a great deal to go to school that day.
1t was her birthday and the sun shone.
| But she had gone. Things are very
hard at times. but now how glad, how
glad she was!
Now lying under the apple blossoms
she made great resolve. u will wash
| the dishes every day, every day, with
out being asked she thought.
If her legs We're only thin. SHE had
such lovely thin legs. And blue eyes,
| truly blue. instead of all colors mixed
| up. And HER hair was long and
braided and had a little point at the
end instead of twisting up and crump-
| ling up, especially in church, until you
| simply must take your hat off or die.
| Perhaps SHE would have spoken
that very morning if her hair had been
| different No one understood, no one
| cared. She had not seen HER for two
| days, and just that morning she was
looking in the glass to see if she had
not changed at all, or grown very pale
when her mother began to twist the
end of her braid around and around
and there it was all turned up again
NO one understOod--nO one in the
whole world-eXcept God. He must
How near the blue sky seemed beyond
the apple blossoms.
Suddenly she saw her brother come
out on the piazza, look around and
then steal softly back of the house
He is after my things" she thought,
ana she sprang up and after him, but
stopped in the midst of her run, hest
tated, turned back, and then ran eager
ly after him again.
will show him where 1 have hid
tne treasure, and I will let him have
my bower in the tree" she thought
She ran on tripped and tore her
dress; Her brother saw her coming
and fled hot haste over the fence. Then
she leaned her head against a tree, and
looked down at her torn dress, and
great wave of sadness came over her.
Mamma will scold, too, I suppose
NO one knows how changed I am. I
am going to die pretty soon, 1 think"
Inc next day she went early to
school and laid an armful Of apple
blossoms on HER desk Then she
crept softly out and fingered at the
school gate, watching.
But when SHE came near, walking
quite slowly-not running at all. or
even skipping-with her "geogra phy,
under her arm, with her truly blue
eyes, with her hair which did not rum
pie or twist, with her thin legs, the lit
tie girls courage failed her. She
turned back and walked slowly up the
s sen walk. Her heart beat fast as
she walked into the school and hid
herself behind the cloak room door and
watched through the chink to see if
SHE would see the apple blossoms.
me desk was covered with them, so
SHE broke off several twigs, all pink
and white, and taking up the others
threw them out OF the window.
They were just common things T
ought 10 have brought lilies or roses"
moaned the little girl in the cloak
room. She did not venture in until the
others came
Then she rushed on to her own desk,
from where she could see the thin legs
coming down below the seat. and
ABOVE, the lovely braid, all but the lit
tie point and her heart sank. She
realized now how the deforned man in
her street felt
Why does God make some people
SO nice and some SO horrid," she
thought in despair. At recess, how
ever, she had to pass HER desk often.
Al last the bell struck and as she went
Z, her seat she said to HER:
"Hello!"
,Hello! said the other little girl.
Inc next day they became intimate
friends. The new scholars name was
Resale. The little girl was not sur
prised. She had known from the be-
ginning that it must be that or Violet
Her own name was only Jessie.
There was another tri, of Tho 30 -, r,
age whose name was Lillian. These
three used to walk home together arm
IN arm, talking very fast and quite OBJ
livious of the existence of any other
human being.
Resale and Lillian lived in adjacent
streets' Jessie further on, SO they sep
arated one by one.
One day Jessie asked Rosalie to walk
on to the next corner. SHE did it.
Then Jessie walked back again. That
could not happen often, however for
Rosalie's mother had told her to come
straight back from the school,
K Some people were so different from
other people Rosalie was never bad,
never. Lillian was lovely, too, though
She sometimes did things, and some
people We're so bad. They did not
mean to be, it just came.
She looked around with grave eyes.
Near her was a half built house with q
AN>e~~NeASJ W l..
Suddenly Jessie sprang toward it and
began to gather big bundle, as much
as she could carry. I'll take it to the
poor woman across the BRIDGE she
thought.
There was no one in sight at the poor
women's house. Jessie laid her bum
die down at the door very softly, and
then ran away as fast as she could,
her shoes Gathering on the board side
walk as She ran.
The days slipped past. The three
girls had been intimate friends four
weeks. Rosalie and Lillian studied
their geography together, Jessie lived
too far away. They knew each others
tnmost souls and We're closely united
by common passion for the teacher.
They invented a cipher, the explana-
ton of which each kept hidden away in
the most secret part OF her desk It
worked beautifully, for each one was
permitted to add a new sign whenever
1t seemed necessary Then they would
read the accumulated notes on the
way from school and laugh, and 1t
made the other girls simply wild.
They likewise gathered long thorns,
and swore to prick their fingers and
write all very important noes in their
blood. However. an insurmountable
difficulty presented itself-the pricking
+ hurt, So a bottle of red ink was sub