St. Tammany farmer., 1903-03-28
ionshiD, bur there was still an ache

rancn, Stralght to her heart. AND
every live creature about the place
felt the spell of her presence; the
dear little pigs, the cunning little
| chickens, the sweet little calves, all
brought gurgles of delight to her
lips. The mettlesome horses Mason
himself had difficulty in mounting
were cajoled by sugar and kisses int O
carrying her safely. The great St
Bernards were unclaimed and al.
lowed to romp with her through the
halls. The out-of-tune piano was
banged and thumped from morning
till night, and buoyant, bubbling
springtime reigned supreme all win
ter long.
| The trap, as smart and new as ever,
was again heard gathering over the
| roads, for Jack somehow seemed al
ways able to find time to show Lis
beth the great rolling valley, now
growing fresh and young again un'
der the touch of the winter rains II
i Jack had to go down to the village,
'Lisbeth had to go too because she
was the only one who could hold
Prancing Billy steady. If he had to
| ride horseback over the fields, still
'Lisbeth must go along, because
Blackbird went so much better il
some one rode Dick. And it was sur.
prising, to Mrs. Mason at least, how
many excursions of the sort seemed
suddenly necessary.
AS Julie Mason watched them day
| after day starting off together, Jacks
shoulders growing straighter, his
step brisker, his manner gentler, tn.
| ache in her heart took different
form and grew deeper. And when
she met them on their return, Lis
beth sparkling and dimpling and
Jack gallant and gentle, she sighed
for her old desolation a deux. a
That Julie seemed to grow Trailer
| and thinner since Elisabeth's arrival,
| instead of better as they had hoped,
Jack did not seem to notice. In fact,
nobody seemed to notice Julie much
any more. 'Lisbeth was sweet and
| thoughtful enough when they were
| alone together, bat 'Lisbeth was not
shrewd enough to keep her aunt from
| seeing her ear was attuned for a GER
| tain step on the walk, a certain whistle
/ down the road. certain voice in the
hallway. She felt her superf1uity with
| poignance pressed down and running
! over. -s .-z..-s
You don't look well this morning,
! old GIRL Mason surprised her by say
ing one morning, when Elisabeth was
kept in her room by cold and they
were eating Their meal in cherries
silence. $f& 4tss
Dredging her memory for some rea-
son to which tc ascribe- this sudden
solicitude on his part, she forgot to
answer him. After a moment he re-
peated his rvation-casual en- nough
| in itself.
"You are not looking well, this
morning, julie
Mrs Mason looked up quickly.
: Was this the first time during the win
ter he had noticed her ill-looks, she
wondered.
II am as we'll as usual" she an
swered, quietly, still wondering at his
sudden interest.
| The meal was finished in silence.
They had so long ceased to pretend to
have a common interest that it was
not necessary to sham. The child, as
she insisted upon calling 'Lisbeth.
had not seemed to notice their atti-
tude toward each other, or had ac-
- 1o-
/ tween people who had been married
ten years, and did not know-or did
she know?-it was her presence that
was widening the breach. This was
the question Julie asked herself every
day as she watched her niece and her
husband, and the lines around her
mouth grew harder as she slowly
formed an opinion.
A few hours later Mason rode back
to the house. ... .l..,,..s
"You looked so bad at breakfast, old
girl" and again she tried to think
his tones rang true, II brought you
some fine mushrooms to tempt your
appetite These are the first of the
season; I found them around the ir-
rigating ditch" Throwing his find on
the table and springing back into his
saddle, he was off. ..a ..
Julie watched him out of sight. Was
this the old Jack she had thought lost
to her, or was it a new Jack she had
scarcely allowed herself to suspect of
being? AS she looked off over the
acres of isolation that spread on all
sides about her, her eyes took on thai t
hard inscrutable look that had come
| into them these recent years.
It was late when Jack came home
that evening. He did not whistle as
! he came down the road. Julie was
composed enough to ask herself:
'Why?"
He found the house cold, the fires
| were out. The dogs covered dumbly
around the steps. The shades were
drawn on all the windows. Julie, cold
1 and inscrutable. met him at the stoop.
"What! you?" he cried; whats
the matter? How's 'Lisbeth?"
Julie led him silently into the house.
elisabeth is Dead" she told him, sim
ply: "as the child had not much appe-
tite either, gave her the mushrooms
you so kindly brought to me-" Hereyes
held his steadily. "They were not
mushrooms-andt the child is dead
| San Francisco Argonaut.