The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1904-12-23

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\ When Elizabeth !
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+ Went Homexu 5 s,:r., y !;
* w OAAS ~AO~$$s$ Ronald. "
~ Copyrighted. 1906 by s. s. Mcclure c ~


stretching prairie lanu lay SWatneQ III tWl-
light. 1t was too early for stars as yet.
and the oncoming rusnt lowered down un-
broken by any point Of light. unbelievably
still. full OF a strange solemnity. and to
Elizabeth, unspeakably dreary. She stood
with her face against the pane. gazing out
absently into the deepening dusk.
AT home" she unused, and the word
vibrated In her mind with an aching ten
derness, the electric lights are cleaning
along the streets. the trolley cars are full
of happy Christmas shoppers. Papa has
come in now and hurries off to his room
with various mysterious bundles: Alice
and Dick are hobnobbins together in a
corner over mama'S present. After dinner,
some OF the crowd will come in and there
will be music and dancing. then later a
Jolly little ~oper around the cha1ing
dish" She tined from her thoughts to
the gray stretch outside. Snow, stiffness
country. country. country! 1 hate it!"
she gasped. with a sob of self-pity. II
like noise and lights and good times and
people. Oh. I want to go home! l want
to go home!!"
Her husband was coming now. She
could not discern his figure. but she heard
his whistle, the notes dull and spiritless,
mere ghosts of his old-time runs and trills.
But he doesn't hate Dakota as I do" she
thought %resentfully. II likes it. He is
troubled only because l am"
Stamping the snow from his feet, he
came into the warm room. seeming some
how to fill it with his large personality.
He stopped and kissed her tenderly. try
ing to meet her averted gaze.
Your nice and snug in here. Eliza
BETH" he began. with a tentative cheer
fulness. It's awfully cold outside" The
girl-wife made no response, but began to
set the table. and the man said no more
until she summoned him TO the evening
meal. He looked at her from time TO time
as she sat opposite him. hoping that her
somber mood would pass. but she kept her
wistfu, gaze bent toward her plate. and
the bitter lines of her mouth never re-
Taxed.
VIVA a dainty meal. Gear" he said.
with an attempt at animation. quite
worthy of the season. 1t doesn't seem
possible that the day after tomorrow is
Christmas, does it?'
please don't remind me of it, Robert,
I beg" she cried sharply. The man WINGED
and put down his coffee cup, gazing with
set brows into its amber depths. Sudden
ly he gave his shoulders an energetic little
Shake and sighed with the stress of a firm
resolve.
"Elizabeth," he said. Tets hurry and
finish. then we can spend the evening
packing your trunk, for you must start
home in the morning. You will arrive
III GllClllooii, III ~ " AASS ~
the festivities, and you can stay just as
long as you like"
Elizabeth looked at him squarely now,
with startled eyes.
What do you mean?" she asked. You
know very we'll
Just this, dear. You must take the
seventy-five dollars we saved to get the
new machinery in the spring. III manage
about that somehow"
"Why-why, couldn't do that" STAN
mered Elizabeth in denial, but with hope
mounting in her heart. II won't do It,"
"Oh, yes, you WILL he replied. IN his
most masterful ones, and with an air of
tinality. And then his calmness broke.
and he cried from his heart, "Ah. dearest,
don't you know it just kills me to see you
sad and lonely, not to hear you sing about
the best wife in the world"
Sc it was settled. The pretty trousseau.
almost unworn, was prepared for the east
ern journey.
Are You sure you won't look shabby
or old-fashioned? 2" Robert asked anxious
~, for pride was one Of the strongest tibers
of his being.
"Oh, no, they won't expect a fashion
plate to come out of the Wilderness" she
answered gaily. land Alice will help me
furnish things up Il little"
Stopping in her packing, she slipped on
a little rose-colored evening gown, and
your work any more, or make little jokes
and laugh as you used to do? l think 1
can get the machinery somehow, but let's
not think about that now. Nothing mat
tiers except for my sad little girl to find
her happy heart again"
With a cry of remorseful tenderness, she
threw herself into his arms.
oh, Robert. you're SO good, so good!
And what a poor wife l am! So selfish
and uukind to you. But, Robert, you can't
,r.t N MI N'nt, "por't rar1tyn hnyV T nphn
to SO home. This snow and stiffness and
bigness of everything gets on my nerves.
Sometimes l think I'll go crazy
Eyes. little girl, yes" he murmured,
kissing her hair.
ut wasn't so bad in the early summer
when the woolly buffalo grass was SO soft
and pretty, and the sky was so blue: and
fine. but oh. this winter She broke of
with a shudder. And we've been mar
ried 4 year and a half, and Nv never been
home once! When we planned to go this
Christmas. ! was SO happy. and then
things went wrong and we couldn't af-
ford it, and l thought l should die!' she
cried with the extravaganza of youth.
ooh, Robert. l know l %Uughtn't to go, but
l do want to-
Yes, little girl. yes" he said softly
again, and you shall CO..
The girl chung to him.. leaving her tears
and kisses upon his cheeks.
My dear, good, generous Robert" she
murmured. well, I'll go, but l won't
stay long. and when l come back I'll be
opening her fam, peered at him coQuettish-
ly over its tilmy edge.
why don't you ask me to dancer" she
demanded. Obediently falling in with her
mood, he caught her round the waist,
whistled the bars of a lively two-step, and
spun her gaily up and down the room.
Elizabeth was transformed. He locke at
the flushing. glowing, rose-colored girl
creature in his arms, and wondered If she
could be the wan. heavy-eyed woman who
had met him when he came in from his
work. The great wide night held the lit
tie house in its clutch, and the wind
moancd under the caves like a soul de-
barred from Paradise, but for once Eliza
beth did not hear it. Robert did. What
will it be when she is gomez" cried a voice
In his heart.
Early the next morning they drove over
to Wilkes. the nearest town, where Eliza
beth was to take the east-bound train. 1t
was u wonderful d~ay-white and blue and
gold. The sky was as blue as a gentian.
flower; the snow-crystals flung back the
suns rays from their glittering facets
and the air was a JOY to the lungs. Even
Elizabeth, now that she was saying q
farewell to Dakota, admitted its charm.
Yes. ! suppose this track!ess white is
more beautiful than the mud and slush OF
my little Indiana city. but three cheers
Por ~n,,i ND Cl,,ch oil Tho c mo