The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1904-11-18
Tirzah'S
Chimney

JiErA L1o asked 4lFL@at Hitchcock 70
become the second Mrs. Green she
had tartly refused the honor. Il amt
much Of beauty she had told him,
but no warmed over affection fur
me. thank you. Solomon Green
I Solomon had reasoned all in vain.
Why. Tlrzah." he pleaded, s'it amt
no ways natural fur wimmen TO live
alone Every mornin' your chlmbIy
is the fust thing I look At, an II
wasn't to see the smoke a comm out
Of H. I'd be scared TO death thinkin'
you was robbed. or killed or sun
thin
What's the use in Us keepin' up
two houses when one would do jest
as Well7"
Since that time the two had hardly
exchanged a dozen words. Solomon
had not married, neither had Tirzah,
and now. on the night before her for
tieth birthday. she sat looking around
her orderly little home with the most
desolate feeling at her heart she had
known for years.
Tomorrow would be her birthday.
Mechanically she had gone through
Few preparations for that rather du-
bious festival The smallest hen from
her nock was curled up ready for
roasting inside the same pan in which
peT hens had been roasted for the last
nIteen years. 4 green apple pie sat
on the pantry shelf beside a sour
cream spice cake, while a plate Of
mealy tarts we're waiting patiently
the filing Of grape jelly to be theirs
on the morrow
Never before, at that season Of the
year, had Tirzah's hens been laying 80
we'll.
Her COW had never been known to
give 50 large a yield Of milk. There
we're three new kittens in the basket
behind the kitchen stove, and her
canary bird was the loudest singer in
all the village. But for all this Tirzah
was not satisfied.
She had heard that day that the
widowed cousin who usually kept
house for Solomon Green had unex-
pectodly married.
OF course this was nothing to Tir-
zah, but still-here she shifted two or
three times and then, without a par
ficle q explanation to the astouished
cat, who had come forth demanding
her allowance Of milk, sat down in
her cane-seated rocker and burst out
.rying.
For hEe minutes she cried and then
she dropped her apron and looked /
guiltiIy about
A thought had just intruded itself
upon her which she considered in the
light Of a secret crime. Ove- and
over again, despite herself, she re-
hearsed solomon's proposal; each
word as II had been spoken until, sud- |
denly, like the hand writing upon the 4
wall, there stood forth these words:
Every morning your chimbly is the
first thing | look at"
Had he meant it? Did he still turn
lis eyes with the coming Of the morn
ing light, down the little hill which
lay between them? Did her lonely
chimney still claim his thoughtful
care?
Five minutes later the dark plot
was formed and Miss Tirzah was hur-
rying about her preparations for the
night with cheeks that burned with
fires she had thought long since, gone
out forever.
The following morning more aston
ished creatures there could not be
than were the kittens, cat, COW. hens
and canary Of Miss Tirzah Hitchcock.
Something certainly had gone wrong.
Six O'Clock came and the stable door
was not opened by the brisk mistress.
Half-past six, and still no fire in the
kitchen stove. Seven o'clock and no
breakfast yet for the mistress and her
indignant dependents.
Loud and angry rose the protest Of
Brindle from her snug stall, while the
old cat and canary did their best to
stir things up inside.
Meanwhile, hidden by the parlor
curtains, crouched Miss Tirzah wrap
ped in a huge red and green shawl.
her heart fluttering between shame
and dread, while her eyes watched
with fevered anxiety the house lust
up the hill.
OH how pitifuliy foolish now looked
her deeD-laid scheme when faced in
the broad light Of day.
OF course he had forgotten. years
lGo, to watch her chimney. What was
t to him now, whether she had a FIRE
1r not? She would go this very min
Ute and build t. She
Why. what was that? Someone was
coming out OF sOlomon's front door.
someone-wby. It was Solomon him
ieiL creeping forth as If be had lust
been engaged in stealing his own
spoons and was now making of with
hem to place Of hiding.
Where was he going?
The heart Of Tirzah stood stiu for
me long and nerve destroying second.
hen it went on again with such
lammering and commotion beneath
he red and green shawl that a less
lucky woman would have fed for the
,amphor Bottle on the instant
Solomon was coming down the hin
A.