St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-11-19

was sure that she was fair-slende
and tall. She thought she wore whit
lace about her throat. Miss Maize
sighed little as she switched OF he
jangling bells.
1t was generally eleven before Re
1901 had sounded his signal and Mis-
Maher had connected him somewha
perfunctorily with the other end q
the wire. Sutter S691's answers i
these conversations were rather SHIRT
er and more to the point than tie
were et the earlier hour, yet on sew
eral occasions M IS Maher heard he
make engageme. ats for drives o
box parties to the theatre. When sh
made these engagements SO easily AM
carelessly, Miss Makers soul wa
troubled. She knew she ought not t
listen to these conversations, but ,sh
was interested, and human, and s,
-. But she wondered what Mai,
IS would say.
The weeks went on, and the call
came as usual, until q certain da,
when, having rung up Suffer S691
and opened the switch as now was he
daily custom, Miss Maher heard tn
steady tones she liked to listen to say
"How's the world this morning?'
Existing. I suppose" returned thu
voice with subtle reflection thai
Miss Maher instantly recognized a.
displeasure. Il saw your picture O
Joy last night"
"You did? The paint isn't even dry
Are you going to give me telephone
dictum on it,"
Its rather pretty, think, but
pretty" Main ass voice was just
little ruf1ed. well go on. But
what?"
Il don't see how a dark person car
represent Joy"
"Oh, that's all right. Intensity OF
feeling-strength of emotion-union
OF heart and head. and so on. Don't
you see?"
HIM" was Suffer S691's brief com.
ment. Her hairs SO black she looks
like an Indian. and her eyes" An
expressive silence followed this, and
Miss Maher felt the smile at Main rs
They're, gray. Don't you like
them7"
you do. That's evident"
Il like them in the picture"
There isn't any reason you
shouldn't like them out Of it. Perhaps
you do"
Perhaps I do what? Like gray
eyes? They are upcommonly rare
you'll like them I'll the better
when you find them. Don't despair.
Fate will be kind to you in time"
Il hate to doubt 1t, but she does
no: seem very kind just now"
I'm sorry. Would you pardon me
II hung up? I've an engagement in
few minutes"
please wait q second. ="
Miss Maher heard the decided little
click. So did Main As. His half-fin-
ished sentence remained suspended in
air, and only the telephone operator
heard the amazed exclamation of three
words which followed the closing Of
the wire.
When the rush was over, Miss Ma
her, casting a swift glance about her
to see that she was not observed, went
,quickly over to the unframed square
iof glass hanging blankly on the
whitewashed wall, and looked boldly
into the reflected eyes. They were
gray, with black lashes. Irish eyes
dark and sombre, with the shadows
smudged in. Her cheeks grew beau
tiful rose-pink as she gazed. Then
suddenly q lingering smile curved the
corners Of her lips as she turned away.
For some inscrutable reason, she was
glad her eyes were gray.
The next morning the signal sound
at the usual hour, but Miss Maher
was forced to ring vigorously three
distinct times before getting her reply.
The CHEEKY little trick had gone from
the girls voice as she took down the
receiver, and without the slightest
preliminary announced coldly:
''Sutter 1851 is not in"
Miss Maher gasped So did Main
As. The shock was sudden, If not
altogether unexpected, and Miss Ma
hers sympathy turned wholly to the
man at the other end of the line.
She decided that Suffer 1851 was
Miss Maher was
young, too, and it counted in her con-
demnation.
So. as the days went by, and each
morning brought only the same little
sentence, repeated in the crispest of
tones, Miss Maher added the admirable
trait of long suffering to the mental
picture she had formed Of Main As,
and rang her bells SO viciously that
the fourteen subscribers on the party
line sent in q united complaint asking
that "Centrals" service, and incident
ally temper, be amended. 1t did not
please Miss Maher either that the glib
person at Red 1901 should have slipped
so easily and deiftly into Main ASS
place. These conversations were not
long, but they always ended in some
phrase which apprised
keenly interested ears of some pro-
jected plan for an evenings amuse-
ment. Red 1901 seemed to enjoy SO.
cial functions rs much as Main As |
had detested them. This phase Of
affairs bothered Miss Maher good
deal She meant to see It through
now that matters had reached this |
stage, and she listened without any |