Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1904-12-24
BY MILDRED M'NEAL

catch plump mice in the little old brown
shed across the read. She had been
young then: row she was old. But you
can catch plump mice when you are old;
they cant run as fast as thin ones.
RoXy's gentle purr sounded like a gentle
sigh.
III it should be anything else, Roxy
not a spot drying,-if it should mean
what it used to-" She lifted the big cat
down suddenly and opened one Of her
table drawers, where rows of black
bound diaries were neatly packed away,
and selected one that bore a date five or
six years previous to this new year to-
day, 1t didn't matter If it were live or
siX,-or seven or eight,-so long as you
subtrlcted four OF the years. The Sig
nal code was in the back Of all the rest.
Desire turned the Pages to 1t with trem-
ulous fingers. She read it aloud as if to
Roxy:
"Rod-trouble. Come over.
"White-ali's well.
"Blue-nothing but rheumatism. Will
come over as soon as it clears off.
"Green-come to tea. Have made pork
cake"
The little code" ran on through II
or two more colors. But Desires eyes
went back to the first aud third signals.
"Red-trouble. Come over" and then
the third with its quaint ending-Desire
smiled over that. She and Delight had
always spoken of their rheumatism as
clearing off" instead of getting well.
She and Delight had always had rheDma-
tism; it had been a strong connecting
link between them always. Delight haa
inherited hers from her mother Desire
hers from her father. They used to
laugh and say they couldn't see that
there was much choice between the fem
mime kind and the masculine! Both Of
EN- hurt,
How often they used to laugh, That
was another connecting link. When they
we're little bits, they had cried together
over their names and mace long lists Of
the beautiful 'poetry-names' they
longed for, on the walls of Delights shed
Isobel,-Ethelind Jeanette, -Maude
Mathilde how they had po,ed over the
lovely names and chosen" ageil and
again. But when they grew older, they
had laughed over the quaint old names
their mothers had put their heads to-
gether ard given them. For they hat
been named on the same Cay, when they
lay, little red-faced, squirming morsels
IN the same big cradle. The mothers
had waited until they were a month old
and then met together for mutual coun-
sci.
"Red,-trouble. Come over Desire
shut up the diary sharply, but the words
kept saying themselves over and oyer to
her. She could not forget them. or
course it was a spot in the red table
cloth, drying in the sun, but it kept on
saying: Trouble. Come over, ""Trou-
bic. Come overall the morning. IT,
took the pleasure out Of the sunshine and
clear, sweet air,-the soft, new-fallen
snow and the CHEEKY calls of the chicka-
dees,--out Of the whole bright New
Years day, Even Roxy could not settle
down to Ter alternate maps and placid
m%editations in the sunny window. She
followed her uneasy mistress about,
uneasy, too, and fun of wistful sympathy.
But Roxy was wise and said nothing.
Some things It's better not even to purr
to one another.
-Four years ago a trivial misun0er-
standing had separated these two lonely
women. lthad not amounted to much in
the beginning, "a little grievance only,
but with true New England pertinacity
they had chung each to her own hurt.
nursing it into vigorous life. 1t was
four years old now. The narrow width
of a country roadway that ran between
the two little brown houses might have
been the breadth of the sea.
In the early afternoon, Desire and
Roxy had New Years callers. The min
lister came first and prayed with them in
his simple, heartfelt way. He thanked
the Lord for peace and goodwill on
earth,-for the pleasant old year and
the beautiful beginning of the new one,
1t was a grateful, comforting prayer;
there was nothing in it about misunder-
standings and trouble and rheumatism.
Then the doctors wife came in with
her baby, and stayed long enough to
patch a pair O. little stockings. Then
Mrs. Deacon Blinn anne, then Hosy
Todd's two little eirls,-last of all, laugh
ing Jeffy Rand.
Merry Chris-l mean Happy New
Year!P laughed Jeffy. Thought I'd
come an wish It. I've been to all the
this -side-o'-the-street houses up to here
an I'm comm back on the other side
'xceptin' | shan't go to Tolly Wallace'I
house"
why not to Tolly's, Jeffy?"
Jeffy laughed,--he always laughed.
"Cause we've fell out" he said, cheer
ily. you don't go to folks houses you've
fell out with an wish EN- HAPPY New
Years, DO you?'
Desire Drummond WINGED in spite o.
herself put abe had her duty to 60 tt
tAls I,tts laaehias Gbll3