Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-02-24
DAILY SHORT STORY
LAST FLOWER ON THE AzAttA.
IOriginall

There is but one house in sight. and that
a log cabin. No Tense incloses il; no
trees shade it. The only attempt to
beautify it is a row OF flowers on each
side Of the little stoop in its front.
From a we'll in the rear u young girl
| is carrying watering pot to give the
flowers their evening sprinkling. Her
| dress is a common calico. its skirt
reaching only TO her ankles. On her
back hangs a sunbonnet, thrown of
now that the sun has lost its power.
TenderIy she bends over her plants,
which seem TO raise their lips TO drink
in the refreshing draft. In all that
landscape there is no other cultivated
beauty.
SO wrapt was she in her occupation
that she did not hear Il step behind her
till It was very near; then. turning she
saw figure and a face before which
the beauty of her flowers paled. Till
this moment they had been her com
panions, her children. the only objects
to love in that lonely land Hearing
a step. she turned. A handsome. good
natured. boyish face. with kindly blue
vas lOOhlllb az A4CA -lliuSCu ~
her startled appearance and the pleas
ure she did not attempt TO conceal, the
stranger unslung rifle from his back
and rested ii on the ground.
do you think" he asked, that l
could stay here all night
III see" And she went into the
house. When she returned to say that
he could have what ne wanted she
found him pouring a fresh pot of water
Oh her plants. which he had been to
the we'll TO bring. \ mother seeing one
feeding her hungry children could not
have been more affected. Indeed, ev-
erything about the stranger tended to
bring the girl under his magical iniu-
ence. Whence comes this young fellow
to sympathiZe with the one delight of
her life? She neither knew nor cared
She only felt his presence.
The huntsman spent the night at the
cabin. There were no rules to govern
the conduct OF the two. and they sat
out on the stoop under the stars till
the moon rose and eclipsed her heaven
~ sisters with her greater splendor.
Tie man had been used TO forms, but
he forgot them now. Only IN hour
elapsed between his arrival and his
first word expressing what both had
felt for that whole hour.
May l have a kiss?" he asked.
He whose manner was that OF Il god
to ask for a kiss from a daughter of
the desert,
In the morning he was gone. 1t
seemed to her that instead Of the sun
rising it had set. oh. that the hunting
grounds had lain near the cabin, But
he had promised to return that way.
She did not question that he would.
She, simply waited and watched and
thought of him till he should come.
One morning she arose, threw open
the shutter and looked out. The sun
was rising, and his first soft morning
rays lent TO the deSolate scene some
thing like beauty. The few trees did
not look so lonely, the uncovered cOuu-
try did not look so barren, now that
the suns light shone through mellow
ing mists But if the orb of day was
rising in the east the sun of the girls
heart was rising in the west. Glanc
ing thither, she saw 1.-the figure step
ping lightly along the road. 1t was the
young stranger, and he carried some
thing in his arms.
When she went downstairs. there on
the stoOp sat the huntsman, and near
him in an earthen pot was a plant-One
that she had never seen before.
when on the line of the railroad"
he said. Il sent TO the city for it. Had
not been waiting l would have re-
turned earlier for TO give you one mo-
ment of happiness is worth more than
all the game in the west"
1T is not in bloom" said the girl.
mo; it will not bloom till l come
again. or, rather, when It blooms again |
l Will come"
They spent one happy day together, |
then the stranger went on. Autumn |
faded into winter A traveller stopped |
ut the cabin one day and, seeing a |
name written on a bit Of wood tied to |
the plant. asked:
Has he been here?"
Yes"
Look out for Aim. little girl; he's q |
heart smasher. Hunts hearts as he |
hunts deer or antelope"
The girl turned pale.
Ibid he give you that aZalea?' asked |
the traveller
Yes. When does IL bloom 2"
IN the early spring"
From that time the girl began to wilt.
It seemed when the winter was passing /
out and the azalea began TO take on its
new life that II was drawing its vigor
from its mistress. Before the travellers
arrival she had not doubted that the
civer would come when the plant /
blOomed. Now she felt that he would
never come
One morning a bud opened, then an
other and another. till the aZaIea was In
tIli bloom. emitting a rich odor The
girls vitality fickered as a candle
burns down into its socket Meanwhile
the flowers dropped away. One even
ng she went out 10 sprinkle her plants.
Carrying the water exhausted her
strength. But one flower remained.
She stopped to inhale its odor and fell.