The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1905-08-10
oua. mysterious 7afection in her

proud. mysterious afertion in her
| voice.
.,oh, not those." she exclaimed de-
preeatingIy, then hesitated, but meb-
| be you'll not care TO see them" she
Went on timidly. ''Mebbe I'm just
keepin' you here and trim you out with
my old tongue" She shaded her faded
eyes with one hand and peered up at us
wfstfully. Satisfied, she turned and led
the way around back of the 'dobe.'
There was a level space about TWEEN
ty feet square between the 'dobe' and
the hill, a spot that evidently had been
tended with the greatest care. Yet the
only living things on 1t were two slen-
| der trees right in the middle. They
were like nothing we had ever seen be-
fore. The tall stems were silver
against the dizziness of the hill. Large
heart-shaped leaves hung in clusters of
shimmering green, dancing, throwing
tremulous shadow patterns on the
smooth, gray soil. Rising back of them
was the steep with it's hostile cactus,
| its sage, its misshapen rocks; to the
east the leprous white of the plain. In
all the absolute desolation there was
only the whisper of the leaves of these
alien trees.
Amy speech that might have come to
our lips was arrested by the look on the
woman's face. The old sunbonnet had
fallen back, and the sunlight, purified
by it's fall down through the foliage,
cast soft shadows on her wrinkled Wis
age, turned in grotesque and mute
alteration upon the slender shafts.
At last she remembered US, and with
deep drawn breath included us in her
gaze. These are the trees I meant
! she said slowly. "They are called The
trees by the gate of heaven" she re
peated, and then, with apparent irrele-
vance, continued: Twas twelve
years ago this month, yet can remem-
ber's if it was yestidday, he came"
| "Who came?" some tone of us asked.
why, the party I'm going to tell you
about, the one that brought me the
trees. He came draggin' along the
road one evenin' just as the sun set, n
anted to know if I could take ham in
over night. Though 1 must tell you
| honest, says he, that I've no money
| left, and don't know whensI can pay
you for your hospitality Seems like
| he'd been a sailor all his life till he got
sick in his lungs. Then when he was
too weak to work they wouldn't have
him any more, He'd heard bout how
good it was for persons sick like he
was, an he was tryin' t get there.
But some way he got lost in the alkali,
and wandered around till he was near
| dead. But at last he lit on a trail that
brough him here.
''He was gentle spoken party but I
was that lonesome ia ha' been glad to
see him, anyhow. fixed him up the
| best supper l could though Lord knows
it wasn't much had for him, and then
all even we talked, Il almost cried to
hear some one talk again. told him
about Joe and how lonely ia been since
he died, and how the name they called
1t over n the. valley had kept ha'ntin'
me till knew 1t was worse than any
hell. I'd never breathed word of 1t to
any Twin creature before, but knew
from the first this party d understand.
He didn't say much, TO be sure, but he
listened real sympathetic. Then he got
to talkin' bout other things, the places
he'd been, an The things he'd seen, till
my mind was all offsmy troubles, n 1
found myself chcersd up wonderful.
N that night when l went to bed for
got / was Twin in Joe Carolrs Hell
and dreamed of walkln' in cool woods
an lookin through the branches at
blue lakes. All night / dreamed i
heard the ocean like y did when l was
little in Maine.
Next mornin at sunrise he said he
must be movinh on. How I did hate to
see him go N he shook hands goodby
and saw how bad felt He looked at
me sort of pityin' like. I'm thinkin','
he says, that maybe 7 won't live to pay
you back for takin' me in so kindly
Then he stopped sort of sudden and
commenced fumblin in. his bundle, but
his hands was shakin' so it took him
long time to get it undone.
SAT last he pulled out sOmethin' and
put it in my hand. 1t was two black
seeds, shaped like a bean, only three
times bigger. He'd got 'em over seas,
he said, in one of them strange coun-
tries.
d." I've been keepin' 'em' says he till
/ found place 1 thought needed 'em
more than any other spot of earth. And
" found it now he says, lookin'
around with a sort of shiyer, If you'll
plant these he says, and tend EN- like
they was children of yours I'm hopen
they'll make up to you for your kind
ness to me- 2s. l
"With that he said good-by. and
started off toward the pass. walkin' SO
slow and feeble mistrusted he'd new
err get to the place he was goin. Sud-
denly 1 remembered hadn't thanked
him nor asked hif what them seeds
would be so / called after him.
"He turned slowy and stopped for
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