Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1905-02-16
q 77
2ett4tfliftq
the Presents
@ So Is ~ "a I IN VI a I'M II
% ~ ARNOLD 00I.sW0RTfIYs
Es% .a1a Gf-$ 49,. IA F;3sA&f. 80 ~ =.

M - = = !: y ". e -: \
ID ~ ARsoID do1swoarzy
CNutll. q MEADOWS sat in the little
IN pS;,sr at the back Of her mothers r
s49p aI.l gazed dispally out into the
gI4ets i 1..ere III eilast brown leaves were
TIL * q rom the lines to the, sosgy
f9olpa.; below, The, scene was not a.
t4zeihsr an unsympathetic one Tor
SSlksel Since she was sad at heart that
dEi misty afternoon. Indeed, there
essigns. that she had been crying;
aM -. ien Sophie cried. her nose grew,
Wy red indeedf and a woman wall not
i4euc, a,cjsk,. of that sort without the
nKas Ga lie proTocation. In the 4sprlns
ith ID Ill been so different David Trot-I
I'LL. ~sro managed tn" village -four mill
fdn H.; father, and who was besides a
Most eligible young man IN every way,
bid asked Sophie to: be his wife and
the earth seemed so8fafr to- her then.
The song 81 the skylark had new
meaning for her at that time, and the
swallows nest that was building in the
elves over herss NindoWs d eEeloped, from rom
a great nuisance. into a pleasing and
blessed allegory:;%r Summer had been
spring intensified; and the brightness
Of life had seemed quite dazzling. And
now everything was cherries and damp,
the sun was cold, and the fire of true and
only love had spluttered out and lett
Sophie with a bruised heart and red
nose.
Everybody knew it was Dayid's-that
Is; Mr.. Trotter's-fault; or, at least.
everybody to whom Sophie had men
toned the matter. Sophie's mother had
perhaps not quite grasped the full mean
ing of the awful crisis in her daughters
bright young life The good soul had
even spoken lightly Of it. affecting to
treat it as a mere lovers quarrel, and
that at time when Sophie had been
seriously considering whether she ought
to go into a nunnery or just pine away
and die in the back parlor at home.
Sophie knew for fact that David-or,
rather, Mr.. Trotter-had been seen tlirt-
ing@with Faith Dulker, the creature who
set her cap at everybody. The thing
had been seen in the village; and after
A. likely bit of scandal had gone the
round OF village like Dunstead, it's
own mother would not have recognized
it, at. the finish. David had gone SO far
as TO meet the creature second time
by appointment, and that, of course.
capped his iniQuity. Everybody knows
that~no self-respecting girl can put up
with goings-on like that. 1t would not
have mattered so much if he had ad-
united his error, and had endeayored
to earn forgiveness by fitting display
of coutrition. But David had had the
etfrontery to deny the charge, and had
actually punched young Harper about
dreadfully for just casually mentioning
the matter to circle of friends at the
Blue Anchor { Which Just show you the
true character of people like David
should say, MI. Trotter. And yesterday
Sophie had taken her pen in hand, and
after laboriously studying the diction-
ary so as to be sure that she had got
the long words right, had intimated to
Mr. Trotter in cold and dignitied terms
that all was now over between them.
and he would receive per bearer the
presents he had made her, and hence
forth they were strangers for evermore.
Amen. ~ " 'o 2> ' ~S .' r
Onvother9 days Sophie would have
heen she ping her mother in the shop;
but to-day she could do nothing but sit
and watch the, leaves fall.~ AS it grew
dusk she got up and lit the lamp. There
gas her knitting on the table. The
woolly squares hanging from the
needles Were the foundations of a pair
Of socks that had been intended for
him. Now, of course, they would go to
TIE heaven via the parish church and
tie missionary society. No doubt the
heather would be more appreciative,
though perhaps woollen socks in the
topics might be a little trying to the
untutored savage mind. And then
s'Sophie!" =
ut was "a tie voice Of Mrs. Meadows,
calling from the shop. And a moment
lister the good soul put her head into the
parlor, and added:
fs'Sophie! It's David He's come to
aee you."S So -
SSophie started ito her feet. This was
tie last straw. David that is to say,
Mr.. Trotter-had been given to under,
stand that his presence was no longer
agreeable to her and in spite of that he
had had the effrontery to call upon her
once more.
v%s'Tell him l don't want to see him,
mother she said. AFTER what's APP
pened I don't want to speak to him
again"
MRS. Meadows turned back to her
shop; but before she could repeat the
portentous message, David was already
at the parlor door. Mrs. Meadows smiled
significantly and preceded him into the
room. She was about to retire again.
dtscreetly, when Sophie stopped her i'm
patiently. 800 VI ~.@
"'Don't go, mother" she said. with the
imperiousness of the spoilt child that
she was. 4' t@
David was a big, rosy-cheeked fellow