The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1906-06-07
The Chivalry
of SilaS
BY PHILIP VERRnL MICHELS


say yes, en- settle the whOle SheDany
this mornin', do you?" said he.
The woman was reading n book, She
wet her thumb and turned leaf, read
ing on slowly until paragraph was
finished
"Slas Jud," said she, leaning an ell
bow on the volume TO keep 1t open,
you amt never yit read sir Beverly,
the knight of the Mystic Moore
81 ain't-never."
mo, feared we hadn't. Ye'd be
less pesterfyin' If ye had. How kin
we ruminate on matrimony with me,
an you dom no chivalry deeds?"
81 made Tilly good husband"
"Y-e-s, but where's yer backt one
oozed to since she went?"
He answered with sort of whis'
pered whistle, that conveyed a skele-
ton idea of tune.
why don't we buckle on yer ar
NOR, an fare forth with a chunk OF
my hair-ribbon in yer helmet, an
prove yer waller, If we want me so ter
rible?"
He did not answer. but walked away
silently, and she continued to read.
That same question he had put to her
every week for three months.
Jud was a lorn and a silent man,
who lived apart from other men in
Deer Hollow, and looked indefinitely
forward to a small California farm on
the hillside for a home. He made
his living cutting wood. and even man
aged to save trile against the farm
of the future. For a year now, which
time had elapsed since the death of
his wife, he had spent great many
of his hours in the cabin to which he
now repaired.
At the door he paused and listened.
No sound he heard, but when he had
tiptoed in, curl-haloed head was
raised from bunk, and one large, vic :.
let-colored eye greeted MIN, its mate
being hidden by chubby fist tina.
screwed vigorously around, rubbing
away the few remaining sleep-webs.
Then dear, red-lipped mouth
stretched itself into an o as large as
half-dollar.
TUNED back, papa?" said the own
er of the fist and eye and mouth and
golden hair, and she climbed to the
floor.
Yep, honey-bug." he answered.
cheerfully.
"Baby's dress tored,' vouchsafed the
tot, bringing the garment for inspec-
ton.
Pore III gel, tbs, ha, hal" He took
1t up, jerkeo a needle as large as q
small sword out of the wall, waxed
his linen thread, and sat down to sew
stabbing his fingers now and then
but getting on, nevertheless-after his
kind. The child sat near, her face
in her dimpied hands, looking very
"old-fashioned," and altogether wise
Baby wants mamma" she said al
last, and the utter irrelevancy of thi'
observation seemed not at all apparent
to the man.
What would mamam 40 for baby
Baby sit on her zap, and mamnF
sing"
Having finished the dress and pu
It on her. he took the child up OF
his knee, holding her tenderly agains
!
back and forth as he sang.
The song, which, fortunately, thu
little one preferred of all the vas
repertoire of the mother who was gone
was the only one he knew. After hal
dozen verses of it, the child slippe
away.
Mamma Diet baby sumfin' to eat"
why, en- course, my popsy-wopsl
blossom" So he fetched a bowl o
milk, a can of brown sugar, and som,
strange "mush" from a pail that huns
from a hook over the dying ember
In the fireplace, where he had put i
TO cook before going out. Taking he
once more on his knee, he satisfied
her hunger, Internationally hastenini
matters not little by using a spool
that was large enough to dig potatoe
with.
What else would mamma do TO
baby?" he asked, after the wee appc
title was appeased.
PAY on floor wifi blocks" said she
Down he got on "all fours," build
ing matchless structures with the half
peeled cubes, and giving the most des
perate descriptions of the animals rep
resented therein.
An uneventful week went by. Whe
! Wednesday was come, Silas Jared hir
forth" to do his accustomed wooins
AS he neared the cabin of the Widoy
: Harvey, he saw her leaning, as befor;
on the garden gate, and reading, a
usual, in the famous book of Beverly
He took the place that she left 10
him, saying, after moment:
You don't s'pose you could, anyhow
say No. en- settle the whole sheban
this mornin', do you?"
She was taken OFF her guard con
: pletely; he had never put it that wa
before, Turning red and fumbling tn
book till it shut on her place." sh
: gazed at him blankly.
5 "Ahem-Shas-Si Jud, l meal
g hev' | ever read ye how Sir Beverl
Q slew the demon wolf in The black ca,
arn