Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-11
CHAPTER III.
Rose Hartswick.

brain no longer guided him. When mex.
he could think his legs were flying beneath
him as never before in his life. and he was
hurting down the valley faster than the
winds, which, shrieking In fendish glee.
were chasing him from the Gap. But fast
as he ran he was far in the rear OF TWO
other figures which never once stopped un-
til they arrived, breathless and spent, De-
fore Squire Hartswick's store.
Since Rose Hartswick had come back
from her three years at the seminary the
life of the whole valley somehow had been
changed In the old days she had been
simply one of the valley girls freckled.
sunny-faced tomboy. the leader In every
I.prank and frolic, but she had returned a
full-blown woman, so changed that her
neghbors hardly dared to speak to her.
The little brown chrysalis had turned sud-
denly into magnificent butterfly.
Then all in moment their surprise ana
apprehension vanished, and they awoke to
a new delight. The change was all in the
outward The squire's daughter was still
| one OF them; she was the same Joyous, I'M
spoiled country girl as when she had gone
away. and she was glad to get back, glad
all through and through; for the hills were
home and she had been homesick, she
aVerred, every moment of her stay Her
joyousness had overlooked until the whole
valley had shared it, and the young fellows
had lost their heads like dandelions on
lawn.
But Rose was not girl for lovers There
was about her no slightest trace of sentiment
tality. She had been fortunate in inherftlng
the best traits of both her father and
her mother. From the old squire had come
her active, practical bent her self-reliance
and her instant readiness of resource and
from her mother her tender heart and her
sunny laughing soul. She was girl with
enthusiasms spontaneous and magnetic;
girl who helped her mother because she
liked to do it. girl who was busy all
day and who had no time for lovers. The
anxious SWANS who sighed and stammered
filled her with glee. They seemed to her
nexpressibly funny, and they aroused In
her instantly desire to make them sweat,
to torment and startle and embarrass them
until they were at their wits end. They
were ludicrously in awe of her; never Tor
a moment were they sure OF her next move.
When they began to grow serious she would
laugh until they would blush like girls ana
grow confused and even angry. Ihen, De
fore they could collect themselves or ex-
postulate, she would be off on another tack,
and they could only wonder If all girls were
| like that
| one saw her oftenest in the afternoon.
rafting helter-skelter by a long-geared
mustang which had been her chief crony
since she girl of twelve. She was no
timid rider. 1t was sight to thrill one 10
see her plunge down a mountain road or
to have her sweep in mad career full upon
one around sudden bend. A CHEEKY hail,
a sunny ripple of laughter that made one
feel for an hour afterwards that the world
was good, a clatter of hoofs, and she was
gone. Few there were, young or old, who
would not turn at the sight and follow the
trim figure, rising and falling in perfect
harmony with her mount, until 1t faded in
the distance.
s"Mercy on usr' they would chuckle. that
girl will break her neck galloping in that
crazy way" But they would smile softly,
and the day somehow would seem brighter.
1t became a saying in the valley that if
| one wished to Rose, the surest way was
| to sit beside the road for a few days any
| where within twenty miles OF Hartswick
| Hall.
| This love of horses and of the out-of-doors
had come clearly from her father and he
delighted in 1t. There was not one of all
his trotters, not even the vicious bay stall
lion, but what he allowed her to drive
alone whenever she wished. Though she
the old mans boast that there was no
jockey in the region that he would sooner
trust in critical moment She knew horses
almost by instinct. She loved to break wild
colts and vicious bakers and halter-pullers.
It was a joy to her in battle with q
| stubborn beast. One who knows only the
| type of female who drops the rens and
screams when the horse begins to back
knows little of what is possible. She was
slight Of figure, but she was marvelously
strong in her shoulders and arms And
besides this she feared nothing in the shape
of horse. Never once in her life had she
failed of her purpose or met with an acci-
dent or a setback,
1t was about this time that young Jim
| Farthing began to take a new interest in
| horses Five years before his father had
| given him colt wonderfully dainty little
| creature that he had bid off at a bankrupt
sale, There was good blood In the
| colt, so the owner said. The mother
| had been good for two-eighteen, and
the sire even better. With proper hand-
| ling she ought to develop into wonder, and
Jim had tried hard to give the proper
handling She had from the first been the
passion of the young fellows life. He
had trained her early in the sulky, and
when she was three he had won in hand
some style 2:25 heat. Then had come
the removal to the mountains and small
chance for training trotters. There was a
world of work to do. for the old farm was
a chaos: the little mare had had to find
her exercise on the cultivator and the
horse rake, with occasional trips to Spruce
Creek the nearest railroad station. Thus
1t happened that during the year not one
in the valley not even Squire Hartswick,
who boosted that he could size up any
horse at glance. had seemed to see her
Suddenly, late in January, after he had
seen Rose in full gallop one afternoon on
the Gum Run road, young Jim made the
discovery that his mare had possibilities
as a saddle horse. She needed exercise,
and it would be easier In the mud that
| lay fetlock- deep all the mountain roads.
| to give it without the buggy. There was
| the mail to get. and there We're errands
| to do all up and down the valley
| Rose again. 1t was a Monday after
| noon He had gone to Spruce creek to In
| ouire for his fathers freight, and he had
| cantered up to the station his heart had
| Jumped into his mouth There was no mis-
| taking the supple figure on the platform
| with the agent. She was holding her crop
| jauntily before her, hand on either end
Every detail or dress and posture and ex-
| preston burned into his brain like a fash
| light snap-the glorious wealth of her hair
| under the riding cap, the square set of her
! shoulders, the dainty grace of her coat.
| and even the express on of her eyes as she
| looked up at his approach. He tipped his
| cap automatically and sprang from the
| saddle even before the horse had come
| to fun stop.
..Helloi Glad to see YOU. he called. with
| hearty ring ''Hows this for mud" He
| looked ruefully down over hfs spattered
| clothes,
That's nothing. You ought to ride the
| Sugar Valley road.
| Muddy down there is it,?
Muddy, Why all could see of Ponp
| one time was just his ears" Her spon-
| taneous laugh thrilled young Jim. Before
| he could answer she had turned with sud-
| den change of tone TO the agent.
We'll have the teams down here by