Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1906-11-02
CHAPTER XVIII.

put it thus.
Raymond received the announcement,
OF her plan with outward composure
though he said sadly: Now that
know more about your life in the east
am not SO sure can make you hap
py. even with a million. I've lost my
ambition to be rich, for what could j
give you, who have had everything
am going to flee to my mountain
I can't bear to see you take the train
and will not say goodby. ! will wait
as patiently as can TIL you send FOL
me, and II you feel that you-that l
am not fitted to make you happy /
will not complain" And they parted
with only clasp of hands.
On the journey eastward Ann had a
great deal Of time to think, and the
farther she descended upon the plain
the more certain 1t seemed that she
was leaving it all behind Raymond.
the good Barnetts and all-and sad.
ness which lay beyond tears seized up
on her. She felt, too, that Louis was
growing out of her life. He would
soon be man in the world of men.
However, she approached New York
on q glorious morning in May, and the
North river was glitterlng spread Of
leaping wavelets tossed into the sun
light by a brisk southwesterly wind,
and her spirits rose with a bound.
The morning was deliciousiy cool and
very brilliant with sunlight, and as she
rolled through Madison square and en-
tered upon the lower avenue the girls
throat filed with sob OF joy. The
generous, good mountains had not
merely lured her to themselves, teach
ing her to love them, they had restored
her sanity and the power to enjoy the
CLINT of sunbeams anywhere in the
world. She was elate, throbbing with
recovered love Of life, with the regain
ed joy Of being young, and, best of all,
she found herself looking back each
moment with undiminished affection
to the high peaks. Into this moment Of
elation the thought Of her mother In
truded with chilling effect.
The complete lack of sympathy be-
tween mother and daughter dated from
t Fhaa aaY 0s be- birth for she had meyer
she could speak paid servants and
teachers guided her In feminine ways.
The cold and smileless woman who
gave her birth was being Of another
world No caresses were ever invited
by the mother, and none was ever Of
fered by the child. Even the compan-
ionship Of the gentle, impulsive father
was cut short or interdicted altogether
during melancholy periods by his wifs's
exacting demands. !.
When Louis came the father revolt
ed, refusing to be forever at the whtm
Of his wife. He gave up attendance
upon her and devoted himself to the
children. This. Ann afterward recall
ed, was the beginning Of her mothers
morbid seclusion. Then came board
ing school. from which she was called
to receive her fathers last words. and
these admonitions, gently spoken, with
sad sweetness Of tone, like the dying
hum Of bell, she had never forgot
ten. She had been mother to Louis,
and she was coming back now with
the consciousness Of a duty well per-
formed, but as she approached the
towering wall Of the great apartment
hotel in which her mother made her
home she lost courage. and the resolu-
ton she had made to forget their DIFF
fereaces and to cepnde her perplexi-
ties died away.
Mrs. Allard received her In bed read
ing she was forever reading useless
books-and impassively said What an
unearthly hour to arrivel'
Ann took her lax hand and bent and
kissed her chill lips. How are you
feeling. mother7" abe asked tenderly.
Miserable. and Mr.. Allard 10 away
as usual" she replied, with bite,
frown. "Your letters were very few
very unsatisfactory. Why did you moi
return sooner2, = 4, ~ = :.
Instantly Ann's old feeling Of suller
anger and resentment resurged IKE /
tide and threatened to bury al hsl
good resolutions. but she struggled viii
and rose above her resentment and said
gently; ~ didn't intend to neglect my
duty. I wrote as often''
Her mother interrupted her as sht
entered upon more extended conn
dence. go to your room and batht
and get your breakfast. We will tall
over Louis extraordinary plans,aftsr
ward" II
sThe interview with her mother wa
| quite as painful as Ann had feared
She began by demanding to know VIII.
Louis was not with her, and when Anr
Fe-explained bluntly that he would MOI
come Mrs, Allard looked at her daugh
ter In cold silence for full minute
and then said: There Is something
about you that l don't understand
You look well, but Louis should come
home. That climate doesn't agree witt
him.
sOn the contrary, his illness is due t,
bis own righteousness In riding vi
into the mountains without sufficien
clothing"
Whats the meaning Of this talk o
his about buying a miner"
Ann explained this as patiently a.
she could, and when Mrs. Allard con
temptuously said, .IIe shall do nothin,
Of the kind" Ann broke out:
Mother, you don't seem to under
! stand that Louis Is no longer a chill,
and that he is growing very Difficult
70 uiilnusa ! nseil nv hast n0Maks I