The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-09-09

as she looked up at him and he saw
her pleasant oval face away down In
the shadow cast by her sunbonnet he
gasped with the great JOY that was in
him.
Il been churnin', Enoch." she said,
land 1 thought a drink o. buttermilk
'ud taste good to you"
She took the cover off and handed
the bucket to him.
''Thankee, Miss Mabel" he said and
drank the contents. ITS done me q
heap O good" he added, handing the
bucket back to her. 81 don't know but
one thing that's done me more. good"
whats that?"
your bringin' it to me-"
ooh, that wasn't any trouble" she
said, a slight red coming into her
| cheeks under his gaze.
1T isn't the trouble; it's the disposi-
ton to do it 1 didn't know you'd keer
! so much"
"Oh, sor you out mowin' In the sun,
and thought it nd taste good"
There was a brief silence, which
Enoch ended
Il wished I owned a small farm o.
my own"
81 wished you die, Enoch, for your
sake"
| This was not all the truth. She wish
/ ed for the farm for her own sake as
we'll as Enoch's. Then she might be
the housewife. Would she be the
housewife? Enoch had never made
love to her. The view Enoch took OF
1t was that she wished it for his sake
alone. He thought he would never
have a farm, and without one he had
no business to make love to girl who
would likely some day inherit one. He
gathered up the reins.
I'm much obliged for the butter
milk he said
''It wasn't any trouble" she replied
mechanically and, turning. with dis
appointed look on her face, went back
over John Barleycorn's slain soldiers
and through his waving forces that
stood still defiant Long before she
reached the house she again heard the
monotonous rattle of the moving ma
chine. Somehow the pleasure she had
taken in 1t had gone out of It. Enoch
| had said nothing to warrant this
change of feeling. She had drawn an
inference from his manner.
Enoch finished cutting the wheat
that day and received his wages The
next he was gone without bidding Ma
bel goodby.
Ten years passed, and Mabel owned
the farm. She managed it herself,
though she hired the work done for
her. One season there were no hands
to be hired, and when the wheat
ripened she started out with the ma
chine to cut It herself 1t was just
such a morning as that on which she
had had her last talk with Enoch
Quill. A mamie looked like tramp
stopped In the road and leaned over
the fence near which she was driving.
WANT any hired helpT he asked
Mabel drew rein and looked at him
some time before replying. Her fea-
lures were shaded by her sunbonnet. r
Seems TO me-" she said, that a
strong man like you ought to own a
farm Of his own and not go worktn'
for other people"
/
cheated. Bad title and bad crops"
These were few words, but they told
| a story. After q pause the woman
asked:
'-How much you want?'
Anything you like to pay"
swell, come in here and take hold"
The man went to work, and the wo-
/ ha xvn Tfeald n
the house. After awhile, when the
sun was getting hot and the hired
hand was getting thirsty, he saw her
coming with a tin bucket
'T been churnin'," she said Would
you like some buttermilkT
The man raised the bucket to hts
lips with a trembling hand Ten
years ago." he said, Il TUX drink o.
butter1niIk, and Pve never forgot It"
"And amt forgot givin' it to you"
~You know me?'
ct knew you the minute saw you
feantn' on the fence"
Il went away to git farm. I want
ed to put you on It"
81 thought you didn't want me-"
Il did"
There was a pause. The woman
stopped and picked up a spear OF
| wheat
We'll" she said presently, ~there's
no use ryin' TO git farm seein' there's
one here"
And that's the end Of the story.
8. A. mitchell.