The Lake County times., 1907-03-05

inquiries of their offspring. The men
impaired largely gloom to the itin-
Grant concourse, most of them wearing
NOT long black coats and having wilt
ea their collars, the ladies relieving
.nis gloom somewhat by the lighter
'inlS or their garments, the spick and
span httle girls relieving 1T greatly by
.HeiI Whlte dresses and their faces. the
i1''er bright with the hope of Sunday
loe cream, while the boys, experiencing
0Olne soiace in that they were finally
11 "Hefe person could at least
sclatch himself If he had TO. vet on
pressed by the decorous necessities or
the day, marched along fDrti1-aIv
pianning behind imperturhsbIv soo-c.
tive countenances varions ,,,,,.,- -
the later dispersal of an odiops -
ony. Aiionot-
Usually the conversation Of +b,s ,onu
string of the homeward bound was
not too frivolous or worldly. Nov. -
properly inclined to discussion of tba
sermon. nc
1t was serious and seemly SUNDAY
parade, the propriety Of whose hoba
vior was today almost disintagro+od
when the lady of the bridge walked mn
| the street In the shadow Of lacy Law
ender parasol carried by joseph Ion
den. The congregation of the church
across the square-that to which Joa,s
stepaunt had been late-was just de-
bouching, almost in mass, upon Main
street when these two went by. It ia
not quite the truth to say that all ex-
cept the children came to a dead halt.
but it is not very far from it. The air
was thick with subdued exclamattons
and whisperings.
| Here is no mystery. Joe was prob
ably the only person of respectable
derivation in Canaan who had not
known for weeks that Ariel Tabor was
On her way home. And the news that
she had arrived the night before had
been widely disseminated on the way
to church, entering church, in church
(eyen sob and coming out of church.
An account Of her house in the Ave
nue. Henri Martin and of her portrait
In the Salon-a mysterious business to
many and not lacking in grandeur for
that-had occupied two columns In
the Tocsin on a day some months be-
fore when Joe had found himself in
imically headlihed on the first page
and had dropped the paper without
reading further. AriePs name had
been in the mouth Of Canaan for a
long time-unfortunatel for Joe, how
ever. not in the mouth OF that Canaan
which held converse with him.
Joe had not known her. The wom-
en- recognized her infallibly at first
glance, even those who had quite for
gotten her. And the women told their
men; hence the un-Sunday-like de-
meanor of the procession, for few
towns hold it more unseemly to stand
and stare at passersby, especially on
the Sabbath. But Ariel Tabor return
ed-and walking with-with Joe Lou
denl
Ariel flushed little when she per-
ceived the extent of their conspicuous
ness, but 1t was not the blush that Joe
remembered had redeemed the tanned
skin of old, for her brownness had
her merely pink and white This waD
a delicate rosiness rising from her
cheeks to her temples, as the earliest
dawn rises. If there had been many
words left in Joe he would have called
1t divine blush. 1t fascinated him.
and if anything could have deepened
the glamour about her it would have
been this blush. He did not under
stand it, but when he saw it he stun
bled
Those who gaped and stared were
for him only blurs in the background.
Truly, he saw 'men as trees walk
Ing" and when it became necessary to
step out to the curb in passing some
clump Of people it was to him as If
Ariel and he, enchantedly alone, were
working their way through underbrush
In the woods.
He kept trying to realize that this
lady of wonder was Ariel Tabor. but
he could not. He could not connect the
shabby Ariel, whom he had treated as
one boy treats another, with this young
woman Of the world. He had always
been embarrassed himself ana ashamed
Of her when anything she did made
him remember that, after all, she was a
girl, as on the day he ran away when
she kissed a lock of his hair escaping
from the bandage. With that recellec-
tien even his ears grew red. It did
not seem probable that 1t would ever
happen again. The next Instant he
heard himself calling her Miss Ia
bor."
At this she seemed amused 'You
ought to have called me that years
ago." she said, ''for all you knew me-"
Il did know her-you, I mean" he
answered. II used to know nearly
everything you were going to say be-
fore you said it. 1t seems strange /
now
Yes" she interrupted, at does seem
strange now"
Somehow" he went on, 81 doubt If
now I'd know"