The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1908-11-21

! .'ith brambies a1l huckleberry bush
es, with here and there stunned
| tree to break the monotony. He
| slowed his bicycle as he drew near,
| looking at the su-all square dwelling,
with its whitewa ed fence and green
! shutters, and a tiny unpainted barn
at the back, AMI little patch Of cult
yated ground in which. between rows
| Of bsan-poles and cabbages. he could
ree the moving nuttar of a woran's
skirt. She h her back toward hi.
STOPPING to gather something She
urned as he opped at the gate. and
he could zee her hands full OF green
leaves and early roots.
Can you tel me-" he began, dis
mounting. and then paused as he saw
her coming toward him. When she
moved some; ng about her struck
him ins, aHtly as incongruous-he
could not have told what. She was
young and should have been pretty.
but that her hair was strained back
too tightly from her face. giving her
look OF plainness.
I'm going to ask you" he began
aeain plea antly, as she came near,
TO let me have drink at your pump
and then put me on the right road for
Allentown"
Directly she spoke the incongruity
resolved itself. She had the voice Of
| his own native city. cleay-cut. edu-
| Gated.
This is the Allentown road" she
said, and won't you come In. please?
| The pump is just around at the side"
! She held open the unlatched gate
and he leaned his wheel against the
| fence and followed her in There was
a tin d.pper turned upside down on
the pump top; he filed 1t and drank.
The water tasted good after seven
miles OF dusty riding.
While he was drinking he observed
her again. There was a curious rest
| lessness in her face, a look at once
eager and disappointed. 1t was the
| expression that comes to those who
| have watched empty roads for long
time. He glanced at her hands. They
were earth-stained and squared AT the
| finger-tips by outdoor work. and they.
too, had the same nervous lines, the
same tired wistfulness
Il suppose it's very hot riding, she
said as he set the dipper down.
"Scorching."
He glanced about him at the tidy
| garden patch, with its lines OF beans
and tomatoes, few summer ANIMALS
blooming here and there among the
sober green and brown-phlox and
marigolds and nasturtiums.
You have a nice garden here" he
said
Yes. It's very quiet
She hesitated moment. then said
! Allentown is eight miles from here.
Won't you come into the house and
have some tea before you go on2 was
| just going to make it.
He looked al his dusty boots.
Il am alone Just now" she said
quickly. And It is so quiet here-no
one ever comes. One is so glad to see
| anybody"
! He murmured some vague thanks
as she turned abruptly. ayerting her
head. and followed her up the little
trodden path to the open door 1t was
two-room cottage, with little lean
to shed at the back, built for sum-
mer kitchen
! Il know It's unmanneTly asking
you in like this. but you don't mind,
do you? and wefe quite strangers, so
| ii doesn't matter. One so seldom sees
guests here that one likes to make the
most of them" She laughed. and he
| could read the nervous restlessness in
her voice. the hunger born of mo-
notony. Wont you pull that chair
up?-that's right Do you take sugar?
It's such an age since poured out tea
for Anyone."
There was almost a defiance in her
| friendliness, her frankness, her reck-
| less eagerness to make the most of
this chance hours companionship She
ate scarcely anything herself; all the
time she was watching him. listening
to him, chatting in quick, detached
way about one thing and another
She offered him melon and brown
bread and butter. Gradually there
grew up for him In her face, her
manner. something quantity childish.
infinitely pitiful. All the loneliness Of
her life spoke to him wistfully, tenta
lively, in this room with its unhome-
ike furnishing, its air Of emptiness
When he had finished she still kept
! pressing him to take more. His hand
moved unthinkingly to his coat pock-
ct, and she noticed the gesture in
stantly.
Yes. do smoke; l wish you would >
He lit his pipe.
DO you live here all the year
round?" he asked.
Yes. Summer and winter"
Not alone?"
She flushed very slightly. my
husband is away to-day. He is up in
the city. Generally he is at home. ]
o,c,aact hin, hack in hour