The Dolores star., 1909-05-07

"Did You Ever Live In the Country? I"
lated in the forbid ling winter months.
They showed their enthusiasm by play
ing bare-armed. as IL already 1t were
the height Of summer.
AS the buggy rolled noiselessly
along. Vernon and Miss Greene were si.
lent; the spell Of the spring was on
them. To their right rolled the prai.
ries. that never can become mere
fields. however much they be titled or
fenced. The brown earth. with its
tinge of young green here and there,
or its newly plowed clods glistening
and steaming In the sun. rolled away
like the sea. Far on. standing out
black and forbidding against the hori-
zon. they could see the ugly buildings
Of a coal shaft; behind. above the
trees that grew for the city's shade.
the convent lifted its tower, and. above
all. the gray dome of the State House
reared itself dominating the whole
scene. The air shimmered in the haze
OF spring. Birds were chirping in the
hedges; now and then a meadow-lark
SPA ~Ao hi'o ehS OIL anu hC0s yIuk OuI
Its strange staccato song as II
skinned the surface OF the prairies.
Vernon Idly snapped the whip as he
drove along: neither of them seemed
to care to speak. Suddenly they
heard distant. heavy thud. The
earth trembled slightly.
whats that" said Miss Greene. In
some alarm. 1T couldn't have been
thunder"
NO" said Vernon. "it was the min.
ers. bl-sting."
"Where"
Down In the ground underneath
u.s."
She gave him a strange look which
he did not comprehend. Then she
turned and glanced quickly at the black
breakers Of the coal shaft. half a mile
away; then at the golf-players.
DO the mines run under this
ground" she asked. sweeping her
hand about and including the links in
her gesture.
Yes. all over here. or rather under
here" Vernon said. He was proud Of
lis knowledge Of the locality. He
-hought II argued well that legislator
should be informed on all questions.
Maria thought a moment, then she
,aid:
THE golfers above, the miners be-
'ow."
Vernon looked at her in surprise.
The pleasure of the spring had gone
out of her eyes.
Drive on. please she said
There's no danger" said Vernon,
reassuringly. clucking at his horse
and the beast flung up its head In
spasmodic burst of speed, as livery
stable horses will. The horse did not
have to trot very far to bear them
away from the crack OF the golf balls
and the dull subterranean echoes of
the miners blasts, but Vernon felt
that cloud had fioated all at once
over this first spring day. The woman
sitting there beside him seemed to
withdraw herself to an Infinite dis.
tance.
You love the country" he asked,
feeling the need of speech.
Yes" she said. but she went no
farther.
And you once lived there?
Yes" she said again. but she vouch-
safed no more. Vernon found a deep
curiosity springing within him; he
longed to know more about this young
woman who in all outward ways
seemed to be just like the women he
knew. and yet was SO essentially diff
ferent from them. But though he tried,
he could not move her to speak of her
own life or its affairs. At the last he
said boldly:
Tell me. how did you come to be
a lawyer?"
Miss Greene turned to meet his in.
quisitive gaze.
How did your" she asked.
Vernon cracked his whip at the
road.
Well" he stammered. .T don't
know. ! had to do something"
$50 did l." she replied.
Vernon cut the lazy horse with the
whip. and the horse jerked the buggy
as it made its professional feint At
trotting.
Il did not care to lead q useless
life" he said. Il wanted to do some