Daily Arizona silver belt., 1909-05-15
CHAPTER ".

|lf~l HE blare of the circus band hat |RU been s0restemptation. to Man |I dy Jones all afternoon ant evening. Again and again f
 had dragged her from her work to th.
 study window. from which she could
 see the wonders so tantalizingly near
 Sfandy was housekeeper for the Rev
 John Douglas, but the unwashed sup
 per dishes did not trouble her as she
 watched the numbering elephants, the
 restless Hons, the long necked giraffes
 and the striped zebras that came and
 went in the nearby circus lot. And
 yet, in spite of her own curiosity. she
 could not forgive her vagrant worse
 half" Hasty. who had been lured from
 duty early In the day. She had once
 dubbed him Nasty in a spirit of deri.
 sion. and the name had clung to him.
 The sarcasm seemed doubly appropri-
 ate tonight. for he had been away ! since 10 that morning. and 1t was now
 past 9.
 | The young pastor for time had en-
 joyed Mandy's tirades against her bus
 band. bur when she began calling shrilly out of the window to chance
 acquaintances for news of him he slip
 ped quietly Into the next room to fin-
 ish tomorrow's sermon. Mandy renew
 ed her operations at the window with
 increased vigor when the pastor had | gone. She was barely saved from pitching headf0remost Into the lot by | the timely arrival of Deacon Strongs
 daughter. who managed with difficulty
 to connect the excited woman's feet
 with the floor.
 "Foh de LOT sakew Mandy gasped
 as she stood pantlng for breath and
 blinking at the pretty. young. apple faced Julia. "I was suah most gone dat time" Then followed another out burst against the delinquent Nasty.
 But the deacon's daughter did not hear. Her eyes were already wander Ing anxiously to the lights and the tin sel of the little world beyond the win- dow.
 This was not the first time today ku0t N1uuuy udu kOuuu uttSeiI IdIklUX to space. There had been steady stream of callers at the parsonage since II that morning. but she had long ago confided to the pastor that she suspected their reasons.
 "Dey comes In here a-trackin' up my foors," she said. 'an' a-askln' why you don't stop de circus from a-show- In nex' to de church an den a-cranin' dar necks out de winder till can't get no hOusework done."
 That's only human nature" Doug las had answered. with laugh. but Mandy had declared that she knew an- other name for 1t and had mumbled something about "hypocritters' as she seized her broom and began to sweep imaginary tracks from in front of the door.
 Many times she had made up her mind to let the next caller know just what she thought of "hypocritters." but her determination was usually weakened by her still greater desire to excite increased wonder in the faces of her visitors.
 Divided between these two inclina- tions. she gazed at Julia now. The shining eyes of the deacon's daughter and she launched forth into an eager description of how she had just seen "wonde'ful striped ana mule" with a .'pow'ful long neck walk right out of the tent" and how he had come apart afore her very eyes" and . two men had slipped right out of his lnsjAes." Mandy was so carried away bJ her own eloqucnce and so busy showing Julia the sights beyond the window that she did not hear Miss Perkins, the thin Tipped spinster. who entered. followed by the Widow Will dragging her seven-year-old | son Willie ny the hand. Il
 The women were protesting because 1 heir choir practice of What Shall the Harvest BeT' had been interrupted by he unrequested accompaniment of the 'hoochee coochee'' from the nearby cir us band
 Its scandalous!" Miss Perkins snap Jed. "Scandalous! And somebody | ought to stop It. She glanced about with an unmistakable air of grievance 1t the closed doors. feeling that the pastor was undoubtedly behind one of hem when he ought to be out taking lctlon against the things that her soul Dominated.
 Well. I'm sure I've done all that ould." piped the widow. with a meek. air. She was always mar yred. She considered 1t an appropri- te attitude for widow. He can't blame me if the choir is out of key to- morrow"
 Mercy mel interrupted the spinster. If there isn't Julia Strong a-leaning ight out of that window a-looking at he circus, and her pa deacon of the hurch, and this the house of the pas or! It's shocking! must go to her" Ma. let me see. too." begged Willie s he tugged at his mothers skirts.
 Mrs. Willoughby hesitated. Miss 'erkins was certainly taking long while for her argument with Julia.