Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1909-11-11

mouth. .An'-an'-now | amt no tceti
at all. an him a-comin' after all thes,
years. It's 4 long time to be in prison
an that's why l want the rug, 'caus.
it's SO bright In cheerful. an he hahn,
seen nothin' very cheerful all these
years. Dut-but l must have the teeth
! had the money for them, too. but
they'll only send him to Cincinnati
where he went up from, so I'll have
to send the money for the rest of the
way. | must have the teeth" wiring.
ing her hands unconsciously while the
sunkcn lips quivered and the. tears
tricklcd down the yellow checks. 81
must have the teeth-an'-an' don't
know what to do.
"They sent him up fer fifty years.
It's Il long time for KILN Il man that
egged him on to dom it, an he was
young an hot headed then. We'd only
been married four year, an we was
JUS gettin' q nice little start, but"
with a dry sob, 81 know 1t seems silly
to YOU fer an old woman to care how
she looks, but it's for him; it's to
please him"
The man walked quickly to the Win
dow.
A woman true for thirty years. A
woman who would not lie. A woman
whose love had grown with suffering,
A woman with clear brown eyes like
He bowed his head in his hand Il mo-
ment, and when he raised it the light
of joy that shone through the mist was
like the sun behind an April cloud.
1--WE can't take back the rug" he
said, but here" quickly writing on
his card. sis the address of my dentist.
Go to him. He will make your teeth.
and I will stand good for them. Now
promise me that you will go today"
mo, no." she said. breaking into
tears. 81 amt nothin' to you, an l
can't let you do that. God bless you.
1 amt never taken nothin' yet but
what l earned. l wouldn't feel honest
in dom this, for 1 wuzn't tryin' to get
help, only to have the rug taken
back"
"You must,' he said firmly. "You
ear pay me back; you can pay it a lit
tie at q time. Will you be generous
and do this to please me?' And he
looked into her face With a winning
smile.
God is good" she answered broken
ly, the weary old face lighting with a
great JOY. II know you mean what
you say, an I'll pay you ever cent JUS
as soon as l can. You don't know
what this means to me-" breaking into
helpless sobs, "for-for l want to look
rs good as 1 can for John"
That evening a girl with clear brown
her lap, her lips in wistful curve. Sud
denly she started. q flush came to her
cheeks. n warm light to her eyes.
With a cry of Joy she sprang to her
feet and held out her hands to him.
With no words he caught her to him
and kissed her with a passion Of love;
then. putting his hand under her chin,
he held her face so he could look into
her eyes ard said slowly:
"If l was sent to prison for thirty
years. would you love me. be true to
me and kiss me after those thirty
years with the same gladness you do
now"
II don't know she answered hest
tatingly.
You don't know?"
mo. How could I? l love you so
much think l could love you always.
But how can l tell? Oh" her face
flushing scarlet, "what am l saving?
1 an telling you love you, and-you
have never yet said you loved me.
And you cannot or you wouldn't have
left me for a month with no word,
ven to tell me why"
you know l love you, though" he
said-"love you so much I was afraid
OF it. And 1 am happier to hear you
say that you can't tell whether you
would Big true to me or not than for
an assurance to come tripping off your
tongue. 1t wasn't you, darling. but
your sex, that has almost robbed me
OF my happiness. But one little old
woman has redeemed all your sex for
you and brought me to you again. For
Gods sake, eve lie to me, Cleta!'
She looked at him with tender wom-
anly pity.
"Poor boy!!' she said softly. You
have seen the one side so long you for
get how many sides there are to an
octagon. Because from millions of
women a few hundred come to you
with lies on their lips must you con-
denim all womankind? No. no. my
dear; you must not condemn women,
for every noble man is mostly what
his mother has made him. While wo-
men have their weaknesses, they
are
.Krha linht Of naan,a nfoi,, Lo a.iaa