The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1909-03-28

| Its my first party dress, you know,
| and I'm as proud of it as Molly Is OF
! her rubber boots. It's too big in here
and too small right there. That girl
must have had a bad chest. But 9th
erwise it fits me as If it had been
! made for me, doesn't it? And the
shoes-aren't they the dearest things
Seew She held her skirts back, show
ing her two feet side by side. her
dainty ankles slim and shapely in their
silk.
"They don't wear as we'll as mecca
SINS" Both laughed delightedly till he
broke in impulsively:
"Oh. girl. don't you know how beau
tiful you are?'
"Of course do" she cried. initiating
| his change of voice, then added naive
| ly, THAT'S why l hate to take it off,"
"Where did you learn to wear things
like that?" he questioned. "Where did
| you get that-well, that air?'
"It seems to me I've always known.
There's nothing strange about it. The
buttons and the hooks and the eyes are
all where they belong. It's instinct. l
suppose. from fathers side
Probably. l dare say l should un-
derstand the mechanism of dress
suit, even if I'd never seen one" said
the man, amused. yet impressed by
her argument.
1--WE always lad visions of women
dressed in this kind Of clothing, white
women, never natives, not dressed like
this exactly, but in dainty. soft things,
not at all like the ones l wear. l seem
to have memory, although it's hardly
that either: it's more like a dream, as
if l were somebody else. Father says
it is from reading too much"
"A memory Of what?"
Its too vague and tantalizing to tell
what it is. except that l should be
called Merridy"
'Merridy? Why thar?"
''I'll show you. See" She slipped her
hand inside the shawl and drew from
her breast a thin gold chain on which
was strung band ring. ut was
grandmother's. That's where got the
fancy for the name Of Merridy, I sup
pose"
"May look?'
"Of course. But daren't take it Off.
! haven't had it Oft my neck since ]
was a baby" She held it out for him
to examine. and, although it brought
his head close to hers, there was no
trace of coquetry in the invitation. He
read the inscription, From Dan to
Merridy," but had no realization of
what it meant. for he glimpsed the
milk white flesh almost at his lips and
felt her breath stirring his hair. while
the delicate scent of her person seem
ed to loose every strong emotion in
him. She was SO dainty and yet so
virile, SO innocent and yet so wise. SO
cold and yet so pulsating.
at is very pretty" he said namely.
At the look in his eyes as he raised
his head her own widened, and she
withdrew from him imperceptibly. dis
missing him with mere infection.
81 wish you would send Poleon here.
It's time he saw his present"
AS Burrell walked out into the air he
shut his jaws grimly and muttered:
Hold tight. young man. She's not
your kind-she's not your kind"
Inside the store he found Doret and
the trader in conversation with a man
he had not met before. a ragged non
descript whose Overalls were blue and
faded and patched, particularly on the
front of the legs above the knees.
where shovel handle wears hardest;
whose coat was Of yellow mackinaw.
the sleeves worn thin below the ell
bows, where they had rubbed against
his legs in his work. AS the soldier
entered the man turned on him a
small, shrewd, weather beaten face
with one eye while he went on talking
to Gale.
ut amt nothin' to git excited over,
cussed unlucky I'd know there was a
pay streak som'ere close by"
"Your luck is bound to change, Lee"
said the trader, who helped him to roll |
up a pack Of provisions.
"Mebbe so. Who's the dressmakerT
He jerked his bushy head toward Bur-
rell, who had stopped at the front !
door with Poleon to examine some yell
low grains in a folded paper.
Hes the boss soldier"
"Purty, amt he"
eff you amt good he'll get you,"
said Gale, a trife cynically, at which
Lee chuckled.
The one eyed man sported derisive-
ly. 1T amt with considerin'!'
"Why not?" insisted Gale guardedly.
"Maybe I've got a record. You don't
know"
eff you have, don't tell me nethin'
about it, hastily observed Lee. I'm
God fearin' citizen myself. leanin' ever
toward peace and quietudes. but what's
past is dead and gone, and I'd hate to
see a lispin' child like that blue and
yeller party try to reezureck it."
Hes got the American army to
back him up, at least five Of them"
give agin a hundred. He aims to