Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1909-10-14
(Copyright. by j. B. Lippincott COP

a time'sdbftened bandana; then b
gazed down mn, the freshly heape
mound, white under its quilt of call
and lauristinas flowers.
Anne was a good wife, he said
brokenly. 'She took good care OF
me in all the three years that we lived
together"
A half-dozen men, awkward in their
seldom-used best clothes, were un
hitching teams from the scrub oaks in
the little cemetery. A group of WON
en- closed around the mourner. Their
sympathy opened the font of his tears
Anne was good wife," he repeat.
ed; "and the housell seem empty
empty as mud-dauber's nest in July
Instinctively his gaze turned ia
Emmeline Riggs and dwelt there, de.
manding pity. 1t was Emmeline who
had been his early love. That was
in the days before Martha, the first
wife, or Cordelia, the second; it was
Emmiline's ommiseration-her Gin
namon bread and lemon pies-that
had turned his widowhoods into pc
RODS of mitigated mourning.
Man is of few days and full OF
trouble" he quoted, his eyes again on
the mound He cometh forth like a
flower and is cut down" A gulping
sob interrupted the obituary. Anne
knew that-she knew the enduring
strength of women folks 1t was
Anne who fumigated trees when the
orchard got the black scale pest. 1t
was Anne who, when the COW took
down with anthrax" He stopped,
overcome. Il can't go back there
alone!" he cried; Il can't do it,"
Emmeline's eyes radiated compass
sion; she spoke for the company
NO ones planning that you should 2
she said.
The sun slanted shadows to the east
when the teams wound up through
acres of sprogting grain, through an
orchard pink with petals, in the un-
painted house clinging, like barnacle,
to the hill. There were rocks about
the back door; there were more rocks
at the front. In economy Abner Ben
net had selected for the home the one
place where nothing else would grow.
Emmeline's glance drifted comparing
ly from the site to a grass-padded
knoll studded with white oaks: then
she thought of the three WORKOUT
women put away in the cemetery, and
a longing came to avenge them.
1t was Abner who helped her from
the blackboard. At the kitchen door
he laid his hand on her sleeve.
"Emmyline," he said, impressively.
"a prudent wife is from the Lord
Anne was prudent. She always used
rubbish for lighting fires and saved
the hardwood for baking. She used
half spoonful OF coffee to a cup, and
the shell of an egg for clearing. II
the pearly gates were ajar to-day and
Anne was to be a-peeking out, I'd like
to have her see things done her way"
Emmeline's eyes narrowed: she
opened her lips and snapped them into
a resolute line.
Within the kitchen a box stood be-
hind the stove. 1t was filled with
dried almond-shucks and corn-husks.
A patched bonnet still hung ON nail
behind the door. On the floor were
three rag mats
Abner tiptoed in. his new shoes ut
tering Sunday squeaks of complaint.
He carried three grain-sacks.
Anne was good wife," he sighed.
But she was little mite extrayagant
in some ways" He got clumsily down
and covered the mats as he added:
1T says in Exodus that all the chill
dren of Israel had light in their dwell.
lings,' but it don't say that they had
rag carpete that'd fade That was
one point where Anne was like a stiff
necked and stubborn generation"
Left alone, Emmeline Riggs stared
ahead of her, with the coffee pot in
her hand. She fancied three patient
faces were watching out of the sha.
dow.
Martha and Cordelia and Anne"
she breathed, hes a close-fisted old
hypocrite, and IL any one of you had
had the spunk of an angleworm you
wouldn't have stood IL. Il was his
first choice, and his second choice,
and his third choice" she said. IF I'm
his fourth choice Ill say Yes and
then you'll see what you'll sect"
Spring came again. II brought back
the mocking bird and the quail. and
long warm twilights full of the scent
Of apple bloom. To Emmeline Riggs
Il brought the end of her sewing. She
finished the last piece and added IL to
the pile on the bed of her sisters
little spare room.
There, you niggardly old skinflint."
she soliloquized: I'm almost ready
Tor you" Then she went to the GENE.
terry. Three mounds, long and thin
and neglected, stretched side by side.
Emmeline bent over them.
Martha and Cordelia and Anne"
she said. aloud, Il want you all TO
know that I'm going to do Just what
any one of you would have done II
you'd had the spunk. I'm going to 20