Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1909-07-08
Az ATIa aGTIVE A.I.TEN.

and had been painting for ~ hour.
lared to the park by tie riotous opu-
fence Of its rhododendrons. 1t occurred
TO Inc wirh irresistible force that il
was time for a smoke, and | laid down
my brush with a yawn. How exquisite
/ y cool it looked under the trees. If
| only
afternoon. sir. Very 'ot day, sir"
| II was Miller, i park custodian and
/ Old acquaintance Of mine.
hot: sighed. Miller, can you
! tell me why I'm not allowed to sit
} Unde~ q traey'
! Miller reflected. Couldn't say, sir.
| Don't seem 10 manner Of sense in IT,"
] he admitted frankly. But it's the
| committee orders. sir
! But even committees, | protested,
/ must have reasons for their actions -
! Mile" appeared to doubt It. Well,
! Il $ like this, sir he said cOuhdenuaily.
| Lne| calls q meeting up in the city,
! ana pFdpS there amt much 70 discuss,
! ali going pretty regular in such park
! rs this, as | need 'ardly tell you, sir.
/ bat committees don't like to feel as
| Ihey amt ADDING anything, sir, an
! that's where we get such rules as this.
! Seems Ike as if they'd make a rule 10
/ close the park rather go home without
/ doing nothing, when nothing don't
| want doing Look 10 them like not be-
! me- a committee, that would.
| With casual glance under the trees
/ ii my vicinity be went his way. 4
! minute or TWO later girl turned the
/ corner OF the path, and came slowly
! toward me. When she reached a little
| group Of chairs almost opposite me she
| paused heslt4ung. Tier eyes traVeIed
| to the cool, shadowed grass beneath the
! nearest tree, and | smiled; 1t was easy
| to guess her thought. Then she clos
| Ell her sunsh8de with a little snap Of
| decision, tucked it and her book under
| one arm and with her free hand
| dragged one Of the iron chairs into the
! shadow OF the tree.
l watched her enviously. 1t was
! clear case OF the ignorance that is bliss.
! In all probability Miller would not re-
! turn for half an hour or so, and how de-
| slrab'e was half an hour Of shade on
! suCn a day! | Stihed an unggnerOus i'm
| pulse to speak to her of park commit
/ tees. and turned back to work. But
( could not .0rGet her-cOuId not help
! locking a. uer. What were the gaudy
/ 3piashes Of co!Or in the. rnOdodeHdrons
! compared with the delicate. elusive
| charm of her face-the lips humorCusly
! curved. cOntradicting the gravity Of her
/ eyes-the firm line Of her chin at war
! with the soft oval Of her cheek? By
! the time | heard Miller,s step on the
| gravel again my only desire was to
! shield her from observation. / entered
him, but it was useless; her white dress
I caught his eye. aud he crossed the path.
Very sorry, Miss" His voice, though
firm. was lot URcompassiOnate. Its
against orders to take the chairs under
the trees"
The girl was reading; she did net look
! up.
Miller quilted the path for the grass.
Sorry to disturb you, Mss he said
ciyilly. il a slightly louder tone. These
chairs amt allowed to be moved.
The girl gave a little start, and her
book fell to her lap. She shook her
head. and made a fnttering gesture
with her hands, smiling 4 little.
Miller looked perpIeXed and turned to
me. Looks as though she was deaf
/ and dumb, he suggested.
] was too much shocked at the idea
10 answer. and watched the girl anx-
I iousIy. Her lips parted, and / motioned
to Miller.
she's going to say something" I
murmured.
'HTot-Eengleesh" came from her lips
Miller Considered. Don't look like a
DarIeyyOO, neither" be threw over his
shoulder to me. Then he crossed the
| Grass to her. From behind my easel
watched 0iscreotly.
Miller tapped the back OF her chair
/ and pointed to the path.
She nodded empha ticany, repeating bis
movements in explanatory fashion. But
she did not move.
/ Miller scratched bis chin. Il don't
! mean" he said. very dist nelly, where
/ did you take the chair from. miss, but
/ where it's got to be took back"
! She smiled d.sarmingiy, reminding
! him by q little hesitating movement
/ that she could not understand. It was
cert ainly awkward for Miller. / Won
! dered what he would do.
! What he did do was to so back to the
! path and beckon her to follow. / ad-
/ rnired bis resOurCefuluess.
! The girl obeyed his obvious wishes
I wcndaringiy, and then Miller, hurrying
! back returned with the chair and plant
! ed it firmly in its place.
! There you are he said, triumph
! antly Now I reckon you underestimate
! The girl smiled again, making cour-
! teOus gesture of apology.
! Miller left her, swinging down the
! path past me.
a rare lot Of foreigners we get here;
/ soon get used to making EN- under
stand" he explained, with modest PRIDE.
The girl meanwhile had not sat down.
/ She was examining the chair curiOusiy
and with a puzzled look - turning it
! about feeling the seat and back. Pres
! emily with shake Of the head, she left
/ it. and walked 10 the next one. But
she did not sit down on 1t, and share
/ with me the sUltry heat of the shadow
! less path. Before my astOnisbed eyes
! she picked i up, and returned with 1t
/ TO the same spot under the same tree.
! l smiled delightedly behind my easel,
rs the explanation dawnCd on me, and
awaited MiIler's next appearance.
Another half hour went by; then l saw
wen, Tn blessed" broke from him
/ as his eyes rested on the girl.
/ 81 say, Miller, it's ali right" l called,
! rather anXiously. She didn't under
/ stand, you know-thought you meant
+ the chair wasn't safe, or something. So
/ she took another
"P'raps you'd like chance Of rub
/ hin up some of your foreign languages,
! sir he suggested maliciously. IF
/ you'd be as good IS to mention in
/ double Dutch an 'eathen Chinee about
si-tin' under the trees, I'm sure I'd be
! obliged to YOU"
/ I vent reluctantly toward him, con
| scious Of my little German and less
/ French.
/ The girl raised wondering eyes to
"NadamoiselIe, c'est defendu-" 1
| began, but stopped abruptly at the
! look of blank incompTehensiOn on her
! "Polizeit verboten," I hazarded,
! She shook her head.
An obvious solution of the difficulty
/ occurred to me Bending down, L tried
! to read her book. But, with a quick,
! defensive movement her hands covered
/ it. As we'll as | could, by signs, l pro-
/ tested the purity of my motives, and
! was so far successful that she appeared
J 70 abs0Ive ma If 2 desire to steal 1t, and