The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1909-04-09

AOOAV ZIG AAAO oAu SAV PuAC ca
impulses of the heart.
CHAPTER I.
There are conflicts In most hves-real
Aand-to-hand combats, that have to be
fought, not with any Aeshly weapons, but
with the inner forces Of the being-bat-
de- wherein the victory II not always to
the strong, where the young and tina
weak and the little ones may BE- found
abiding nearest to the Standard
Such Z conflict had come to Alison
Merle, breaking up the surface Of her
smooth outer life, and revealing possible
shoals and quicksands, in which many Of
Yer brightest hopes might be wrecked.
ut IL hard. do not know that even
Il Aunt Di think 1t right I shall ever
have the heart to do It," murmured ALI
son, talking to herself in her agitation,
after the manner Of older folk. II have
Just rooted myself in this dear place, and
the soil suits me. l could not flourish
anywhere else: and" finished Alison,
with a quaint little smile, "sickly plants
sre worth nothing"
ef that little room would have presented
. picture Of perfect serenity and abso-
lutte comfort. Even the young creature
comfortably seated in q chair by the win
dow. with an open letter and q cluster
q deep red roses lying among the folds
ef her white gown, presented no disturb
ing image. though the cheek had lost its
wonted fresh color, and the dark, dreamy
eyes had q look Of doubt that was a.
most pain in them.
Two years ago-she had been sixteen
then, and. oh, how discontented and Ill
and unhappy she had been. II was not
emily the loss Of her mother, It was her
ewn incapacity for responsibility, her
morbid dislike to her surroundings, that
had fretted all her fine color away.
Change of air would do her good, and
then Aunt Diana had come down upon
them with the freshness Of q moorland
Areeze.
"You must give your eldest girl to me,
Ainslie," she had said to Alison's father {;
~she wants care and cherishing more than
Miss Leigh has time to give her" And,
1t course, Aunt Diana had her way.
Instead Of the whir Of machinery-for
her fathers sawmills were just behind
their house-Alison had now only to
listen to the soft flow Of the river that
elided below the green lawns and shrub.
berries Of Moss-side; instead Of waking
Up In the morning to look across the dusty
shrubs and trees to the vast wood piles
and masses Of unsawn timber, that SEEM
ID endlessly between her and the blue
sky. Alison's eyes had now the finest
prospect; one shaded garden seemed to
run Into another. and when the willows
were thinned or bare in winter time, what
. view Of the river and green meadows on
the opposite side!
The neral surroundings were almost as
much changed. Instead Of Miss Leigh's
dry method Of instruction, Aunt Diana
had placed within her reach many
pleasant short cut to knowledge had sug-
gested al sorts Of enviable accomplish
ments: money was not stinted where Ali
sons talents could be turned to account.
In this pleasant but bracing atmos-
''ison had thriven and grown. She
was still a tan. wv. ~m girl, somewhat youth
hi in look, but with piesty 9: --srm life
and energy about her; and though the
dark eyes had still their old trick of
drea ming. they seemed to dream more
happily. and the shadow did not lie so
deep In then-not, at least, until the
June afternoon. when Alison sat signing
and visibly disturbed with her lap full Of
roses. II was evident at last that she
found her thoughts too painful. for after
another half hours intense brooding she
suddenly jumped up from her seat, scat
tering the flowers where they lay unheed-
ed on the Indian mating. and walked
abruptly to the door. She had dropped
her letters. too: but she went back and
picked them up. not replacing them In
their envelopes, and then she went out
into the passage.
A dark oak staircase led into a little
square hall. fitted up with bookcases like
. library, with a harmonium on one side /:
q glass door opened into a conservatory,
through which one passed into the gar
Aen.
Alison turned the handle Of a door lust
opposite the staircase, and stood for
moment hesitating on the threshold.
What a pleasant room that was, half
gross lights, and artistically Uttered with
an odd tumble Of medieval and modern
furniture-oak chairs and cabinets, bas-
network longes, tiny tea tables, fit for
Liliputian princesses, and hanging cup
boards of quaint old china that gave warm
coloring to the whole. Alison's eyes were
still fixed on lady who stood with her
back toward her. painting at an easel.
swell. child. what now?" The voice
vas nicely modulated. clear and musical,
eut the manner slightly abrupt.
Alison came forward at once and in
eoected the picture. ut IL very pretty,
Aunt Dr." she said, forgetting her own
worries In q moment. ut Is one Of your
best think ! see what you mean. but
to me It Is all beautiful; that old man
q pensioner. Is he not7 and that poor,
tired sheep, that seems to have dropped
down by the way, left behind by the
Hock. is so suggestive Of the title, Noon.
Sds Rest