The Tupelo journal., 1909-04-02
ALUJzRA7zON@ e1D
81. m

ton of that %stupendous bit of engi-
neering have been to the workmen
who hewed the road out of the rock,
suspended over the abyss! Their
dangling black figures seem to sway
still as one swings around the curve.
Our travellers sat in silence, until
the Cape" was passed and again they
could see their roadbed on the side.
Then Mrs. Melville made a polite ex-
cuse for departure; she had promised
a Daughter" whom she had met at
various .'biennials'' that she would
have a little talk with her. Thus she
escaped. They did not miss her.
Hardly speaking, the four sat in the
dimly lighted, tiny room, while noun
tains and fields and star-sown skies
drifted by. Unconsciously, Archie
drew closer to his uncle, and the older
man threw an arm about the young
shoulders. He looked up to meet
Janet's eyes shining and sweet, in the
flash Of a passing station light. Mrs:
| Winter smiled, her wise old smile.
With the next morning came an
other shift of scene; they were In the
fertile valleys of California. At every
turn the landscape became more soft
ly tinted, more gracious. Aunt Re-
becca was in the best of humor and
announced herself as having the jour-
ney of her life. The golden green OF
| the grain fields, the towering palms,
| the pepper trees with their fascinating
grace, the round tops of the live-oaks,
the gloss of the orange groves, the
Gala lily hedges and the heliotrope
and geranium trees which climbed
to the second story of the stucco
houses. filled her with the enthusiasm
| of a child. She drank in the cries or
the e~nterprising young liar who cried
Fresh figs" months out OF season,
and she ate fruit, withered in cold
| storage, with a trustful zest. No less
| than three books about the flora OF
California came out of her bag. A
certain vine called the B~ougainvillea,
she was trying to find, if only the
i cars would not 90 so fast; as for poin-
| settias, she certainly should raise her
own for Christmas. She was learned
in gardens and she ~discoursed with
Miss Smith on the different kinds OF
trumpetvine, and whether the white
| Jasmine trailing among the gaudy
clusters was of the same family as
that Jasmine which they knew in the
pine forests. But she disparaged the
roses; they looked s%hop-worn. The
colonel watched her in amazement.
BERTHE, l make you think of that
little dwarf of Dickens, don't II" she
cried. Miss Mullins, Muggins? what
was her name? You are expecting
me to exclaim, Amt | volatile?'
Thank Heaven, | am. l could always
take an interest in trifes. 1t has
been my salvation to cultivate an in
terest in %trif1es, BERTHE; there are a
great many more trifes than crises
in life. Where has Janet gone? Oh,
to give the porter the collodion for
his cut thumb. People with troubles,
big or little, are always making
straight for Janet. BERTHE, have you
made up your mind about her"
"Only that she is charming" re-
piled the colonel. He did not change
color, but he was uneasily conscious
that he WINGED, and that the shrewd
old critic of life and per-
ceived it. But she was mercifully
blind to all appearances; she went on
with the little frown of the solver of
a psychological enigma. yes, Janet
is charming; and why? She is the
stillest creature. Have you noticed?
Yet you never have the sense that she
hasn't answered you. She's the best
listener in the world; and there's one
thing about her unusual in most lis
teners-her eyes grow vacant
Rupert had noticed; he called him
self a doddering old donkey silently,
because he had assumed that there
was anything personal in the interest
of those eyes when he had spoken. OF
course not; it was her way with every
one, even Millicent, no doubt. His
aunt's next words were lost, but a SEN
tence caught his ear directly: For
all she's gentle, she has plenty OF
spirit. BERTHE, did l ever tell you about
the time our precious cousin threw our
Observation-Disclosures gold snuff
box at her? No? 1t was funny. She
flew into one of her towering RACES,
and shrieking: Take that!' h-~led
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