Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1910-07-28

so Zelda assured him, had one; ann 4
would undoubtedly be of service to mel
in many ways Her real purpose wa.
to place herself in communication will
her aunt and uncle, whose help she
outwardly refused but secretly leaned
| on.
Zelda did not disturb the black WON
an in the kitchen, though she employed
house-maid to supplement her ser
vices; but she labored patiently to cor
rect some of the veteran Polly's dis
tressing faults. Polly was a good cook
in the haphazard fashion of her kind
She could not read, so. that the cook
books which Zelda bought were of no
use to her. She shook her head over
book cookin," but Zelda, who dimly
remembered that her mother had spent
much time in the kitchen, bought a
supply of aprons and gave herself per-
sistently to culinary practice. Or, she
sat and dictated to Polly from one of
the recipe books while that amiable
soul mixed the ingredients; and then,
after the necessary interval of fear and
hope, they opened the oven door and
peered in anxiously upon triumph or
disaster.
A horse was duly purchased at Lex
ington, on an excursion planned and
managed by Mrs. Carr. They named
the little Hambletonian Xanthippe,
which Zelda changed to Zan, at her
uncle's suggestion. 1t was better, he
said, not to introduce any more of the
remoter letters of the alphabet into
the family nomenclature; and as they
already had 2 it would be unwise to
add X. Moreover, it was fitting that
Zee should own Zan!
The possession of the pretty brown
mare and a runabout greatly increased
Zelda's range of activities. Her uncle
kept a saddle horse and he taught her
how to ride and drive. He also, under
Ezra Damerons very eyes, had the old
barn reconstructed, to make proper
abiding place for a Kentucky horse Of
at least decent ancestry, and employed
a stable boy.
Zelda became daily more conscious
of her fathers penurious ways, that
were always cropping out in the petty
details of the housekeeping One even
ing when he thought himself unob-
served, she saw him walking down the
front stairway, avoiding the carpet on
the treads with difficult care. Zelda
did not at first know what he was do
ing; but she soon found this to be
only one of his many whimsical econ
omies. He overhauled the pantry now
and then, making an inventory of the
amount of flour, sugar and coffee in
stock, and he still did a part of the
IL haA eyiN
stable boy orders that Zan was to be
fed generously; and when she found
that her father was giving contrary
directions she said nothing, but con-
nived with the boy in the purchase of
hay and corn to make good the def
cheney caused by her Indulgence.
Late one afternoon she drove to a
remote quarter of town in pursuit of a
laundress that had failed her. She
concluded her arrand and turned Zan
homeward, but lost her way in seeking
to avoid a railway track on which a
line of freight cars blocked her path.
She came upon a public school build
ing, which presented stubborn front
to a line of shops and saloons on the
opposite side of a narrow street Two
boys were engaged in combat on the
sidewalk at the school-house entrance,
surrounded by ring Of noisy parti-
zans. A young woman, a teacher, Eel
da took her to be, hurried toward the
scene of trouble from the school-house
door, and at her approach the ring of
spectators dispersed in disorder, leav-
ing the combatants alone, ,vainly SPAR
ring for an advantage before they, too, |
yielded the field. Zelda unconscious
ly drew in her horse to watch the con-
clusion of matters. The young woman
stepped between the antagonists with
out parley, catching the grimy fists Of
one of the boys in her hands, while |
the other took to his heels amid the |
jeers of the gallery. Zelda heard the |
teachers voice raised in sharp rap
rimand as she dismissed the lad with |
a wave of her hand that implied an !
not to be gainsaid.
Ito be continuedl