Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-06-24
CHAPTER V.-(Continucd.)

She was small and trim Of figure AND
had very blue eyes.
Thank you" said Zelda, and Ian
started forward.
you are Miss Dameron." the teach
err said, hesitatingly.
yes. Zelda turned toward her In
surprise.
ITS been a long time since 1 saw
you-as many as a dozen years" The
girl smiled and Zelda smiled, too.
II wish I could remember. I'm sor-
ry, but won't you help me-"
1T was when you were n little girl
SO was /. but / was older-and my
mother took me to see your mother,
and we played, you and |, that is, In
the yard, while our mothers talked.
You wore a red dress and / thought
you were very grand
The blue eyes were looking into the
dark ones There was a moment of
hesitation and scrutiny. Then Zelda
put out her hand.
you are my cousin. Olive-is it
Merriam ?-please don't tell me that
isn't right"
Yes; that is just right"
"Pm going to TAX you home, If
you're ready to go, Cousin Olive. I'm
badly lost and don't remember the way
you told me to go. It's so exciting
meeting a long-lost cousin!"
Olive Merriam debated ar instant,
in which she surveyed her new-found
cousin doubtfully. She had started
home when the battle at the school
house door gave her pause. There was
no excuse for refusing. Zelda had gath
cred up the reins, and waited.
do come! Zanisn't dangerous-and
neither am l."
Thank you. I'll have to come now
to show that I'm not afraid"
The boys fingered at a safe distance.
and as Zelda drove past them at the
corner, several of them snatched off
their caps and grinned, and Olive Mer-
riam called goodnight to them.
AS Zelda followed the route indicat-
ed by her cousin, she was busy trying
to find a lost strand of family history
that proved elusive. She did not at all
remember her mothers brother, Thorn
as Merriam. She had heard her
aunt or uncle speak of the relationship.
and she surmised. now that she
thought of 1t, that here must be anoth-
err of those breaks in the family con-
nection that had already revealed rag
ged edges. 1t was growing late, and
she put Fan to her best PAGES, until
presently they came III upon q broad
paved thoroughfare.
That's better" Said Zelda. Pm
sure I should never have found ths
way out alone. 1 don't believe I was
ever down there before. Please let me
drive o home. I haven't the least
idea where that is. SO If I'm going
wrong"
ITS Harrison street" She describ-
ed the route. You're taking a lot of
trouble about me-"
mo. It's the other way around. I'd
never have seen the courthouse clock
again II it hadn't been for you. And
then they approached a cross street,
and Zelda checked the flight Of Fan
and bent forward to see whether the
coast was clear-"and then"-she loos-
ened the rein and the animal sped for
ward again-'I've been looking awful
ly hard for a friend. Cousin Olive. and
! want you!" -
You are kind-but you don't under
stand-a lot of things" said Olive Mer-
Ram. "You and I can't be friends.
There are reasons"
Il don't care for any reasons" said
Zelda.
But they're not my reasons-they're
other peoples! That's our house there,
where the shades are up and a light is
In the window"
II don't care what other people say
about anything''-and Zelda brought
Fan to a stand at the curb in front Of
Olives door.
'Td ask you to stop" began Oh
i've.
Tn going to STOP" said Zelda-"to
see you quite on your threshold. Fan
stands without hitching, usually. I'll
take my chances"
Harrison is only a street in minia-
ture. A poet wrote a mi about it
that made it the most famous street
in Mariona. The houses there are
chiefly ne-story-and-a-half cottages,
and in one Of these, which was saved
from intrusive eyes in summer by a
double line of h~ollyhocks. and which
had at its back loo at ~seasonable
times q charming old -fashioned gar
den, lived Olive Merriam and her
mother.
Olive threw open the door and Zelda
stepped into a sitting room-the house
had no hall-where a oal fire burned
cozily in a CRATE. The room ran the
length of the house; the woodwork
was white; the floor was pine, stained
q dull red and covered with rugs made
OF old carpet. A student lamp with a
green shade stood on a table in the
center of the room. There were maya
zines and books or the table. and
shelyes in the corners held other books.
An elderly woman looked up from the
paper she had been reading as the door
opened. A cane lay on the floor beside
her and told the story of the lines of
pain in her face.
Mother, this is Zelda Cameron. She
has brought me home" said Olive.
"She didn't want me to at all. but I
made her let me-" said Zelda, crossing
the room and taking Mrs. Merriam's
hand.
The woman bent her seyes-they were
blue like Olive'sHupon the girl with a
grave questioning.
eN.sY0u are Margaret's daughter-you
are Ezra Damer0n's daughter" she
said.
Yes. n / didn't know about you
at all until I found Olive to-day. And
EI didn't know that my Merriams my
where lived in q house like this. Why.
it's a home. I'm Eofng-but tell me
that I may come back again."
There was something SO sincere and
wistful In Zelda's ton al h spoke.
sta4ling between the freight and the
|l4mplight; something. too, In the glance
10 appeal she gave the little room. that
broke down the AntAgunism In Mrs.
lleFriam's eyes She put out her band