Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1911-10-12
THROUGH THE
PANTRY WINDOW
By CLAUDINE SISSON


On certain chill October after
noon, which was frightened only by
a fare of crimson leaves on all the
naples and the ever-present tangles
Of aster and goldenrod along the
bushy banks. Elsie turned her horse
In at rickety picket gate and dis
mounted before the porch Of a tiny,
shabby. neglected house. With the
reins upon her arm she stood look
ing about her with tender, remember
ing eyes. The little yard was grown
up with mingled grass and weeds. In
one corner was bit of garden where
corn had ripened and was curing
where It stood, where a few red to-
matoes which the birds had not eat
en- glowed jewel-wise upon fading
vines. and a yellow pumpkin and a
green Hubbard squash lay side by
side. At the right side of the narrow
path which led up to the door a
flower bed showed few scarlet
geranium blossoms Upon the shelf
within the little porch stood an oxalis
and a cactus dead for want Of mois-
ture. The house blinds were shut.
II was a very pitiful little house, like
a shell without its mollusk or a body
without its soul.
Tears came to Elsie's eyes as she
thought of the dear woman who had
animated 1t with her kindly presence.
She felt that she would like to go in
and look about and try in imagination
to refurnish the abandoned rooms and
to people them with the gentle f1g-
ures that had once frequented them.
The thin old horse, a freckled gray
from the livery stable In town. was
pulling at the reins in an effort to get
his nose to the grass. Elsie sought
for some place to make him secure
and remembered the little barn. II
the door was not nailed up she could
put him In there.
The door was not nailed up. II
slid open easily and she led the horse
in and tied him to the stall which
had held only cobwebs and hay dust
for a long time. A little hay re-
NAMED in one corner. She carried 1t
to the horse, who received 1t as
eagerly as If 1t had been the freshest
of fodder. Then she went to the
house
1t was locked securely She went
about trying the shutters. At last she
found one partly off the hinges
blown off by a high wind, no doubt.
She swung it clear and put her hand
to the window underneath. To her
surprise, 1t raised as she pushed upon
II. She seemed to hear a familiar
voice saying in her ear:
'"The ketch on that pantry window
needs fixing bad. but | can't seem to
do it. But. la! what difference does
1t make? There amt no burglar com
ing in here for the little trash I've
got If one did come in he'd be glad
enough to get out again after I'd CIV
en- 1t to him good and lively with that
old pair of brass tongs l keep handy
for the purpose"
Aunt Hopes dear voice! Aunt
Hopes own remembered words! And
this was the pantry window. Elsie
looked in. The tiny place was neat,
the cupboard doors shut; an old iron
spider hung against the wall. 1t
looked perfectly natural and right,
quite as If Aunt Hope had just step
ped out Clarissa Mains, the heiress,
had left some things as they should
be-
The window-sill was only knee-high
from the ground and Elsie climbed
over it easily. She let down the win
dow behind her. The floor gave back
an empty sound beneath her feet as
she walked across it to the kitchen
The kitchen, too. was quite unchang-
ed There stood the old-fashioned
stove from which she had eaten so
many OF Aunt Hopes good dinners
In the dining-room the chairs and the
table still stood in their places upon
the painted floor. But the dishes were
gone from the shelves where Aunt
Hope had kept them. Clarissa Mains
had appreciated the fact that such old
blue ware was valuable.
After the dining-room came the par
Tor, the room that in Aunt Hopes
lifetime Elsie had always loved best
1t was a good-sized room in the front
of the house. She lifted a window
and turned the Stats of the closed
shutter. The yellow afternoon light
came in across the bare floor. In
Vulnerable notes danced in its rays.
Upon the walls a few old pictures
still hung, and the wall paper showed
fresh spaces upon its faded surface
where others had been. There was a
what-not in one corner; few chairs
waited as If for occupants; a shell
and large cheap vase were upon the
mantel. OF all Aunt Hopes treas
ured parlor furnishings these things
only remained.
Elsie sat down upon one of the APP
pealing chairs and clasped her hands
in their riding-gauntlets about her
knee There was chill of fireless-
ness and stale air in the room, but