The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1911-07-21

-&-sP
Ansel Peeyer's
Fortune
II Didn't Matenalize Quite
as He Expected
By CLARISSA MACKIE
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911.

walt until l come back from Call
fornia. dearest" Ansel had whispered.
Then | will have such home and
such acres of greenhouses that will
not be ashamed to ask you to give up
your splendid home on the hill"
or course Lucy's heart prompted her
to tell him to remain with her. What
cared she for the promised wealth of
the golden west when the solid reality
of Ansel's thrifty little flower business
was ready and waiting for them both
But Ansel looked so dowphearted and
disappointed at her answer that Lucy
awaited herself of the feminine privi-
lege and changed her mind.
You'd better go, Ansel." she urged
him. u win wait for you IL you should
be gone u hundred years." she added
recklessly.
SO it was arranged as Ansels pride
prompted him, and Lucy stayed In her
fathers comfortable home on the hill
top and watched the black smoke from
Ansels train dissolve In the May sun
shine even as her hopes and happiness
dissolved In burst of grief.
A hundred days went by, and Ansers
letters were full OF inconsistencies and
enthusiasm. A hundred weeks passed,
and the letters contained less hope
fulness and the same strain of longing
for home. Lucy wrote and urged him
to come home. Let the old fortune
CO." she wrote hastily. '"rhere is
plenty TO do In Little River. and Ste
phen Tuttle will be glad to sell the
greenhouses back to you"
But Ansel was obstinate as well as
proud. and he did not come home In
answer to Lucy's appeal. A hundred
months went by-elght long years and
four months-and Lucy's Aunt Rebec-
Gu Prentice repeated the words she
had dlnned into her niece's pretty ears:
He's never coming back again.
Lucy. You might as well have mar
ried Leonard Deane or the minister
and had family growing up around
you instead of wasting your life wait
ing for man who has forgotten you"
II don't believe Ansel has forgotten
me. Aunt Rebecca." Lucy said patient
ly ut has taken longer for him to
make fortune than he expected
that's ALL"
One April morning Lucy Mellen
found herself quite alone in the world.
Her parents had died shortly after An
sci went away, and now Aunt Rebec-
ca had succumbed to pneumonia. and
the big empty house on the hill SEEM
ed bigger md emptier than ever. At
the end of II year Lucy had managed
to almost beggar herself by several
foolish investments. and there came q
day when the red flag swung to the
breeze above the Mellen place.
What are you going to do now
Lucy MellenY" demanded her next
door neighbor, Mrs. Hail. Here
you've got all your furniture Grated VI
as II you was going away. and yot
amt said n word to nobody"
I'm going TO California" said Lucy
calmly, though her pnie cheeks flushed
"Ansel has sent for me to come out
there and be married You see. he's SC
busy he can't get away just now"
We'll, of all things" cried Mrs. Hall
excitedly You don't mean that you.
single woman. ure going away out
there all alone to get married?"
I'm thrty.five." said Lucy obsti-
nately "nnd Ansels folks are out
there. you know"
Mrs. Hail said no more. but twisted
the shawl tighter around her thin face
and fairly flew down the street to be
the first one to transmit the startling
news TO Little River.
Lucys friends were at the station TO
bid her goodby when she started on
her long Journey Her household goods
Ind gone on n week before, and when
the last moment came there were
many tears and good wishes and lots
of rice and old shoes flying after her.
Lucy looked strangely pale and silent
for bride to be. but she had been that
way for so many years now that her
friends quite forgot what merry, light
hearted girl she had been when Ansel
first wooed her
ward New York. and Lucy leaned her
pale face against the window and
closed her frightened eyes. She had
never taken such a long journey. and
she was quite unused to travelling. but
that was not the worst of 1t. She
had told II number of downright lies
AnseI peever had not sent for her: he
did not know she was coming out
there. and she had not heard from him
for two months.
1t was this knowledge that made
Lucy MelIen SO miserable as her train
few westward Every mile that
brought her nearer to Ansel also made
her heart beat faster until mt last
when she reached San Francisco and
changed cars for the little town in
Santa barbara county she was almost
sick with remorse and shame at hei
own daring
Al last II was time for her to gel
on She saw her trunks dumped on
the station platform Mt Redcliff. and
then the train rolled away among the
vineyards and orange groves. while
she was left In the soft. balmy atmos
phere OF the lanu of flowers
"Ansei Peever's placer repeated the
station agent tits three miles down
the valley. I'll have Hawkes. carry
you there. tn cost you four bits.
ma'am."
-Four whatT repeated puzzled
Lucy.
-Four bits-50 cents. / suppose
you're from the east" smiled the man
good naturedly, and Lucy said that
she was. and she thanked him prettily
for attending to her trunks.
Seated In the blackboard with her
trunks iashed on behind, the two lean
roam horses clattered over the road
much faster than Lucy cared to have
them.
The roans slowed down, and
Hawkes. pointed a whip around a
curve of the road. "Peever's place IL
just around that bend" he said.
stop here, pleased" painted Lucy,
with sudden alarm. please walt
here while l go on and speak to