Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1912-06-18
O--O
FRECKLES
BY
Gene SmraGG@m-
Porter
COPYRIGHT. 1904. BY DOUBLEDAY. PAGE
q 90.
CHAPTER XIII.
FREcKLEs' BUTTERFLIES.

CHAPTER XIII.
FREcKLEs' BUTTERFLIES.
|"UT on the trail the Bird Woman
I'M wheeled on Mclean with q
dumfounded look.
do you thing the angel
knew she did that:" she asked softly.
NO" said Mclean. II do not. But
the poor boy knew 1t. Heaven help
him."
The Bird Woman stared across the
gently waving swale. II don't see
how | am going to blame her." she
said at last. Its 50 exactly what l
would have done myself"
Say the rest" demanded Mclean
hoarsely. do him Justice"
HE is a born gentleman" conceded
the Bird Woman. HE took no ad-
vantage. He never even offered to
touch her Whatever that kiss meant
to him. he recognized 1t was the low
ing impulse Of a child under stress Of
strong emotion. He was fine and man
IL as any man ever could have been"
Mclean lifted his hat. THANK you"
he said simply and parted the bushes
for her to enter Freckles' room.
1t was her first visit. and before she
left she sent for her cameras and
made studies Of each side Of 1t and OF
the cathedral. She was entranced with
the delicate beauty Of the place. and
her eyes kept following Freckles as II
she could not believe that II could be
his conception and work.
That was happy day. The Bird
Woman had brought lunch. and they
spread 1t. with Freckles' dinner. on the
study floor and sat about. resting and
enjoying themselves. But the angel
put her banjo into its case, silently
gathered up her music. and no one
mentioned the concert.
The Bird Woman left Mclean and
the angel to clear away the lunch and
with Freckles examined the walls OF
his room and told him all she knew
about his shrubs and flowers. She an
alyZed cardinal flower and showed
him what he had all summer wanted
to know-why the bees buzzed inef-
fectually about II while the humming
birds found in 1t an ever ready feast.
Some Of his specimens were so rare
that she was unfamiliar with them.
and with the flower book between
them they knelt. studying the different
varieties. She wandered the length OF
the cathedral aisle with him, and 1t
was ut her suggestion that he Lighted
his altar with a row Of flaming foxfire.
As Freckles came up to the cabin
from his long day at the swamp he
saw Mrs. Chicken sweeping away to
the south and wondered where she was
going. He stepped into the bright.
cozy little kitchen, and as he reached
down the wash basin he asked Mrs.
Duncan question.
'Mother Duncan, do kisses wash
oR%
Lord, ma, Freckles" she cried. "At
least the anes ye get from people ye
love dinna. They dinna stay on the
outside. They strike in until they find
the center Of your heart and make
their stopping place there. and naeth-
ing can take them from ye-I doubt II
even death. Ma. lad. ye can be rect
Freckles set the basin down and NUT
tered, ~ needn't be afraid to be wash
ing, then. for that one struck In"
"I WISH" said Freckles at breakfast
one morning. that l had some way to
be sending a message to the Bird Wo-
man. I've something down at the
swamp that I'm believing never hap
pened before. and surely she'll be want
ing 1t.
'what now. FrecklesT asked Mrs.
Duncan.
why. the oldest thing you ever
heard Of" said Freckles. THE whole
insect tribe gone on u spree. I'm sup
posing it's my fault. but 1t all nap
pened by accident-like. You see. on
the swale side of the line. right
against me trail. there's one of these
scrub wild crab trees. Where the
grass grows thick about 1t Is tue
finest place you ever conceived or Tor
snakes. Having women about has set
me trying to clean out those fellows
biz. and yesterday I noticed that tree
in passing. 1t struck me that IL
would be a good idea to be taking II
out. First | thought Id take me
Ratchet and cut 1t down. for 1t amt
thicker than me upper arm. Then ]
remembered how 1t was blooming In
the spring and filling all the air with
sweetness. The coloring Of the BIOS
SONS is beautiful. and l hated to De
killing it. just cut the grass short
all about It. Then I started at the
ground. trimmed up the trunk near
the height Of me shoulder and lett
the top spreading That made 1t look
SO truly ornamental that. Idle ike.
chips Off the rough places neat, ana
this morning. on me soul. It's slgnt.
You zee. cutting OF the limbs ana
trimming up the trunks sets the sap
running. In this hot sun 1t ferments
In a few hours. There isn't mucn
room for more things to crowd on
that tree than there are. ana 10 get
drunken isn't noways possible.
"Weel. / be drawed on!' exclaimed
Mrs. Duncan. What kind OF things
do We mean. FrecklesT
"Why. Just an army Of black ants
Some Of them are sucking away like
old topers. Some Of them are setting
up on their tails and hind legs. DID,
ding away with their fore feet and
wiping their eyes. Some are rolling
around Oh the ground. contented.
There are quantities Of big bluebottle
flies over the bark and hanging on the
grasses about. too drunk to steer
course flying. so they just buzz away
like flying and all the time sitting
still. The snake feeders are too fuii 10
feed anything. even more sap to tnem-
selves. There's a lot Of hard 1oackeo
bucs-beetles. I guess-co!ored like the
brown, blue and black Of a peacock's
tail. They hang on until the legs OF
them are SO wake they can't stick q
minute longer. and then they break
away and fall to the ground. They just
Law there on their backs, fably claw;
ing air. When Il wears OF bit, up
they get and 90 crawling BACK TOT
more, and they so full they bump Into