The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1913-01-24
BATTLE OF PEACHES
!, in lar of Preserves Brings
WV Lover of Old Back to
Sweetheart.
By H. M. EG6ERI.

BY H. M. EG6ERT.
,-,+ 1912 by w. G. ChaDman.)
S DOpnle said that old Rogers was q
oiser but that statement was inc Or
uls ~. Rogers had been miser. he
fec" mod and boarded during thirty
au go If labor, so that now, though
'e1' ,s barely fifty years of age, he
va older. But Rogers had retired
0 oao months before, thanks to some
tnle '1, made investments, and now,
S WITH fifteen thousand dollars at ms
wiz oeol he was still living on In his
a n'la two-room fiat on the East Side
i''- Now York, and trying to stretch
o. .rooned imagination and plan his
Life anew. 49, 49,. 10 as
I'D bachelor without friend or
~ ~ sweetheart or child. His few
VIM .,n+onces we're men whom he had
49, ann casually in business, and the
,Dtrict tradesmen and sundry old
a .lmauo whom he met twice a week
Tic chess club over the dellcates-
a.r store on Thirteenth street. But
o1aorc had lived his life exactly as
~ had MANNED it, and that is an In
l,hl0 misfortune which deserves
tbp utmost sympathy.
Whom Rogers was twenty, a young
mor newly arrived in the city from
tbo little up-country village, where he
ND hpen born, he had made his reso-
luton.
81 shall save every penny can
mn nv" he said to himself. Il shall
cove for seven years. And then l
sbalI 90 home and marry some sweet
GIRL"
Rut the seven years crept by and
found Rogers with the fixed habit OF
bis own creation. which he could not
shake off, And long before the seven
wears we're ended Rogers had made a
second resolution.
81 shall work seven years longer"
he said. Then l shall go home to
Egan shall be thirty-four then.
That will not be too old to marry
Until am rich l will not tie any
woman down to the hardships Ct mar
ried life on a tiny salary"
The second seven years heightened
into fifteen, twenty, then thirty. And
long before they we're ended Rogers
had forgotten his dream.
But of late, with his fifteen thou
sand dollars safely stored away in the
bank, the dreams had revived. And
then something happened-a little, in
significant thing brought color
and new interest into his life
Rogers had gone to the delicatessen
store Of his acquaintance, Holzapfel,
to buy something for supper. He
cooked his own supper upon a tiny
stove in his apartment.
81 think" he said, after he had
made his purchases. that I'll take
some preserved fruit"
Why, Rogers, you're becoming a
spendthrift, regular spendthrift, !"
said Holzapfel jestingly.
Rogers patronized the old German
from long habit. Holzapfel had fall
len as sadly behind the times as he.
His trade had dWindled and dwindled.
his stock was incredibly old. Holzap-
lei nodded for hours in his store while
not single customer entered the
dlngy little place.
well, I've got some preserved
peaches" said the old fellow. But
tney wasn't put up yesterday, Rogers.
l can't say how fresh they was. I'll
lei you have them for dime They're
homegrown, and they're worth TWEEN
VnVe-if they was fresh"
Rogers took the peaches and walked
Ou' OF the store. The utensil was one
VI nose glass jars with a ring round
'e stopper, such as are used by
1Oun'rgWomen in preserving. They
ale no' seen so much in large cities
IL rneSe days Of canning factories.
me peaches were bad. But that
,Sc' mad nothing to do with the case.
wi inside the jar was a little folded
equare OF oiled paper. And in this,
peiiectly good, was a folded piece of
paper on which was written:
Lucy Morren, Egan, N. Y"
:, mat compensated old Rogers for
.Ie loss of the peaches. It was one
VI VI 'nose little harmless pranks played
w., ~ country girls who put their names
a .rY bottles of fruit preserved by them
f r,,u destined to go long distances and
ba ! inIo strangers hands. Often they
,, au leu TO correspondence and some
ulnes to romance.
cou,. Nogers racked his brains. He
no~ .u not remember anyone in Egan
tno~ Morrell. But then he had not
DIV. everyone even in Egan.
hi. ~. mat evening the loneliness of
I'M. Ha' the squalor of his surround
h trss to which he had been oblivious
ro.n le, oppressed his spirit; and the
ns MI! word Egan written out on the
H. fsper' made him homesick for the lit
Wrote: '0 ne SAT oo"n ana
in tba Norrell: l found your note