Rocky Ford enterprise., 1913-06-20


clever to be found out in a lie; they
were altogether too simple to suspect
her apparent frankness.
After the excursion she remained at
home until her marriage. Her liaison
with Dominlck was conducted with
the utmost secrecy. Her sisters had
not a suspicion of 1t. knew nothing
but that the young man was attentive
to her, till she told them of her ap-
preaching marriage. This took place
In the parlor of Hannahs house. and
the amazed sisters, bewildered by Ber-
ny's glories, had waited to see her
burst into the inner glories of fashion
and wealth with tiara of diamonds
on her head and ropes of pearls about
her throat. That no tiara was forth
coming, no pearls graced her bridal
parure, and no Ryan ever crossed the
threshold of her door, seemed to the
loyal Hannah and Hazel the most
unmerited and inexplicable injustice
that had ever come within their ex-
perience.
1t took Bernice some time to dress,
for she attached the greatest impor-
lance to all matters Of personal adorn-
ment, and the lunch hour was at hand
when she alighted from the Hyde
Street car and walked toward the
house. 1t was on one Of those streets
| which cross Hyde near the slope of
Russian Hill, and are devoted to the
habitats of small. thrifty householders.
A staring. bright cleanliness is the
prevailing characteristic of the neigh
borhood. the cement sidewalks always
swept. the houses standing back in
tiny squares OF garden. clipped and
trimmed to precise shortness OF
grass and straightness of border. The
sun was now broadly out and the
house-fronts engarlanded with vines.
their cream-colored faces spotless In
fresh coats of paint presented line
OF uniform bay-windows to its ingra-
tiating warmth. Hannah's was the
third. and its cleaning clearness of
window-pane and the stainless purity
OF its front steps were points of do
nestle decency that its proprietor In
sisted on as she did on the servant
girls apron being clean and the par
lor free from dust.
Berry had retained her latch-key.
and letting herself in passed into the
|
folding doors with the dining-room be-
yond. Nothing had been changed in
it since the days of her tenancy. The
upright piano, draped with "A China
silk scarf. stood in the old corner. The
solar print OF her father hung over
the mantelpiece on which gilt clock
and n pair of china dogs stood at ac-
curately-measured distances. The
tufted arm-chairs were placed far
from each other. severely isolated in
the corners, as though the room were
too remote and sacred even to sug-
gest the cheerful amenities of social
intercourse. curious. musty smell
hung in the air. 1t recalled the past
in which Dominick had figured as her
admirer. The few times that he had
been to her home she had received
him in this solemn. unaired apartment
in which the chandelier was lit for the
occasion, and Hannah and Hazel had
sat in the kitchen, breathless with
curiosity as to what such a call might
portend. She had been married here.
in the bay-window. under a wedding
bell OF white roses. The musty smell
brought It all back. even her sense of
almost breathless elation. when the
seal was set on her daring schemes.
From beyond the folding doors a
sound, of conversation and smitten
crockery arose. also a strong odor Of
cooking. The family were already at
lunch. and opening the door Berry
entered in upon the midday meal
which was being partaken of by her
two sisters. Josh. and Hazels daugh-
ter. Pearl. pretty child of eight.
Neither of her sisters resembled her
I'm the least. Hannah was n woman
who looked more than her age, with
a large. calm face. and gentle. near
sighted eyes which blinked at the
world behind pair of steel-rimmed
glasses. Her quarter-century of school
teaching had not dried or stiffened
her. She was fuller of the milk of
human kindness, of the ideals and en-
thusiasms of youth. than either of
her sisters. All the love OF her kindly,
maternal nature was given to Pearl,
whom she was bringing up carefully
to be what seemed to Hannah best in
woman.
Hazel was very pretty and still
young. She had the fresh, even bloom
OF Californian woman, a round,
graceful figure. and glossy brown hair.
rippled and arranged in an elaborate
couture as though done by a hair
dresser. She could do this herself as
| she could make her own clothes. earn
| a fair salary at the milliner's, and
sing to the guitar in a small. piping
| voice. Her husband was ravished by
her good looks and accomplishments.
and thought her the most wonderful
woman in the world. He was a thin.
tall. young man with STOPPING shout
ders, a long, lean neck, and an ami