The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1913-05-05
ON THE LONG ROAD
He Was Rough, but Of Her Own
People, Not Like the
Other Kind.
BY LOUISE MARRIFiELD.


clover springing up through the chips
In front of the sawmill, and marked
patterns with the butt of his OK goad.
mot directly, but she knows what
mean all right, Mr.. Kinnecott."
what do We mean, to put It
straight"
Old Steve Kinnecott shot a shrewd
glance from the golden shadows Of the
mill at the big overgrown youngster.
His hair was tawny yellow and needed
cutting His face and neck looked
tanned almost brick red under his
wide brimmed Topping straw hat. Be-
hind him stood the yoke of oxen, with
patient lowered heads and switching
tails. He had come down after load
Of slabs from the hill farm.
It was mighty good proposition.
that hill farm. Steve knew the value
Of every acre on 1t. and its rich wood
lots. Evalora could do a sight worse,
but would she think so? Since she
had had the school training down at
the county seat, she had different ideas.
Would the hill farm and her old
sweetheart appeal to her as loves full
dlment?
Il Just mean want her to marry
mo. SIR" said Oliver, a bit throatily.
"Then l tell you what, boy" Old
Steve's gray eyes twinkled. He shut
hed forward into the wide arched en-
trance to the mill. and blinked at the
sunlikht like some mole. you take
the long way home this trip. amt
got q mite Of objections to you II you
can get her"
The long way home! oliver curled
his whip out to the oxen, and took
the steep hill road. He knew what her
father meant. She was up at the big
hotel teaching some children in one of
the rich city families. He had seen
her only at church in the valley on
Sundays, only caught few words with
her in the shadow of the pillared porch
afterwards. And it had been whole
year since he had kissed her goodby
down under the pines. He wondered
II she remembered. Not that she had
promised anything; but sometimes he
had almost kept the memory Of her
kiss as promise.
1t was two miles and half up to the
hotel. Leisurely he walked 1t, with
the slow-going oxen and load of rust
colored cedar slabs. Several times he
he had to stop and turn to one side
at the sound Of horn. Once he
thought he recognized Evalora in one
Of the roadsters
He went forward steadily, knowing
just what old Steve had meant when
he had told him to take the long road.
II Evalora could stand 1t to see him
drive up to the big summer hotel with
slabs and the oxen, in his brown jeans
and high boots, she would take the
long road for life with him that way
There would be no pretense, no com.
promise. She would take him Just as
he was.
When he reached the bend, the long
vine covered verandas came In view,
the tall white chimneys, and many ga
bles. A large space had been cleared
in the virgin forest of the mountain.
side to make fitting site for the ho-
tel. Oliver had never seen this since
its completion Now he surveyed It
with calm, interested eyes, its golf
course clear down to Peck's brook, its
Italian gardens that cut up the fore
ground, the stables and tennis courts,
everything that made up Evalora's
everyday life that summer. even
though she was merely a summer gov.
erness.
And suddenly. as he turned up the
curving drive. he saw her. She was
on the veranda at a little table with
two children. That veranda looked
like distant flowerbed to him, with
all its daintily clad women and young
girls. but he could pick our Evalora. |
And he heard the boy call out
oh. look at the oxen!"
Everybody looked at the oxen,
and at their boyish driver He stopped
at the turn Of the drive and waited.
looking up at Evalora Would she take
the challenge. and come to him before
them all?
Just then a car made the sharp turn
at the bend In the forest road, and he
heard the cries of warning. Now
Evalora had risen, and was running
down the steps towards him. He lifted
his hat to greet her just as the car
struck the heavy wood wagon broad. I
sides. 1t swung about, tangled up with
the terrified, backing animals, and the
boy went down in the wreckage.
OF course, it was my fault. I'll nav
for him here at the hotel"
Evalora looked up at the owner Of
the car. She knew him. Every day
OF her stay at the hotel he had done
his best to make her appreciate the
value OF his very existence. He was !,
young and from good-sized town in
the middle Of the safe. He spent
money freely. He had been far too
generous in his offers of motor drives
she had thought, to the little country
governess OF his sisters children. But
In his way, she knew he tried to he
as he would have said. on the Level,
He did admire her frankly, and took
the only way he knew of LETTING he,