Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-12-02
CHAPTER VII.-ContinuedD

ble-of aloofness. I'm not in the
least afraid of dogs" And with lit
tie nod, she swung on up the Red
Road
John Valiant stood staring after her
till she had passed from view around
curve "Oh, glory" he muttered.
"To begin by shaking your fist at her
and end by making her wonder if you
aren't trying to be fresh! You poor,
profane, fioundering dolt!"
After time he discarded his
Jumper" and contrived make-shift
toilet. What a type he said to
himself. "Corn-fower eyes and a
blowse of copper hair A fragment
of verse ran through his mind:
"Tawny-fecked. russet-brown, in a
tangle of gold,
The billowy sweep of her flame
washed hair,
Like amber lace, laid fold on fold,
Or beaten metal beyond compare"
"Delicacy and strength" he NUT
tered, as he climbed again to the
leather seat. "The steel blade in the
silk scabbard. With that face in
repose she might have been A maid
of honor of the Stuarts time! Yet
when she laughed
The girl walked on up the highway
with a lifting stride, now and then
laughing to herself, or running few
steps, occasionally stopping by some
hedge to pull leaf which she rubbed
against her cheek, smelling its keen
new scent, or stopping to gaze out
across the orange-green belts Of sunny
wind dimpled fields, one hand push
ing back her mutinous hair from her
brow. the other shielding her eyes.
When she had passed beyond the ken
of the stranded motor, she began to
sing a snatch of a cabin song, her
vivid red lips framing themselves
about the absurd words with humOr-
Gus exaggeration of the soft darby
pronunciation Beneath it's fun her
voice held haunting dreamy quality.
As she sang, sometimes in the blaze
Of sun. sometimes with leaf-shadows
above her through which the light
spurted down in green-gilt splashes.
Once she stopped suddenly and
crouching down by a thorn-hedge.
whistled-a low mellow tentative pipe
and in a moment brown-fecked
covey of baby cartridges rushed out
Of the grass to dart instantly back
again. She laughed. and springing
up, threw back her head and began a
bird song, her slender throat pulsing
to the shake and ready thrill. 1t was
marvelously done, from the clear, long
opening note to the soaring rapture
that seemed to bubble and break all
at once into it's final crescendo.
Farther on the highroad looped
around a strip of young forest, and she
struck into this for short cut. Here
the trees stirred family in the breeze,
filling the place with leafy rustlings
and whisperings: yet it was so still
that when saffron-barred hornet
darted through with an intolerant high
keyed hum, in made the air for an In
slant angrily vocal, and woodpecker's
tattoo at some distance sounded with
startling loudness, like a cracking
series of pistol-shots.
In the depth Of this wood she sat
down to rest on the sun-splashed scots
of tree. Leaning back against the
scanned trunk, her felt hat fallen to
the ground. she looked like some sea-
woman emerging from an earth-hued
pool to comb her hair against dap
pied rock. The ground was sparsely
covered with gray-blue bushes whose
frOnds at little distance blanded into
a haze till they seemed like pillows of
smoke suddenly solidif1ed, and here
and there darling red or yellow
flower gave the illusion of an. under
tongue Of fame. Her eyes, passion
ately eager, peered about her, drinking
in each note of color as her quick ear
caught each twigfall, each sound OF
bird and insect.
She drew back against the tree and
caught her breath as bulldog frisked
over a messy boulder just in front of
her
A moment more and she had thrown
herself on her knees with both arms
outstretched. ooh, you splendid crea-
ture!" she cried, "you big, lovely
white darling!"
The dog seemed in no way averse
to this sensational proceeding. He re-
sponded instantly not merely with tail
wagging, but with ecstatic grunts and
growls. "Where did you come from?"
she questioned, as his pink tongue
struggled desperately to find a cheek
through the whorl Of coppery hair.
"Why, you must be the one / was
told not to be afraid Of"
She petted and fondled the smooth
intelligent muzzle. "As if any one
could be afraid Of you! Well set
your master right on that point Smil-
ing to herself, she pulled one of the
roses from her belt, and twisting a
wisp of long grass, wound it round
and round the dogs neck and thrust
the ragged rose-stem firmly through
it. "Now.' she said, and pushed him
gently from her, "go back, sir!'
He whined and licked her hand, but
when she repeated the command, he
turned obediently and left her. A lit
tie way from her he halted, with sud-
den perception Of mysterious punish
ment, shrugged, sat down, and tried to
reach the irllsome grass-wisp with his
teeth. This failing, he rolled labori-
Ously in the dirt.
Then he rose. cast reproachful
glance behind him. and trotted off.
CHAPTER VIII
Mad Apfhnnv