The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1914-11-06

she would not so absorb BlosSys at
tentlon az to preclude n wifely minis
terlng to his aching feet and the appli-
cation of st Jerushy lie" to his lame
and sore back.
The torture Of tho feet aud back
made walking harder, too, than he had
believed possible with the prospect OF
relief so near AS he limpcd along he
was forced to pause every now and
again and set down the carpetbag.
sometimes to rub his back. sometimes
to seat himself on a stump and nurse
for few moments one of those de.
mon.pussesaed feet Could he have
made any progress at all II he had
not known that at home, no matter II
there was company, there would at
least be no Abe Rose 10 keep him go.
ing, to spur him on to unwclcome
action, to force him to prove himself
out of sheer sclf.respeCt the equal, II
not the superior, in masculine
strength?
Abe had led him that chase over
at the station, Samuel was convinced
"a.purpose" to punish him for having
SO soundly berated him when he lay
abed. That was all the thanks you
ever got for doing things for some
fol,s5"
Samuel hobbled onward, his brow
knit with angry resentment. Did ever
a half.milc seem SO long, and had he
actually been only twenty.three hours
from home and Blossy? Oh oh! his
back and his feet! Oh. the weight OF
that bag! How much he needed sleep!
How good 1t would be to have Blossy
tuck him under the covers. and give
him a hot lemonade with a stick Of
ginger in it,!
If Oaly he had hold OF Abe Rose now
to tell him his opinion of him! Well.
he reelected. you have to summer and
winter with a person before YOU can
know them. This one December day
and night with Abe had been equal to
the revelations Of dozen reasons.
The next time Samuel ;Tied to do good
to anybody more than siXty.iiye, he'd
know IL. The next time he was per.
suaded into leaving his wife for over
night, he'd know that. too. Van GUS
manuals for the young husband, which
he had consulted TO the contrary not.
withstanding, the place for married
man was at home.
Samuel sat down on a fallen tree
which marked the halfway point be.
tween his place and the bay. The last
half of the journey would seem short.
er, and, at the end, there would be
Blosey smiling welcome, for he
never doubted but that Blossy would
be glad to see him. She thought a
good deal OF him, nor had she been
especially anxious for that week 6,
separation.
} His face smoothed its troubled
frowns into look OF shining anticipa.
tion-the look that Samuel's face had
worn when first he ushcred Blossy
into his tidy little home and wurmured
huskily:
Mis- Darby. you're master o. the
vessel naow; I'm Jest fo'castle hand
Forgetting all his aches, his pains
his rescntments, Samuel took pep
permint lozenge out of his pocket
rolled 1t under his tongue, and walked
on. Presently, as he saw the light OF
the clearing through the trees, he
broke into q run-an old mans trot-
thus proving conclusively that hh
worry of lumbago and chilblains had
been merely wrongly diagnosed case
OF inconsistencies.
He grinned as he pictured Abes dis
may on returning to the station to
hnd him gone. Still. he reflected
maybe Abe would have q better time
alone with the young fellows; he hat
grown so plagued young himself all o.
sudden. Samuel surely need no
worry about him.
More and more goofnatured grew
Samuel's face, until a sociable rabbit
peeplns at him from behind bush
decided to run race with the oil
gentleman. and hoped fearlessly gu
into the open.
"Ah, yew young rascal" cried Sam
uel. "Yew'rc the teller that eat III
all my winter cabbages"
Al this uncanny reading of hii
mind Mr. Cottontail darted @T int
the woods again to seek out his mat
and inform her that their guilt hat
been discovered.
: Finally, Samuel came to the breal
J In the woodland, an open field OF rye
green as sprinEtme grass, and hi
own exquisitoly neat abode beckon
ing across the gray rail fence to him
. How r-c:.. Blossy's geranium
= looked in the e..ting.room windows
/ Even at this distance. too. he couit
! sec that she had not forgotten to wa
! ter his pct abutilon and begonias. HOY
, welcome in the midst OF this furry o
snow--how welcome to his eye wa
, that smoke coming out of the chin
! reys All the distress OF his trip ava
, from home seemed worth while noy
for the joy of coming back.
3 Before he had taken down the fence