The Cairo bulletin., 1914-03-01

mat shall we name him?'
I'd call him Fire Cracker IL, he
goes off like that" she said And Fire
Cracker the bird was christened forth
with.
And now said Shirley. lets set
out the ramblers.'
The major had brought a rough plan,
sketched from memory, Of the old ar.
rangement of the formal garden an
just 20 over the lines OF the beds With
inc Jefferson" he proposed, while
you two potter over thcse roses" SO
Valiant and Shirley walked beck Up
the slope beneath tho pcfgola To-
gether
With Ranston. putting apl blowias
| like a black porpoise over his creak-
| ing go-cart, they planted the ramhlers
| crimson and pink and white-Va-
| liant much OF the time on his knees,
his hands plGnging deep into the black
! spongy earth. and Shirley with broad
hat flung on the grass. her fingers
| separating. the clinging thread-like
| roots and her small arched foot lamp,
Ing down the soil about them. Her
hair--the color of wet raw wood in
| the sunlight-was very near the brown
| head and sometimes their fingers
| touched over the work. Once as they
| stood up, flushed with the exercise, a
| great black and orange butterfly
dazed with the sunglow, alighted on
Vaiants roled-up sleeve. He held his
arm perfectly still and blew gently
on the wavering pinions till it swan
away. When a redbifd flirted by, to
his delight abe whistled its call SO
perfectly that it wheeled in mid aighl
and tilted inqulringly back toward
| them.
AS they descended the terrace again
| to the pergola he said, There's only
one thing lacking at Damory Court
| sun.dial."
, Then you haven't found it," she
cried delightedly. Come and let me
show you"
She led the way through the maze
of beds at one side till they reached
a hedge laced thickly with Virginia
creeper. He parted this leafy screen
bending back the springing fronds
that thrust against the flimsy muslin
| of her gown and threatened to spear
the pinkrosed hat that cast an ador-
able warm tint over her creamy face,
thinking that never had the old place
seen such q picture as she made
framed in the deep green.
Some such thought was In the ma
| jor's mind, too, as he came slowly up
the terrace below He paused. 10 take
of hts hat and wipe his brow.
With the place all fixed up this
| way" he sighed TO himself Il could
believe it was only last week that
Beauty Valiant and Southall and
were boys, loadng around this gyar
den. And to think that now it's Va
liant's son and Judith's daughter!
Why, It seems like yesterday that Shir
ley there was only knee.high to q
grasshopper--and / used TO tell heI
her hair was that color because she
ran through hell bareheaded. In
about a thousand years old, reckon!
| Meanwhile the two figures above
had pushed through the tangle into
circular sunny space where stood 9
short rcslnd pillar of red onyx. It was
a sun-dial, its vine-clad disk cut o
gray polished stone in which its meta
tongue was socketed. Round the outer
edge of the disk ran an Inscription
in archaic lettering. Valiant pulled
away the clustering ivy leaves ant
read; Il count no hours but the hap
Ply ones"
IF that had only been true!" he
said
1T is true. See how the vines hid
the sun from it. IL ceased to mark
the time after the Court was de
serted"
i IN put moonfiowers at its base and
where YOU are standing, Madonna
lilies. The outer part of the circle
shall have bridal-wreath and white
iirises, and they shall shade out into
Ipastel eolors-mauyes and gra,s aud