Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-25
THE EVENING STORY.
PIGS.
Copyright, 1914, by ". werner.)

Copyright, 1914, by ". werner)
You wanted to move out here" Joe
protested sullenly. Passion, barely con-
trolled, made his lean. tired face as faded
as the washed-out tan of his work shirt,
but the lean brown hand that lay on
the red dinner cloth trembled
Nell's hands, also brown, but not so
lean. were nervously occupied with the
fringe of the tablecloth on the opposite
side of the round kitchen table. She
crumpled. smoothed, tied the fringe and
united it and then flung forth the truth
that she had depressed two years. Il
didn't want to, l pretended l did-oe-
cause your heart was set on it." she said.
II said I, too, was tired of a small fiat
and city noises and the everyday same
ness ] know I said that / would love to
move to a dear little cottage all our own
but I was lying. l could have cried my
eyes out the day our furniture went down
to the van. ! hate it here, l can't stand
it any longer, Just get up. get break
fast, putter with calf and a patch of
garden-Id be glad never to taste garden
truck again-and get dinner. putter some
mere. go into town maybe for spool OF
thread come home. get supper. go to bed.
Well" she flung her hands out defiantly,
I'm through. I'm going back and lfe
where there's something besides barbed
wire fence to get excited over. You can
stay here"
Go then said Joe fiercely. and flung
himself ont of the small kitchen to the
small barn ten rods away. There his ap-
proach evoked squeals of delight. Nell,
hearing, was moved to desper wrath. the
authors of the squeals were the imme-
diate causes of the quarrel. although Its
real origin. as she had confessed. lay
two years back. but if Joe hadn't taken
the S25 which she had saved by selling
butter and eggs to buy a litter of sdueal-
ing, pink pigs she would have kept still,
and life would have gone on its usual mo-
nctonous, uneXciting way. But she had
saved the money for a monograph and
she wouldn't listen to Joe's explanation
that he hadn't meant to-that he had
been passing the farm where the sale was
being held, and they were going SO ridic-
ulously cheap.
Without word Nell put the dinner
upon the table. After a few minutes
jubilant talk over his acquisition he be-
came aware that his jubi!ation was alto
gether one-sided. He looked up and the
expression in Nells flashing brown eyes
made the happy snap in his own dlsap-
pear. And then each talked.
And when Nell, froWning over the IN
cessant squealing. had washed the dishes,
she deliberately went upstairs to the bed
room and began to pack her clothes She
frowned still more at the short time that
required. In two years she had mad notn-
ing new. There had been interest and
taxes, and chickens. a pillow, and other
things to- buy. But just as soon as
we're stocked Joe had promised, you'll
have some things" Now that there was
money over that was not absolutely need
ed. his promises had proven false. He
would rather look at fourteen dirty pink
ish-white little pigs than her. Very well,
he could have them. She snapped the
suitcase shut. She would take the early
morning train. That would get her into the
city at $50. She could get her old book
keeping position or another by noon. This
was the busy time of the year. Then