The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1914-01-16
XIII.
Little Peters Mistake.
. r.. VAN ZANDT had come up.
town early that afternoon;
just before Christmas there

JUST DeIOFe CnFlSCIniS Lnefe
was not much law business
to be attended to. He had gone. as
usual, into the library to read his Even
ing Post. He sat beside the fireplace
where the Liverpool coal burned cheer.
lily, opposite to him the pier mirror.
some of its silvcry lining worn away,
behind him the curtained arch. There
were leather chairs and the leather
lounge: bookcases on all four sides;
the large table in the middle Of the
room had or it the violin case. the
Godey's Lady's Book. Betty's last note
to him. and the carte de visite he had
taken from under her pillow. now In
q crimson velvet passe partout. By
and by he laid down his paper. lighted
q cigar and drew nearer to the fender:
there was not Il sound In the house:
nor yet without for the snowfall had
been heavy. and it had begun again
to come down; not a sound save the
cricket that chirped on his hearth. He
heard 1t and smiled as he called 1t a
lonely mans comyade: there had al
ways been a cricket singing on that
hearth in winter time. as long rs he
could remember. Presently s~lcighbelis
jingled in the street: the hearty laugh.
ter Of youth reached his ears: d voice
called out to the horses "'Whoa. there.
steady!!" and then silence once more.
His eyes Travelled to the table to the
carte de visite in the velvet frame.
Dotkr .vo,,ll nnk .,co kho oo~xx
berry a Each morning the coach
man waited for orders: each morning
Shaddle or Bridget told him there were
none.
But Betty had come home. He him.
self had seen her. Why had she come?
There was but one wall between them;
should he break it down and march
in and repossess his own?
But bow could he do that? Nothing
might he further from her desires than
that be should show himself to her.
She kept aIoof. Well. but q woman
could not put out her hand to a man
unless the man first extended bis.
Should he write to her? he took up
his pen. Absurd! To write to Betty
when merely a wall divided him from
her. w
But that wall! Who had built It,
he. Peter Van Zandt. What a fool he
was: OF course Betty would not stir
an inch,toward the man who had built
a wall up between her and him. He
would have the wall torn down tomor4
row. That was It. tomorrow. He got
up and began pacing the door restless.
~. smoking all this while. 20 that BY
then the place was In u haze Of tlmy
blue. Through It the Gre shadows
6ickering and playing on the and
irons. the Indian rug. the Impoverished
mirror. his own face.
II he could but tear down that vail
now. with bis fists and fingers. They
had had harder work to do and had
done 1t. over In the African mines.
Yes. be would do 1t now. Do 1t him.
self. here were the window bars.
heavy. quite 1t and able to batter
plaster. mortar and bricks to a ruin.
Then the image Of her standing yon-
der under the bnre trees In the park.
expectant. eager. watchful for some
one else. sm0te him to the heart. and
he laughed u little. put down the tool
he had seized. sat In bis chair with his
back entirely to the arch with its
brocateIle curtains that had never once
In all the. years been displaced Or
touched by hand Of bis. He lighted q
fresh cigar. and the smoke wreaths
grew thicker. and the mist over Ill
more dense. and the cricket
sang IN. and the rest Of it was silence
and his hunger for Betty.
There may have been. indeed there
were. other sounds there-the creak OF
rusty hinges. the sweep Of brNateile.
the careful tread Of two little feet lost
in . pair Of cavalry bsOts that
reached to a childish waist. the xoft
purring Of three pussy cats and tho
swish Of their tails against the Turk.
lsh ottOmans near the arch. The little
boy. BY no a abashed or fright.
ened. saw the figure Of the man
through te haze. but not his facp. D
was not toward him. He made 81
= M1.A = fAEG ~ ~ MI &4E11 eKA A ~. 9Nf K2E