The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-01-27


Mr.. Benz asked her name, TOOK mex
bags, and conscientiously explained
hat Mrs. Browne was i'll n that
Mr.. Browne was out of town n nao
sent him to fetch her.
Miss Dodson accepted this explana-
demurely enough. gave him a
6eeting and utterly impersonal in |
spection. and o her seat In the al
Miss DOdson had never been South
before. She was one Of those Puri-
tans who labor under the Illusion that
mint juleps supplanted all other bev-
erages in the South, hat b atmos-
phere is heavy with h perfume OF
that the shines twenty
four hours a day; that all trees are
magnolias, all negroes black. and all
Southern girls beautiful; and that all
Southern men RAk love withou
warning or provOcation.
True to his promise, Benz delivered
her, bag and baggage, safety at the
Browne residence without having VEN
tured a single remark. AS he turned
to go. he rather reproached himself
for rudeness and lack OF hospitality,
and in q rash moment Of confusion
and atonement said:
IF there is anywhere you'd like to
go FL call for you agan."
There is a meeting at ten in the
morning, I believe"
Benz nodded.
Miss Dodson thanked him in a mat
ter-of-fact little voice and went in.
| She had not observed Mr.. Benz's fine
| eyes, or the rugged strength Of his
face. She left him with the hay i'm
preston that his hands were dirty
that his had metal filings on
hem. and that his trousers were baggy
at the knees
Mrs. Browne took the words "No
explanations necessary" with abSurd
literalness. She was amused at first
that Miss Dodson made no reference
to her driver. It would have been
just like Ben to overlook the little
matter Of telling Miss Dodson who be
was.
II And then, ON the second day, Mrs
Browne, too, was called away very
early by the illness Of her mother; anl
she left a little note, which Miss bod
son got with her breakfast things
asking her to make herself at hom,
in the house and telling her that Ben.
was perfectly safe and reliable"
In calmer moments Benz cursel
himself for having deliberately be
} come involved in such an unpreeed
: ented affair. But he dreaded expla
nations more than complications. H
kept his promise with himself; con
s%equently with other people. At
quarter Of ten the following mornin
2 his car drew up at the Brownies gate
. He did not go in-he could new
8 have done that but he waite
patiently, and after a while he wa
. rewarded. Miss DodSon saw him ant
without further ado, marched out an
got into tine machine.
From Benz, point of view, this singl
= act was an evidence of tact and CON
mon such as he had eve befo,
: met with in a woman. Others, h
supposed. would a taken thir1
. minutes to put on a hat and make
& lot Of fuss about his coming to wal
: Miss Dodson became at once an ind
% vidual. definite and distinct. again
. the blurred background Of all h
former acquaintance of the same Sc
Cotton dropped six points today
said Mr.. Benz.
h Really"
& Dc you like to play poker, Mi
DOdson?"
She gave a little "a Poke
Mo-"
;" Mr.. Benz charged desperately In
d the last number on his carefully a
a ranged conversational programn
,e without the customary thank-yo'
pr very-kindly-for- your-kind -attenti6
formalities.
We What 10 you think Of Csc
WlIOe ne
Miss Dodson did not answer /
nd question. She explained that 81
r. wished to study her notes for a repo
she was to make before the conve
Ii. tino.
TO This explanation was entirely sat
d factory to Mr.. Benz; It relieved h
he of all further conversational effor
70 He slid a bit lower under the /
rs wheel and opened the cut-out on t
muffier to break the silence.
ed AS they rode he watched her
~istealthy glances from the corner
,b. his eyes. The result of this insps
TX ton was a surprise. There YVES
loose hair at the back Of her ne,
where hair is supposed to stay L
his but 1t fell a little over her eyes, whs
a it is expected 20 enthusiastically
by in a most becoming ann He a
of found that she had eyes which see
III ed to look a long, long way abe;
Her lashes were heavy and black
nd he saw them distinctly outlined agai
to her clear cheek. and H
Mr.. Benz breathed a deep heavy 81
his as if she had forced him to give
lsh some cherished conviction. Miss d