The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1915-10-11
THE CLOSED ROAD
BY KEITH KENYON.

| '
When Bert Perry closed his desk on
Friday night he hadn't any very dis
tinct idea OF where to 60, but as he
passed to the elevator and looked at
the door of the Office that used to be
Jane Tenny's he decided on trip to
Piney Roads. Jane Tenny had been
a public stenographer, but when
things had grown dull in Wall street
she had given up her business ven
ture and moved of to Piney Roads
to seek her fortune in chickens and
fruit farming.
1t was a six o'clock Saturday eve
ming and Bert decided that his first
stop would be at the Piney Roads ho-
tel.
IT'S a neatly kept little place."
thought Bert. as he surveyed the sym
metrical rows of hollyhocks on either
side of the path, although it doesn't
seem very large"
Then he sounded his hcrn for some
one to come and take his car, but no
cne seemed to be stirring and there
was no sign Of garage He sounded
long and impatiently until at last
from behind the house appeared an
old man In overalls.
There amt any garage round
here, drawled the mar. You'll have
to take your machine down to the
crossing"
Where is the proprietor" Bert
was getting impatient and, as the old
man seemed not to understand he
added, "the man who keeps the place,
! mean"
"Oh. now understand" drawled
the old man. chuckling. 1T amt
man-it's a lady. She was back in
the orchard picking cherries. and she
said she had Just stepped in to tidy
| up bit and would be out socn. Here
she is
When Bert caught sight Of pink
dress and then he recognized Jane
Jane, whose interesting, pale face had
grown positively pretty since her so
| journ in the country.
| And how urembarrassed and cordial
she wasl She really seemed to be
glad to see hir1.
"Frcm the. garden could see it was
you,' she said, and Just had to take
of my sunbonnet, don't want you
to make fun Of my farming"
| There followed few explanations.
mo, / am net the proprietor of
the hotel" Jane assured him. There
must be some mistake in the road
book. In fact. you are the third
tourist today who has come here with
that idea. And you really came all
the way up here to see me? Why
didn't you let me kncw?"
Just then another car pulled into
that driveway, car of French build
that made Bert's modest roadster look
| Insignificant.
Il say" called one OF its two occu-
| pants to the farmer, who was just
making his way back to the orchard,
where is the garage of this estab-
lishment? Wen drive right in and
you have the proprietor ready to see
us when we get back here We've
only twenty minutes for dinner"
That's the way it's been all the
afternoon" said Jane, when she had
explained to the MISUNDERSTANDING
tourists that her modest little house
made no pretentions at being a hos
| telry.
That's great disappointment"
said one of the men. 1T promised to
be something out of the ordinary in
the way Of inns. When l saw it
felt certain you'd give us a dinner
worth eating. What? Back one road?
| Thank you"
When Bert returned to the veranda
from his room, Jane had solved the
mystery.
I've been looking at your road hook
| and it says that the way to get to
the inn is to turn at the second road
after you leave the pike. Well, the
county has Just closed up the first
road and put row of poplars across
1t. That accounts for the confusion"
It was not until after James de-
iightful little supper, served en- the
| open veranda, that she showed her
guest over the place. the orchards and
the berry patches, the poultry yard
and the neatly kept truck garden.
But the worst of it all is,' she
confessed rather dclefully, ''it doesn't
pay any better than Wall street"
Jane, I've just had an inspiration, !"
he said. very solemnly. You say that
you want to make some money. Why,
this very afternoon you have had a
chance to make more money than
we've been making in Wall street fer
a week. or that you can get from your
farm for many a day. The inn down
the road is no good. am told, and
the owner doesn't care whether he
has any patrons or not. There are
dozens of motorists along here every
day who would stop for dinner or
luncheon if they knew you had good
things to eat. This road catches an
unusually high-class traffic. Think
about it, and in the meantime don't
write to the road book people to
change the directions"
It's too much of an undertaking
for a woman alone. If had man to
go in with me-" She blushed in