The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-11-04
The Road to Camelot;
BY =. RoNEY WEIR.

Copyright. Paget Newspaper Service.
Her brother George called her the
lady Of Shallott." but the name was
a misnomer because she could not
take three PAGES thro' the ROOM" but
must just sit weaving her webs of red
and white and pink shawls; the pink
for Cousin Emmeline with the tender
brown eyes, the red for Aunt Sarah
with her gypsy skin and sallow
cheeks, the white for grandma. But
Brother George said The Lady might
only watch lovers moving down to
Camelot, and the name fitted. So he
rugged a light table that she could pull
across her lap and rest her elbows
| upon when she held her field glasses
and watched passersby on the road.
It was surprising how much Of life
n could glimpse on a country road
connecting two stable towns.
This particular morning The Lady
was entirely alone. Business or pleas
ure had taken every other member Of
the family out of the house, and the
first to return as The Lady knew,
would be lilly, the maid, at 3 o'clock.
1t had never happened that way be-
fore and Brother George said it should
happen again. but The Lady
declared she should read and knit,
and look through her field glasses at
the people passing, and eve realize
her lonesomeness until lilly came
home. But, somehow, the heroine of
know, and the hero was-so-well-l
can't explain it, that she shut up the
book with a bang and took her knit
ting, which in turn, she presently laid
aside for her field glasses.
Brother George had placed her chair
back from the window that she might
avoid the glare of the sun on the river
just across the road, yet near enough
to command a stretch of the highway
through the field glasses.
Away to the west she saw a little
old man coming, bobbing along at a
rapid pace. When he was near enough
The Lady could see that he was bent
and stiff, and rheumatic: that his coat
was shabby, his hat battered and grey.
But he seemed to be walking on
springs. His wrinkled old cheeks
glowed, his sunken, colorless lips were
stretched into something resembling
a grin, his eyes gleamed-of course
at that distance she could not be sure
about this, but she imagined she could
his eyes cleaned with pleasant OK
element. His me struck the path
with jubilant little stabs, swung up
youthfully and pounded down again.
as IL the use ere advancing aerial
ly, and merely using the cane to pune.
tuate his progress. The Lady of Shat
OF wondered what It was which en-.
abled the old man to forget age, sgli-
ness. rheumatism. SO completely.
She was p~hilosophizing on the un-
reasonableness Of happiness-leeins
from those who had lovers and auto
mobiles, and abiding at times with the
feeble and aged, when just in front
of her gate, the old traveller met an
acquaintance. Then The Lady was
let into the tremendous secret.
From an inside pocket the old man
took out a bloated wallet. 1t was 10
the accustomed state Of his purse,
such a musty, fusty, ancient thing as
ty-ive cents, or, at most, a dollar and
a half at a time. Now it fairly bulged.
The field glasses made visible to The
Lady the trembling Joy in the with
cred old fingers that unclasped and
displayed the contents, then strapped
and buckled it snugly and replaced it
in an inside pocket of his coat.
The friend showed delighted sur
prise. He asked questions. The old
man explained. He measured off
height, length, breadth, depth. He
was certainly going to build a house
with the money in the fat pocketbook.
The Lady could discern not only the
sloping roof of the house, but the gar
den also, with a young apple tree, a
row of currant bushes, and a buckle
berry vine on the fence. She was in
a bazy dream of delight as the friends
SuOOh udIluS duU ScpdIdIcu. liz
spring birds were singing, and every
little sharp green blade of daffodil
down the sides of the garden path
treathed hope and anticipation.
The sun was fiercely warm, as it is
apt to be in the first spring days. It
was so warm that the old man took
OF his coat and hung it over his arm.
Then The Lady of Shalot thought
she saw a pitiful sight. She could not
be sure, but 1t seemed to her as II the
fat pocketbook slipped from the in
verted coat pocket to the ground.
while the old man trudged joyfully
cut of sight.
She hoped she had been mistaken;
she could not bear to think Of the ex.
preston on that wrinkled old face
when it's owner should discover his
loss. That dear little house and spread
ing garden gone like the shadows in
q dream. oh, that she could pattcr
down the stairs and out at the gate
and Aown tho road IN %convinco her.