The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1915-07-22
The Story of
WaitStill
Baxter
BY KATE DOUGLAS WIGSIN
copyrish. 1918. BY Kate Dousi.s wissin
CHAPTER XXI.
A Wedding Rina.

at the beginning OF the week
and now for days II had GOV
cred the ground deeper and deeper
drifting about the little red brick hous,
on the hilltop. banking up against tn,
barn and shrouding the sheds and tn,
smaller buildings.
There had been two cold, still nights
the windows were covered with silvery
landscapes whose delicate foliage made
every pane OF glass leafy bower
while dazzling crust bediamonded
the hillsides. so that no eye could rest
on them long without becoming snow
blinded.
Town House hill was not as well
Travelled as many others, and Deacon
Baxter had often to break his own
road down to the store without wait
Ing for the help OF the village snow
pillow to make things easier for him.
Many a path had waitstill broken In
her time, and It was by no means one
OF her most distasteful tasks-that Of
shoveling into the drifts of heaped up
Wilderness, tossing them to one side or
the other and cutting a narrow, clean
edged track that would pack down
into the hardness Of marble.
There were many chores" to be
done these cold mornings before any
household could draw a breath of com
fort The Bakers kept but one COW
In winter, killed the plg-not to eat,
but to sell-and reduced the fock OF
M mi h,t ura
ways as busy In the barn as In her
own proper domain.
Her heart yearned for all the dumb
creatures about the place, Intervening
between them and her fathers scanty
care. and when the thermometer de-
scended far below zero she would be
found stuffing hay into the holes and
cracks OF the barn and henhouse, CIV
Ing the horse and COW fresh beddings
or straw and a mouthful of extra food
between the slender meals provided by
the deacon.
1t was 3 o'clock I'm the afternoon. and
hre In the Baxters' kitchen since O
In the morning had produced a fairly
temperate climate In that one room,
though the entries and chambers might |
have been used for refrigerators. as
the deacon was as parsimonious in the |
use OF fuel as In all other things, and
Il his daughters had not been hardy |
young creatures, trained from their
very birth to discomforts and expo
sures of every sort. they would have
lied long ago.
The Baxter kitchen shone and gilt
cred In all its accustomed cleanliness
md order Scrubbing and polishing
we're cheap amusements and nobody
yrudged them to Waitstil No tables
n Riverboro were whittier. no tins
more lustrous, no pewter brighter, no
rick hearths ruddier than hers The
,eans and brown bread and Indian
budding were basklng in the warmth
Il the old brick oven. and what with
ne crackie and sparkle Of the fire, the
Ileam Of the blue willow ware on the
cupboard shelves. and the scarlet gera-
nums blooming on the sunny shelf ,
ibove the sink, there were few pleas ,
inter places to be found In the village .
han that same Baxter kitchen. ,
Yet Waitstill was Ill at ease this r
fternoon; she hardly knew why. Her
ather had just put the horse into the =
ung and driven up to Milllken's mills 7
or some grain. and Patty was down =
I the store instructing Bill Morrill, 4
Cephas Coles successor) In his novel 1
ask of waiting on customers and I
'arning the whereabouts OF things; no I
asy task In the bewilderfng variety q
stock In country store, where pins, b
'eacle. Bingham. epson salts, Indian
zeal. shoestrfngs. shovels. brooms. sui a
bur. tobacco. suspenders, rum and In d
lgo may be demanded in rapid sue c
sssion O
Patty was quiet and docile these b
avs. though her color was more bril- q
mt than usual. and her eyes had all v
leir accustomed sparkle. She went b
'out her work steadily, neither rant
9 nor railing at fate, nor bewailing b
sr lot, but even in this waitstill felt b
sense OF change and difference too II
Ibtle to be put In words. She had a
tied Patty's summer firtations, but Il
garded them indulgently. very much cl
II they had been the irresponsible al
lskings OF lamb In a meadow. Ct
had more than the usual
serve In these matters, for In New "
ngland at that time. though the soul Il
as a subject OF daily conversation, In
o heart was felt TO be rather an In III
licate topic to be alluded to as sell al
IN as possible. Waitstill certainly NJ
ould never have examined Patty 70
)sely as TO the state OF her affec-
ms. intimate as she was with her Oh
tiers thoughts and opinions about 70
Q. She simply bided her time until vi
Itty should confide In her. th
She had wished now and then that fr
Itty's capricious fancy might settle TO
Philip Perry. although. indeed. m
len she considered 1t seriously, II 90
smed like an alliance between a but 90
'ny and an owl. Cephas Cole she re-
rded as quite beneath Patty's right. In
ambitions. and. as for Mark VII ri,
4. aha had grown up In the belief. gr