Evening star., 1916-06-29

and waiting for the : O'Clock whistle 10
blow.
Zoe Simmons said they had car
load of peaches come in last night,
he remarked. and the merchants re-
| fused to take EN- for some reason or
other Joe said they'd be giving them
away today. If can pick up couple
of baskets cheap I'll send EN- over
I'm awf,1llv fond of peach sauce myself" 8"
II don't believe can do up peach :
| es today with all the rest of my work.
Mamie said. II don't feel We'll some
| way. 1t has been SO hot ns
But great Scott, you can anord
| not TO do EN- up if | r1T get EN-
| for YOU as cheap as Joe "t:H' cried
Bert in amazement.
4 moment later the TyI,stle biew b,r
and he hurried away. Hall an hour
later gust as she had got the clothes
i'm the first rinSing water} Mamie had
what she would have called bad
turn" Her heart suddenly baked, and
she sank into char paIiid' hreaJ JhleSs
and with "A deadly faintness. For
few moments she sat still. wondering
whether she would live or die. and not
caring which she did. Il wouldn't turn
over my hand to live another minute"
she thought and tears started down
her thin, pale cheeks.
In these few minutes her life flashed
before her. First her childhood. pit
iful and poor, with her father always
ont of work and her mother crying;
then her girlhood wherein she had
fought for education and got enough
to teach school and support the fam
ily until an accident took her father
and heart disease her mother. then her
early vomanf ood, when things had
frightened and she had taken that trip
west with Olive Price, who was Olive
Taylor now, a rich mans wife and for
ever out of her reach. She had become
engaged to Bert Hacker by letter upon
that trip Distance lent enchantment
she learned when again she stood face
to face with him. But she had given
her word-a sacred ordinance with her.
And even though it meant losing
olives friendship, for Olive was dis
eusted with the match, she married
him. No one but God and herself
knew what her life had been. She had
borne four children and watched them
die. She always had been poor. alone.
unsympathized with. And vet, some
how. she had chung to her ideals with
the desperation of one to whom nothing
else is left She had kept her soul
afioat while her body sank beneath the
soiled currents Of her life.
AS she sat thinking and waiting for
her strength to return the door opened
and a boy looked in.
'Lo Mis- Hacker" he cried. "Berts
sent some peaches
She did not answer. She sat looking
at him he put basket after basket
down.
Nice hot morning for a canning Job"
he grinned a. he vanished
Mamie got up and pried the lid off
one basket. 1t was easy 10 see why the
merchant had rejected them. They were
oyer-ripc- fast rotting. There We're
seven baskets. and they could not bear
an hours delay. She stood staring at
them at the washing half done and the
disordered kitchen. She felt crushed
beneath the burden. She sank back
into the chair and covered her face
with her hands.
out in the street a siren shrilled The
front door bell rang. She heard moth
ing Not until the outer door of the
kitchen opened again did she look lIp
For a moment she stared unbelievingly
at the silk coated and Veiled woman
who stood there smiling AT her
"Olive Taylor" she gasped and col
lapsed gratefully into a fragrant en-
brace ITO be kissed like that, Why
olive I'm glad can't crv nor
laugh either one. I'm 50 GLAD OTTO