Meade County news., 1918-04-25
THE LITTLE HOUSE
BY JACK LAYTON.

| the miles he would have to walk In Or
der to dine. at his boarding place in
the village below. When his work Of
road construction should be in prog
ress he would have to consider some
means Of transition; the present state
of the land made this difficult.
Like a white square on the hillside
stood cottage; he remembered hav-
ing passed 1t on his upward way. What
a strange, detached home 1t must be-
far from neighboring habitation. Per-
haps 1t might be possible to procure
light luncheon there. The door,
when he reached the house, stood
open, disclosing to the farthest corner
one wide room. It was a remarkable
room for an humble country cottage.
While the floor was scrubbed guiltless
Of varnish, the walls were lined with
shelves of books.
A pictorial calendar, with verse
for each day, drew his attention; Gu
riously, the verses were printed In Ger
man. Upon the window seat, among
its artistic cushions, were scattered
various maps and drawings.
Then between two bookcases opened
what he had fancied to be an outer
door, and a girl appeared from the in
terlor. A glorious creature she was,
small, yet with an unmistakable air
Of dignity
81 am a civil engineer-Richard FL
lis," he explained; 1--WE are going to
put through a road. My boarding
place in the village seemed too far
away at dinner time, and hoped to
get glass of milk and some bread at
a farmhouse, but" he smiled engag-
ingly. IT find this Is decidedly not q
farmhouse"
The girl gravely considered. "Still,"
she said, 1--WE may be able to provide
you with a cup of coffee" She moved
indifferently toward the prepared ta-
BILE. "Make yourself at home," she
invited.
In strange diffidence, the usually
confident engineer obeyed. When, with
her regal air, the girl had prepared his
coffee, she went out into the porch.
1t was all pleasantly mysterious. FL
lis enjoyed the perfect salad, and Won
dered who the deuce his queenly
hostess might be. The matter Of re-
muneration troubled him; he could i'm
agine her scorn at the suggestion OF
payment. Yet he felt like an inter-
loper calmly partaklng Of her food.
The girl promptly relieved him on
this score. II asked you to stay" she
said, as he appeared upon the porch,
"in order to gain information about the
new road. Please explain to me con-
cisely, just how and where it Is go
ing"
The engineer stared In astonishment.
Her question had the sound Of COM
mand.
at is not customary" he began
hesitatingly, and for the first time the
girl laughed.
"No?" she questioned, as steadily
she faced him. "Then, Mr.. Ellis, en-
gineer," she challenged, "stop in again,
say tomorrow, and you shall see your
wonderful plans, as they are not now,
but as they will be when completed"
'T do not understand you," Ellis re-
peated slowly. With strange reluc-
tance he turned to depart.
The girl pointed to the village below.
''Down there" she said, mockingly,
''they will tell you all about me-"
1t was. impossible to concentrate
upon the duty Of the afternoon because
of her haunting personality.
"Who lives thereP" he asked of
Sammie, associate engineer.
"The lady Of mystery" Sammie an
swered. "Why, haven't you heard?
She comes galloping into town on a
black horse, with great dog in tow.
They have it figured out here that she's
In the employ Of the German govern
ment, mapping out the country and all
that. Look out for the black eyes,
Dickie, or she'll have you hypnotlzed."
To Richards memory came quickly
the girls boasted knowledge Of his
work, her own avowal that she had
entertained him in order to gain infor-
nation.
'I came" he greeted, "to have you
fulfill your promise concerning my out
| line Of work."
In her own pretty, serious way, the
girl bowed, and placed in his hands the
completed blueprint map Of the road.
"But, howl" he asked perplexedly.
Again the girl laughed, and dropping
her manner Of reserve, seated herself
on the step at his side.
"What am now," she asked naively,
"a defaulter in hiding, German
spy, or just disappointed in love?
They have had me all three at the viii
lage"
Ellis gazed tensely into the black
eyes. "What are you" he asked
"That is what I wanted to know my
self"
'T shall only dlsappoint you" the
girl replied. "It is so simple. My
father is Lewis Kahn, chief engineer.
When learned that he must be away
from home long, begged to come with
him and keep house. He sent on our
man to fix up this shack, and then was
| ooIIo1 ox,,oxv 1ho ryorxy Of Ot1. -