The Meeker herald., 1918-12-07
A Needles
Deception
q, LILLIAN HALL CROWLEY

b. LILLIAN HALL CROWLEY
(copyright, 1911. BY the Mcclure Nswspa.
psr gyndicsts)
"Now. mother DEAR" said Jane. 1--WE
simply must tx up the horrid house
some way. I can't have Ted's mother
see such place"
"Why make pretense. daughter7 This
Is the way we have lived for the last
four years."
Eyes. I know" answered Jane. ''but
1t isn't really our way Of living. We
nre only waiting until fathers peach
crop Is success. But to an outsider
this place looks as II It belonged to
a Hill Billy. It would class us with
them forever"
doesn't she like you for yourself,
Jane3" asked her mother anxiously.
Eyes. Of course. she has been a per-
feet dear ever since Ted and became
engaged. She made my last week In
college the brightest Of all for me-"
"Well, dear, what could We do to
this room1"
"weIl do a lot Of things to 1t. In
the first place. I asked Ted to bring
his mother and sister the day father
Is in town to be gone all day. ] know
he wouldn't have. any sympathy with
the way I feel about this and 1t will
all be over by the time he gets back"
Mrs. Wilson and her daughter were
sitting early one summer morning in
the only downstairs room in their
house. They had come from Pennsyl-
vanIa four years before when Nathan
lei Wilson had invested all he had In
a peach orchard In the Ozarks, where
one crop with favorable weather con-
dItions would bring him fortune. He
had worked hard to bring his orchard
to a state Of perfection, but always
some unfavorable occurrence hindered
the ong.looked-for bumper crop.
When his wife had protested against
their going to the farm, because James
education might be hindered, he had
assured her that there was . good uni
versity in the town q few miles away
and that Jane should have every adj
vantage. He had been able to keep
mis- word and Jane, who had just I'm
lshed high school in Pennsylvania. en-
tered the college. She was now Rradu-
ated and again home for the summer.
She had always been great help to
her mother when she was home. She
made all the clothes for the family.
put up fruit. cooked, and even helped
her father out Of doors. She had
learned many things In college. about
milk and butter, trees and shrubs, all
Of which practical knowledge was use
tul on the place.
During her last year Of college life
love had come knocking At the door Of
her heart In the person Of Ted SOmer-
vile. He belonged to one of the
wealthy families Of the town and his
mother was a social leader. They had
been very happy In their love. and
their Joy was complete when sTed's
mother showed instant fondness for
the young girl her sOn had chosen.
Everything had gone along smoothly
until now, when Jane realized what an
impression her miserable little home
might make on Mrs. Somerville. The
one large room was kitchen, dining
room and living room, while upstairs
were two bedrooms.
The house, with few pieces Of fur
nlture. had been on the farm when Mr..
Wilson had bought It. The family had
brought no furniture with them except
q few old helrlooms. They meant to
use the house only until such time as
they had money from the big peach
crop. Everything hinged on that.
Mrs.. Wilson, never very strong, had
lost interest In keeping up her house
or her own appearance, and her hus-
band was too busy to notice.
Now here was her daughter stirring
her out Of her usual calm lethargy.
Jane hauled out q carpet that had
been packed around one Of the pre-
cious pieces Of old mahogany and had
since reposed, folded, on the floor Of
the closet under the staircase.
"Come," said Jane peremptorily,
"let's put down this carpet"
"But-Jane, I never tackled down .
carpet beforew
"No. but you have seen them after
they were put down. Come. mother
dear. Let's hurry"
After the carpet had been put down
jane looked around with satisfaction
until her gaze took In the windows.
mo curtalnsi Mother, haven't you
nny7"
1--WE never had the heart to make
curtains for room like this" replied
Mrs. Wilson forlornly.
Jane ran to an old chest Of drawers,
relic Of better days, and took out a
bolt of white material belonging to her
wedding outfit. "Now we'll have cur
tains for all these windows. The view
over the mountain will be lovely and
we'll have lots OF flowers"
L. - In