Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-03-24
GnIQRDIA

her. brother George. a cash boy, are the
wage earners where there are three
y Is if Eth ehi Here ,a Ths widowed xSers DIM mot ,sst
has been sold and must be vacated.
Having an unexpected half-holiday,
Shirley takes a street car ride in the
within their means to rent. She passes
a fine stone barn and %overhears a mar
say that 1t is h property Of q rich man
stops to look at the barn, then goes to
the Graham Office to see whether she
could rent the barn as a nome for the
s nu,am1mer anyhow, 50 as to give her sick
Graham. the junior partner Of the firm.
who agrees to give her an answer the
next day: She returns home elated at
find her at the Graham Offices asking
for Sidney Graham. 80
CHAPTER ~.
The afternoon before, when. Mr..
Sidney Graham had returned to his
office from seeing Shirley to the ele-
vator, he stood several minutes look
ing thoughtfully at the chair where
n a sat, while he carefully drew
on his gloves.
There had been something interest,"
ing and appealing in the spirited face
OF the girl, with her delicate features
and wistful eyes,. He could not seem
to get away from it. It had left an
impression of character and a strug-
gle with forces of which in his shell
tered life he had had only a vague
conception. It had left him with the
Keeling that h was stronger in some
ways than himself. and he did not ex-
actly Ill h sensation Of it. He
had always aimed to be a strong
character HIMSELF; and for a young
man who had inherited two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars on coming
of age. and double that amount two
years later. with the prospect Of an
other goodly sun when his paternal
grandfather's estate was divided. he
a done very well indeed. He had
stuck to business ever since leaving
college. where he had been by no
means a n%on-entity either in studies
or in athletics; and he had not been
spoiled by the adulation that a young
man of his good looks and wealth and
position always receives in society. He
mad taken society as a sort of duty,
but had W given it an undue pro-
portion of his TIME and thoughts.
Notably he was a young man Of fine
balance and strong self-control, not
given to impulsive or erratic likes and
dislikes; and he could not understand
Why a shabby little person with a lock
of gold over one crimson cheek, and
tired. discouraged lights in her eyes.
had made so strong an impression up
on him. a.. =
1t had been his intention Just be-
fore Shirley's arrival to leave the Of
flee at once and perhaps drop in on
ed propitious, he would take her for
spin In his new racing-car that ven
now waited in the street below; but
somehow suddenly his plan did not
attract him deeply. He felt the need
of being by himself. After a turn or
two up and down his luxurious Office
he took the elevator down to the
street floor. dismissed his chauffeur.
and whirled off in his car, taking the
opposite direction from that which
would have taken him to the Hale
residence. Harriet Hale was a very
pretty girl with a. brilliant mind and
a royal fortune. She could entertain
him and stimulate him tremendously,
and sometimes he almost thought the
attraction was strong enough to last
him through life; but Harriet Hale
would not be able to appreciate his
present mood no. explain to him why
the presence in his office for fifteen
minutes of a nervy little stenographer
should have made him so vaguely dis
satisfied with himself. If he were to
try to tell her about it, he felt sure
he would meet with laughing taunts
and brilliant sarcasm. She would
never understand. "
He took little notice Of where he
was going. threading his way skilfully
through the congested portion of the
city and out into the comparatively
found himself in the suburbs. The
name Of the street as he slowed up at
a grade crossing. gave him an idea.
Why shouldn't he take a run out and
hunt up that barn for himself. What
had she said about it, where it was?
He consulted the memorandum he
had written down for his fathers edi-
f1cation. "Glenside Road. near AL
lister Avenue" He further searched
his memory. big stone barn, wide
approach like a grand staircase. tall
ly ought to be enough to help him
identify 1t. There surely were not a
flock of stone barns in that neigh
borhood that would answer that de-
scription. :
He turned into Glenside Road with
satisfaction, and set a sharp watch
with, a view to finding Allister v
nue., and once he stopped and asked .
man in an empty m~ilk-wagon whether
~ nAAO W1ACIo y<14llSlOI dtCuuO "ASs
and was informed that it was ION q
piece, about five miles"
There was something interesting in
hunting up his own strange barn, and
he began to look about him and try
to see things with the eyes Of the
Egirl who had just called upon him.
Most of the fields were green with
spring, and there vas an air of things
doing over them, as IL growing were q
business that n could watch, like
housekeeping and paper-hanging
noticed before that the great bare
spring out-of-doors seemed to have
a character all its own, and actually
to have an attraction. A little later
| when h trees were out, and all the
orchards in bloom. and the wild fow-
ers blowing in the breeze. he could
rave over spring: but he had never
seen the charm Of its beginnings be-
fore. He wondered curiously over the
fact of his keen appreciation now.
The sky was all opalescent with
lovely pastel 3colors, along the horizon,
and a few tall. lank trees had put on
a soft gauze OF green over their fore
heads like friz1es, d~iscernible only to
a close observer. The air was getting
chilly with approaching night, and
the bees were no longer proclaiming
With their hum the way to the skunk
cabbages; but a delicate perfume was
in the air. and though perhaps Ora
ham had never even heard OF skunk
cabbages, he drew in dong breaths Of
sweetness, and let out his car over
the smooth road with a keen delight.
Behind a copSe OF fine old willows,
age-tall and hoary with weather, their
extremities just limiting Of green, an
they stood knee-deep In the brook on