The Washington times., 1919-03-29

1t was a hot August morning. in
tensely blue and STILL with that
slow. subtle concentration OF sus-
pended power in the sky, ominous
Of thunder brooding somewhere
beyond the western edges OF the
world.
Ruhannah aided her mother with
the housewOrk, picked peas and a
squash and a saucer full of yellow
pansies in the weedy little garden,
: and, at noon, dined on the trophies
of her husbandry, physically and
esthetically.
Draws stone Bridge.
After dinner, dishes washed. and
room tidied, she sat down on the
narrow, northumberland veranda
with pencil and paper, and at
tempted to draw the stone bridge
and the little river where it spread
in deeps and shadows above the
broken dam.
Perspective was unknown to her;
of classic composition she was also
serenely ignorant, so the absence
Of these in her picture did not an
roy her. On the contrary, there was
something hideously modern and re-
cessional in her vigorous endeavor
TO include in her drawing every
thing her gray eyes chanced
TO rest on. She even arose and
gently urged a COW into the already
overcrowded composition, and, hav-
ing accomplished its portrait with
Cezanne-Iike fidelity, was beginning
to look about for Adoniram to in
Clude him also. when her mother
called to her, holding out a pair OF
old gloves.
Dear, we are going to save a
little money this year. Do you
think you could catch a few fish
for SUPPER
The girl nodded, took the gloves.
laid aside her pencil and paper.
picked up the long bamboo pole
from the veranda floor, and walked
slowly out into the garden.
A trowel was sticking into the dry
earth near the flower bed. where
poppies, and pansies, and petunias,
and phlox bordered the walk.
Under a lilac the ground seemed
moister and more promising for
vermicular investigation; she drew
on her gloves, dug a few holes with
the trowel, extracted an angleworm,
frOwned slightly. holding it between
gloved fingers, regarding its contor-
To bait hook was not agreeable
to the girl: she managed to do it,
however. then shouldering her pole
she walked across the road and
down to the left, through rank
grasses and patches OF milkweed,
bergamot, and queens lace, scatter
ing a cloud of brown and silver
spotted butterflies.
Alder, elder. and Indian willow
barred her way: rank thickets OF
iewelweed hung vivid blossoming
drops across her path: woodbine
and clematis trailed dainty snares
to catch her in their fairy nets: a
rabbit scurried out from behind the
ruined paper mill as she came to
the swift, shallow water below the
dam
Casts Her Line Over.
Into this she presently pumped
her line, and the next instant jerk
ed it out again with a wriggling.
silvery minnow flashing on the
hook.
Carrying her pole with its tiny.
glittering victim dangling aloft,
Rue hastily retraced her steps to
the road. crossed the bridge 10 the
further end, seated herself on the
limestone parapet, and. swinging
her pole with both hands, cast line
and hook and minnow far out into
the pond. 1t was a business she
did not care fOr-this eXtinguishing
the life spark in anything. But.
like her mill work. il appeared to
be necessary business, and, so re-
garding it, she went about it.
The pond above the half-ruined
dam lay very still; her captive min
now swan about with apparently
no discomfort, trailing on the sur
face OF the pond above him the
cork which buoyed the hook.
Rue, her pole clasped in both
hands between her knees. gazed
with preoccupIed eyes out across
the water. On the sandy shore
pair Of speckIed tip-Ups ran busily
about. dipping and bobbing. or
spread their white. striped wings to
sheer the still surface OF the pond,
swing shoreward with bowed wings
again, and resume their formal,
quaint, and busy manners.
From the interstiCes OF the lime
stone parapet grew a white blue
bell-the only one Rue had ever
seen. AS long as she could remem-
Der it had come up there every |
year and bloomed. snow white
amid a world of its blue comrades
in the grass below. She looked for
ii now, saw it in bud-three sturdy
stalks sprouting at right angles
from the wall and curving up par
allel to il. Somehow or other she
had come to associate this white
freak or nature with herself-she
scarcely knew why. II comforted
her, oddly. to see il again, still sur
viving, still delicateIy vigorous,
though where among those stone
slabs II found it's nourishment she
never could imagine
The intense blue OF the sky had
altered since noon: the west be-
came gradually dulIer and the air
stiller; and now, over the GayfeId
hills, tall cloud thrust up silvery-
edged convolutions toward a zenith
still royalty and magnifcentIy blue.
She had been sitting there watch
ing her swimming cork for over an
hour when the first light western
breeze arrived, spreading a dainty
ripple across the pond Her cork
danced, drifted; beneath il she
caught the momentary glimmer OF
the minnow: then the cork was
jerked under; she clasped the pole
with all her strength, struck up
ward, and q heavy pickerel, all |
gold and green, sprang furiously |
from the water and fell back with |
a sharp splash.