American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1919-04-04
On the Long
Way Round
Copyright
By A. JERRoLD TIETJE

and russell shoes.
To have his arrival at an out-of-the-
wav station in the Adirondacks delay
ed by an accident, till the ~unheard-or
hour of 1880 a. M; to have found o
and to have been forced
70 walk four miles along a billy road
had not pleased the Adairs' new
chauffeur.
Nevertheless, as Ford's keen gray
eyes scanned the estate of his master
ODE, annoyance gave way to satis-
faction.
The long, velvet lawns, edged with
geraniums and asters; the tennis
courts; the graveled walks sweeping
IN to the p~orte-coshere of h Eliza
bethan house, on the chimneys oil
which glimmered the first rays of the
sun-all these brought a CLEAN OF
Measure to the chauffeur's features.
His lot had evidently fallen into a
summer of eden.
Suddenly Ford's glance, in its rapld
survey, lighted Upon the veranda.
Even thus early, it seemed, someone
was stirring. There was a swish OF
dainty white skirts and a flutter down
the steps. The girl was pretty. Ford'
no mean Judge, ventured that. The
brown hair, ripping in morning dlS-
array about the shoulders, the ten
derby oval face, the light step, promised
well.
Mentally as the figure drew nearer,
Ford found himself measuring the girl,
as he did all others, by Lucy.
He Judged her twenty-five; that
would be Lucy's age. All! If Lucy
had kept her word last summer, but
pshaw! the rich girl had only played
with him. AS oon as she came upon
the ugly fact of his poverty she had
faded away. At the hotel, when he
had called the. last morning, there had
been merely a note with some cruel
lines about the necessity of Injuries,
the scale she was accustomed to, etc.
The near music in her laugh called
Ford back from his reveries. Lucy
had laughed like that-an enchanting
woodland note.
Eagerly he peered through a leafl
crevice. The girl, her head slantec
back. was laughing at a great bull pun
tearing across from the kennels. II
its frantic haste the animal had trippet
and plowed up a yard of turf.
"Poor Snip I" the girl said. Come
on, Them
As she turned to continue her stroll
the pup, bounding up and down, lick
ing her hands f%uriously, the girls face
came into full view.
Ford stiffened. The chin, the up
tilt of the nose-the straight, whit
forehead, glimpsed between the wave
Of hair-above all, the deep hazel eye
facing life so openly-these had bee
LucT's. This-was Lucy.
Z Pord had half won a girl at the sea
shore ten months beforehand his wa
=, the girl. He bounded through til
| acacias, their delicate petals shower
} ing about his head as a wood gods.
Lucy! !" The cry was sharp an
t sudden. The girl paled and started
But Ford would have swore her Lip
Y shaped Jack"
I If so, this girl, so like Lucy, game
: her balance rapidly.
"Down, Snip" she said to the grow
9 ing dog.
Then turning to the man she wei
1 on with an intense calmness: "You al
/ mistaken, l think. My name is Ada
Ellen Adair."
t But the man was not to be put OF
Lucy you don't know" he hega
The dog had ceased snarling.
8 az assure you" she repeated, IN
name is not Lucy; there is no Luz
o here. Come, Snip"
r In stupefaction Ford followed Il
0 rustic of the white skirts over Il
a gravel. The girl, whoever she wa
was brave. The chin had not qui
n cred: she was not quickening h
Ie steps. But-that she was not Luc
L Lucy's hair, voice, walk, eyes, and y
l. not Lucy! 1t was monstrous.
'. could not be.
,, And then, in a flash, truth dawn
- upon him.
1t was Lucy.
= But If chauffeurs have griefs tn
"a also have duties.
Only three hours later, before I
"a porte-cochere stood the small, one-se
~ ed automobile. Idly the new chauffe
still in his ''gentlemen's' clothes, w
~ dered why this machine had been
dered to convey a guest to the ira
lv then allowed his thoughts to drift
d. Lucy.
"Mr. Ford, the mistress says NJ
m Lucy must be sure and make
i'd eight"
nd Ford was lost In a maze of wont
ment. For the face that was turn
he pale beneath its mesh of lace, even
he aided the girl to her seat, was
nj one he had seen In the morning,
wv face OF Lucy.
a For a short space the two waite
a the white ribbon of road unwinding
fore them.
But the mans chance had come
a $50 you are Lucy7" he said.
n