The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1920-12-03
CHAPTER vl-conslnuod.

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She made herself say these words
calmly, looking him frankly in the
face. yet as he went outside, closing
the door behind him, seemingly quite
satisfied with her readiness to abide
the situation, she bowed her head on
the dirty table, and her body shook
with sobs which could no longer be
restrained. So this was what she had
come to--thls She had kept herself
up all day with dreams; and this was
the realization. She lifted her face
and looked about, the tears stIll mist
ing In her eyes; then she suddenly
laughed, and stood up with cheeks
glowing. and lips firmly set. It was
horrible mess, to be sure. vet the
place itself was not so bad; she had
lived in far worse; aud once put in
some degree of order and cleanliness
1t might prove fairly comfortable in
deed. She surveyed the scene, ms re-
vealed by the yellow flame OF the
lamp, her heart beating faster. This
was 10 be her home. She had come
here as mistress, 1t mattered not so
much what 1t was now, but what she
should make of It. Her slender form
Strengthened with new determination.
There was yet another door, and she
looked out through It into a small
lean-to. the lamp held high over her
head. This was evidently the KITCHEN,
containing, as II did, a small cook
stove sort of roughly built closet,
and sink, the latter stacked with I'M
washed dishes. An armful of split
wood lay on the floor, and a half slab
OF bacon hung TO nail.
Olga gave vent to another laugh,
but this time there was no hint of hys-
terra In 1t. She had found herself.
Dressed still In the long buster. she
set down the lamp on small table,
and dropping upon her knees, swiftly
klndIed a fire In the stove. AS the
wood began to crackle cheerfully, she
searched the closet for materials, re-
joiclng 10 discover some dishes yet
unused, together with remnants of
food sufficient for her purpose There
was sugar, condensed milk. few
knnriy potatoes, small sack of -four,
and half can of coffee. She dumped
these out on the table. and hegan hum
ming tune, as she added the slab of
bacon to these treasures. She was too
busy by now 10 give another thought
to the dirt and disorder about her,
Shelby was kept outside cOnsidera-
hly longer than he had anticipated.
The buckskin. In spite of siHty-mile
journey. retained viciousness enough
to kick the lantern nut of the KIDS
hand and smash II into smthefaens.
thus compelling the two TO work In
darkness, Macklin. unacquainted with
the surroundings. was of little use,
and most OF the work had 10 be done
by Shelby in person. When II was all
over with both men were sweating
profusely. tired and angry the Kid
cursIag everything from the creation
Of the world. Shelby. suddenly re-
memheriug the girl left alone In the
house all this time, lost the last s.Ip
on his temper.
shut upp he barked savagely.
"Iye bad just enough of that. What
did You expect anyway reception
committee an a banQuei? Come on
in. now; wen hustle up some grub.
Here. you might as, well tore few OF
those things along with you."
Both men loaded up with packages
from the blackboard. the Kid still
swearing under his breath. hut shelby
grimly silent He was remembering
what that interior looked like, and
wondering how she was taking snch d
homecoming He could not but con-
trast fhe dirt and disorder 10 which
be had brought her with tlle immacu-
Inte cleanliness OF the shack where
she lived Ia Ponea. The memory
made him half afraid 20 go ia and
face her eyes. He lifted the latch
hesitatingly the bundles on The other
arm piled 10 bis chin. and stepped
across the threshold. Then he stopped
suddenly, with his mouth wide open,
the Kid pushing IN behind him, even
more heavily laden. She stood III the
middle Of the floor, with checks
flushed, and eyes smiling.
"You boys can pile that stuff on the
table, she announced brightly. "Pye
scraDed those papers up In one corner,