Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-06-30

tnnk ane was silly, pTcuchtiys III sne
In the morning Martin hired a phae-
ton, and they drove, out 70 the mine. II
had rained in the night, and there were
pools OF water on the soft dirt road,
but the sky was high and blue, and the
ness after the shower. Cherry had had
q good breakfast and was Wearing n
tn on the long, pheasant drive and Mar
tin said to the fat man In IL;
sco,,air,sG T sates s,,n ~ yami VIA. 'c make you
aPleassd 10 meet you, Mrs. Lloyd -
said the fat man, pleasantly. Martin
told Cherry, when they passed him.
that that was the superintendent Of the
mine, and seemed pleased at the
blue sky. ana ma tsIs ' *. % Warmth AT and md
silence Of the day saturate her whole
being. Presently Martin put his al n,
spout her. and the bay horse dawdled
along at his own sweet will, while Mar
sMs aYss deep Deep voice told he VII. over s and
she was. and how he loved her.
-. Cherry listened happily, and for a
little while the old sense Of pride and
achievement came back--she was mar
ried, ied, she was wearing a plain sold ring
lshed forever, and Instead it began TO
been anything else than Martins wife,
me other women at the mine were mar
ried; she was married: and nobody
seemed TO think the thing remarkable
younger and, prottier than any OF the
others, but the men she met here were
not The sort whose admiration would
have satisfied her Innocent ambition tc
have Martins friends flock about her
knew her to be newly married and Si ief;
the, young Lloyds 70 their presumabl,
desired isolation. And very soon Cherr
found herself a little housewife amont
other housewives. much more praised Il
the tilt Of her new hat was becoming.
For several days she and Martif
laughed incessantly. and praised eacf
other incessantly, while they expert.
mented with cooking, and ate deliclou,
gypsy meals. In thess days Martin wa,
evening he came home to Hnd tina,
ducks, or o jar Of honey. or q loaf OF
cake, had been contributed to Cherry.s
dinner by the interested women in the
nearby cottages. In all. Sere were not
a dozen en- families sr at the Emmy Young
terest and sympathy during her firs,
efforts at housekeeping. VI
BY nidwinter she had settled down
70 the business Of life. buying bacon and
lard and sugar and matches at the store
OF the mine; cooking and cleaning
kissed Martin good.by every morning,
and met him with an affectionate rush
az the door when he came home, and
they played Ave hundred evening aftei
evening after dinner, quarreling for
while rain sluieed down on the Emmy
younger" and dripped on the porch. But
sometimes she wondered how IL had ali
come about, wondered what had become
or the violent emotions that had picked
her out Of the valley home, and estab-
lished her here. In this strange place,
with this man she had never seen a
year ago.
or these emotions little was left She
still liked Martin. she told herself, and
she still told him that she loved him
sut she knew she did not love him. and
IN such an association as theirs there
can 70 no liking, Her thoughts rarely
rested on him she was either thinking
or ths prures that were soaking, the fire.
wooc that was running low. the towels
that wet breeze was blowing on the
iine or she was far away. drifting in
strarge to this bare little mining camn
and his hungry, busy, commonplace man,
held sway. Cherry was in the position
OF leading lady mysteriously forced
into minor role she had never known
| 10
ing now In hard school.
The hrst time that she ouarreIed with
Martin she cried for an entire day with
the old childish feeling that somehow her
crying mattered, somehow her abandon
ment to grief would help to straighttn
a tribe: her father had sent her a
Christmas check and she Immediately
sent to a San Francisco shop Tor n
clock that had taken her fancy months
Martin, who chanced to b. press.d
Tor money. although she did not know
Il, was thunderstruck upon discoyerine
that she had actually disposed OF sJo
so lightly. For several days a sha dow
hung over their intercourse. and when
,he .iI,.S cock ss came; as lars. as a banjo
sssrn sno quaint; ne broke her heart
But on Christmas eve he was DELAYED
at the mine, and Cherry. srItten sud-
denly with the bitterness OF HAVING thsir
nrst christmas spoiled IN this way, sat
up for MIN: huddled In her silk wrapper
BY the alright stove. She was awaken.
ed by feeling herself lowered fendsrlv
Into bed, and raised warm arms 10
clasp his neck. and they kissed s,eS
esner. The little house was warm ana
comfortable. they had a turkey 10 roast
on % the morrow. and ranged on the table
were the home boxes and a STACK Of
unopened envelopes waiting for Christ. r.
mas morning. -'' S"f"'-
The next day they laughed a, the
CLOCK rnI nIS,..d together, and after that peace
Inevitable that another ousrrei .hn,,s
come and then another; Cherry% % us
young and undisciplined, PERHAPS yot
more selfish than other Eirla q, Nv
age put self,oentered and unreasonaba
Sne had TO learn self-c control, ana a
aeonomi.s eo 10 oo2stol herself. She had %
neither picturesqueness nor interst.
They were always several weeks iats n
the payment Of domestic bills, and thss
recurring reminders Of money stringenS
naddened Cherry, Sometimes she sun.
med It up, with angry tears rsn,ird,r,
MN mat she was still wearing hS
rousseau dresses, and had no mall
ana never went anywhere--I