The Concordia sentinel. (Vidalia, Concordia Parish, La.) 1882-current, 1920-12-11
CHAPTER VI-continued.

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-thisl 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 i'm her eyes; then she suddenly
laughed, and stood up with cheeks
glowing. and lips firmly set. 1t was
a horrible mess. to be sure, yet the
place itself was not so bad; she had
lived in far worse; and once put IN
some degree of order and cleanliness
It might prove fairly comfortable IN
deed, She surveyed the scene, as 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 II was now. but what she
should make of II. Her slender FORM
straichtened with new determination.
There was yet another door, and sne
looked out through 1t into a small
Iean-to, the lamp held high over her
bend. This was evidently the kitchen,
containing. as it did, small COOK
stove. a 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 half slab
of bacon hung TO a nail.
Olga gave vent to another laugh
but this time there was no hint of hys-
terra in II. She had found herself.
Dressed still in the long buster. she
set down the lamp on small table,
and dropping upon her knees, swiftly
kindIed fire In the stove As the
wood began to crackle cheerfully, she
searched the closet for materials, re-
joicing to discover some dishes yet
unused, together with remnants of
food sufficient for her purpose. There
was sugar. condensed milk, a few
knarly potatoes. small sack of -four,
and a half can Of coffee. She dumped
these out on the table. and began hum
ming a tune. as she added the slab of
bacon TO these treasures. She was too
busy by now to give another thought
to the dirt and disorder about her.
Shelby was kept outside considera-
bly, longer than he had anticipated
The buckskin, in spite of a sixty-mile
tourney, retained viciOusness enough
to kick the lantern out Of the Kids
hand and smash 1t into smithereens
thus compelling the two to work in
darkness. Macklin, unacquainted with
the surroundings was of little use
and most of the work had to be done
by Shelby in person. When It was all
over with both men were sweating
profusely. tired and angry, the Kid
cursing everything from the creation
of the world. Shelby, suddenly re
memberlng the girl left alone In the
house all this time, lost the last grip
on his temper.
"Shut up!" he barked savagely
"rve had iust enough of that. What
did YOU expect anyway reception
committee an a banquet? Come on
in, now: we1l hustle up some grub
Here. you might as well tote a few OF
those things along with you"
Both men loaded up with packages
from the blackboard. the Kid still
swearing under his breath, but Shelby
grimly silent. He was remembering
what that interior looked like, and
wondering how she was taking such 8
homecoming. He could not but con
trast the dirt and disorder to which
he had brought her with the immacu
late cleanliness Of the shack where
she lived in Ponee. The memory
made him half afraid to go in and
face her eyes. He lifted the latcl
hesitatingiy, the bundles on the othei
arm piled to his chin. and stepped
across the threshold. Then he stopped
sudderiy, with his mouth wide open
the Kid pushing in behind him. ever
more heavily laden. She stood in tn,
middle of the floor, with cheek.
flushed, and eyes smiling.
"You boys can pile that stuff on thu
table" she announced brightly. "rv,
scraped those papers up In one corner
so there's plenty Of room. Never mine
about bringing the rest in now; sup
per's ready"
Shelby put his bundles down with
out word. his eyes quick to Percciv'
the chairs cleared of their debris. tn
floor swept. the ashes back in tn
stove. He could hardly comprehend
the miracle.
she led the way gayly, leaving he
broom in corner, and carrying thu
lamn. The lean-to kitchen had beef
fransfgured. and actually presented
homeIike appearance. The dirty dishe
swarc showed ont Of sight the moo