The Washington herald., 1920-12-14
CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY.

sun dropped a spendrift Hood of
gold upon the fortunate fields of
wheat The cities were far away.
The road lay curling around wood
and dale and hill like a ribbon lost
from the robe OF careless summer.
The wind followed like a whinny-
. ing colt In the track of Phoebus'
steeds-
By and by the farmhouse peeped
gray out of its faithful grove; they
saw the long lane with its convoy
Of walnut trees running from the
road to the house: they smelled the
Wild rose and the breath Of cool,
damp willows In the creeks bed
And then in unison all the voices
OF the soil began a chant addressed
to the soul OF Robert walmsley.
Out OF the Tilted aisles of the dim
wood they came hollowly; they
chirped and buzzed from the parch-
ed grass; they trilled from the rip
pies OF the creek ford; they fioated
up In clear Pans pipe notes from
the dimming meadows: the whip
poorwills Joined in as they pursued
midges in the upper air; slow-goins
cow-oells struck out a homely ac-
companiment-and this was what
each one said: You've found your
way back at last, have your,
The old voices OF the soil spoke
to him Leaf aud bud and blossom
conversed with him in the old vo>
cabulary OF his careless youth-ths
inanimate things, the familiar stones
and rails. the gates and burrows
and roofs and turns OF the road
had an eloquence. too. and a power
in the transformation. The coun-
try had smiled and he had felt the
breath of it, and his heart was
drawn as If in a moment back to
his old love- The city was far away.
This rural atavism. then. seized
Robert Walmsley and possessed him.
A queer thing he noticed in connec>
tion with II was that Alicia. sitting
at his side, suddenly seemed to him
a stranger. She did not belong to
this recurrent phase. Never before
had she seemed so remote, so color
less and high-so intangible and
unreal And yet he had never. ad-
mired her more than when she sat
there by him in the rickety spring
wagon, Ginning no more with his
mood and with her environment
than the Matterhorn chimes with a
PEASANTS cabbage garden.
and the supper were over, the entire
family. including Buff, the yellow
dog. bestrewed itself upon the front
porch Alicia, not naughty but ST.
lent, sat in the shadow dressed in
an exquisite pale-gray tea gown.
Roberts mHher discoursed to her
happily concerning marmalade ana
lumbago- Tom sat on the top step:
Sisters Mile and Pam on the low
est step to catch the lightning bugs.
Mother had the willow rocker. Fa-
ther sat In the big arm chair with
one OF its arms gone Buff sprawled
in the middle Of the porch in every
bodys way. The twilight pixies and
pucks stole forth unseen and
plunged other poignant shafts of
memory Into the heart of Robert
A rural madness entered his soul
Ths city was far away.
Father sat without his pipe.
vrithing IN his heavy boots, a sacri-
nee to rigid courtesy. Robert shout
ed: NO, you don'tw He fetched the
pipe and Lit IL; he seized the old
gentleman's boots and tore them OF.
The last one slipped suddenly, and
Mr.. Robert walmsley, of Washing
ton Square, tumbled or the porch
backward with Buff on top of him.
bowling fearfu1ly. Tom laughed sar-
eastica1iy.
Robert tore or his coat and vest
and hurled them into a lilac bush.
Come out here. you landlubber," "
he cried to Tom, -and I'll put grass
seed on your back 1 think you
called me . dude a while ago. Come
along and cut your capers."
Tom understood the invitation
and accepted n with delight Three
times they wrestled on the grass,
side holds" even as the giants of
the mat Ar1 twice Tom was forced
to bite grass at the hands of the
distinguished lawyer. Dishevelled.
painting. each still boasting of his
own prowess, they stumbled back
70 the porch MiIlie cast a pert re-
hection upon the qualities of a city
brother. In an instant Robert had
secured 4 horrid katydid in his fin
gers and bore down upon her.
Screaming wildly. she fed up the
lane. pursued by the avenging glass
Of form A quarter Of a mile and
they returned, she full of apology
to the victorious dude" The rustic
mania possessed him unabatedly.
slow hayseeds." he proclaimed vain
gioriously. Bring on your bulldogs,
your hired men and your log-roll-
ers-
He turned handsprings on the
grass that prodded Tom to envious
sarcasm. And then, with a .whoop.
he clattered to the rear and brought
back Uncle Ike, a battered colored
retainer OF the family, with his
banjo. and -strewed sand on the
porch and danced Chicken in the
Bread Tray and did buck-and-w wing
wonders for half an hour longer.
Incredibly wild and boisterous
things he did He sang, he told
, stories that set all but one Shrek
ing. he played the yokel, the hu-
morous clodhopper; he was mad,
mad with the revival of the old life
n his blood
He became so extravagant that
once his mother sought gently to
reprove him. Then Alicia moved as
though she were about to speak,
but she did not. Through II all she
sat immovable, slim, white spirit
. In the dusk that no man might
question or read.
By and by she asked permission to
ascend to her room, saying that she
was tired. On her way she passed
. Robert He was standing in the
, door, the figure of vulgar comedy.
with rufned hair, Redeemed face and
, objectionable confusion of attire
: no trace there of the immaculate
Robert Walmsley. the courted club
man and ornament Of select circles.
He was doing a conjuring trick with
, some household utensils, and the