Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1921-02-11
The Pretenders
BY JESSIE DOUGLAS
(@. 1920. by Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate

"Mornin'." said the girl pleasantly.
The young man snluted and sat down
on the other side Of the berry bushes.
His fingers. big and brown and clum-
sy. made slow work Of the berry pick
| ing. lie stopped Il moment to watch
fiS companion i'm labor us she stripped
| the bushes with the easy skill Of ex-
ncrience. From her fingers his eyes
Travelled to her face and he noted the
healthy glow Of color in her checks
and the thick mass OF chestnut hair
| that was drawn back under her coarse,
| wide hat.
Dan Willard summed her up as the
| typical farmers daughter--skillcd In
her tasks, healthy. minimizing. happy.
Then he went back to his own labor
| ouS task.
IF you'd begin III the bottom of the
| huSh-SO.' she illustrated, "and pluck
them oir-So-you'd get on faster!"
Dan looked int" her pretty liquid eyes
and learned his lesson.
There WAS no further conversation
while they worked at varying speeds,
| while the irowSy hot sound uf the
| lncuSiS came tn them. and the breath
| Of the haylicldS. freshly cut. sweet
with Il thousand blended perfumes.
They both Strengthened up ut tho
| sound of the horn blowing across the
! fields
Dinner"
They both stopped with relief and
| the man rose stihly.
Il guess you're not used In this"
| the girl smiled. Her voice. huskily
sweet, was as pretty rs her eyes. he
decided. Then he lifted his pail and
| hers and strobe of beside her.
"Not berry picking" he explained.
looking down Oh her pink sum-bonnet
| that she had tossed OH to cross the
fields. ave been hayIng over to
Farmer Dicks, and now he's set me
to berrying."
"Oh" said the girl Tn fash she
knew he was the new hand at the
Dicks. who tossed the hay on the
Kicks and rode rnst TO tho barns while
! she had been wedding in the Kitchen
| garden Of the farm below.
"DO you live around hcre?" st was
ui6| tuTD I'D question:.
"Over to the MMyhcrrys'," she an
| swered.
He remembered now this WIS the
same girl he had noticed hanging out
the clothes and working around the
place. Old Mayberry's daughter.
She was pretty thing, he thought.
rs he watched her swing down the
fo hn ~
most as though she had read his
thoughts. turned at the pasture to
wave to him. He waved back uwk.
wardly, knowing that he was not used
to this easy give and take Of firm
life, as he should be.
But he was more disappointed than
the occasion warranted when she did
not reJoin him that afternoon ut the
berry bushes. They must have needed
her at home, but still lie noticed
how tedious tie work was ana how
his fingers we're stin with thorn
prickS ana how hot the sun heat down
on the fields.
When his days work was over at
last and he had washed out at the
pump with the other two "hands." and
had eaten his supper of hearty farm
food, he found thnt he Ind no desire
as usual to throw himself out under
the stars on the cool grass and lie
there until bedtime.
With his pipe between his teeth lie
walled of hazlly down the road until
he had come to the white farmhouse
cuddiing down under the trecs--where
she had said she lived.
r"Cissy y he heard voice call. and
Rs soon as lie heard the name he knew
that no other could have suited he,
30 perfectly. He was very slow at 20.
Ing past the house, and when he came
back he saw a figure out under the
Rose-of-Sharon bushes. aud he knew II
was she. S.
He ought to so past. But he gave
In and called, GOOD evening"" md
she answered him In that husky, sweet
voice that blended 10 with the night
sounds and came out to where ne
waited In the road. AS she came to
him her little gingham dress had taken
on the glamour of moOnshlne and the
fragrance OF the roses; he knew he
was going to he sorry later hut he
found himself strolling I'D the road
md sitting on tho crumbIing stone
wall that shut In the Mayberry or.
chnrd.
What do you do all tie ti;uoY hn