Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1921-05-12
Old Holzapfel's Jar
of Peaches
(0. 1921. Western Newspaper Union.)
By HAZEL SMITH.

had scraped and boarded during thirty
years of labor, so that now, though
he was barely fifty years Of age, ne
looked older. But Rogers had retired
three months before, thanks to some
wisely made investments, and now,
with fifteen thousand dollars at his
disposal, he was still living on in his
little two-room fiat on the East side
of New York, and trying to stretch
his cramped imagination and plan his
life anew.
Bitterly he regretted that he was
an old bachelor without friend or
wife, sweetheart or child.
Rogers had gone to the delicatessen
store of his acquaintance, Holzapfel,
to buy something for supper. He
cooked his own supper upon a tiny
stove in his apartment.
Il Think" he said after he had made
his purchases, that I'll take some pre-
served fruit"
why, Rogers, you're becoming a
spendthrift, a regular spendthrift, F"
said Holzapfel jestingly.
Rogers patronized the old German
from long habit.
We'll, I've got some preserved
peaches," said the old fellow. But
they wasn't put up yesterday, Rogers.
I'll let you have them for dime.
They're home grown, and they're worth
twenty-fve-if they was fresh"
Rogers took the peaches and walked
out of the store.
The peaches were bad. But that
fact had nothing to do with the case.
For inside the jar was little folded
square of oiled paper. And in this
was folded piece of paper on which
was written:
Lucy Morrell, Egan, N. T."
That compensated old Rogers for
the loss Of the peaches. 1t was one
of those little harmless pranks played
by country girls who put their names
into bottles Of fruit preserved by them
and destined to go long distances and
fall into strangers hands. Often they
had led to correspondence and some
times to romance.
Old Rogers racked his brain. He
could not remember anyone in Egan
named Morrell.
But that evening the loneliness of
his fiat oppressed his spirit; and the
very word Egan. written out on the
paper, made him homesick for the lit
tie town. In the end he sat down and
wrote:
Lucy Morrell: l found your note
in the peaches"
Days passed; old Rogers resumed
the tenor of his life. He had not
found the courage to break loose
from his surroundings. But about
week later the postman left letter
in his box. 1t was the first he had
received for months, except bank no.
tees and bills. 1t was addressed to
him in a delicate, feminine writing,
and inside he read:
Dear Friend: q got your letter,
but you didn't say how you liked the
peaches"
That was the beginning of cor
respondence, and it brought new
happiness into old Rogers heart.
He had asked for her photograph,
but she had not sent it, nor alluded
to the matter again.
She wrote less often. But one day
came despairing note in which she
confessed something perilously like
love. And then old Rogers knew
that he had no alternative. So he
wrote back, wild letter such as he
would not have been capable of a
year before, in which he told her.
Then a week passed, and then her
answer came, and it said simply:
Come up to Egan. The third house
from the depot. LUCY"
On that same afternoon old Rogers
drew his money from the bank. Then
he turned his back upon Thirteenth
street forever and set forth for Egan.
He reached the little place at five
on an autumn afternoon. 1t had not
changed as he had expected.
He descended at the depot and
walked slowly toward the cottage. So
he passed through the latched gate
and knocked at the door. A pleasant,
gentle-looking lady Of about forty
years opened to him.
II am James Rogers" said the Wis
itor simply. II have come to see your
daughter" He said the last word with
a tone Of interruption. Yet he felt
sure that this was Lucy's mother.
This was just such a mother as he
would have expected Lucy to have.
And yet it was strange that she hard
never mentioned her in her letters.
!. II am Lucy Morrell," she said, trem-
bling.
Old Rogers looked at her incredu-
lousy, and then took her in his arms
and kissed her.
He knew then that he loved her the
more truly because she brought to
him a mind ripened by experience
and love whose strength was only
the deeper for the passing of the
years. And she had feared as ne had