The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1921-01-28
DAISY BROWN
BY JACK LAwToN.
"a. 1921. western Newspaper Union,
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| WalfOrd endeavOred to force his car
I'D the hill. If 1t continued he would
be obliged to seek shelter at some
| farmhouse along the way. Driving fur
| ther, with great riffs blowing upon
| every SIDE was dangerous. Lyn pressed
| his lips angrily together as he drew
out his watch in the half-lght, to as
| certain the time. The whole journey
| was a fool affair, he told himself I'M
| patiently, its object, purposeless and
| unavailing The great house of his de-
| parted uncle might remain unclaimed
| in its impossible distant situation as
| far as he was concerned. Sighting
| the lights of a nearby cottage, he
turned in at the driveway and made
his way to a rear entrance to seek
welcome A bent old woman respond
| ing to his summons raised her voice.
"Daisy," she called, 'Daisy Brown" !"
Then in the lamplight Lyn Walford
saw a girl coming toward him.
"Certainly you may come in," the
girl answered his question. run your
car into the she'd We are accustomed
to strangers seeking shelter on nights
like this
And after hearty supper, Lyn sat
before the cozy sitting room fire, his
eyes resting admiringly upon DAISY
Brown" who sat opposite.
IT was making" Daisy Brown told
him, "little pies when you came.
The kind" she laughed softly, "that
you used to like when you were
boy"
81 wonder" Lyn WaIford said, "if I
ever was a boy. I feel very old to-
night And yet" he smiled at her,
my unexpected stopping here brings
me an old-time sense of adventure to
come"
perhaps" the girl suggested, "the
pleasant adventure waits at the end Of
your journey"
The man frowned, and unaccount-
ably, for his nature was reticent He
was moved to confidence. MY jour
ney," he told the attentive Daisy
Brown, sis a rather foolish conces-
sion to. form. An old uncle whom for
years I have not seen took it into
HIS utdu uui lllS HIS ldSl iilUtSS 10 Dt-
queath to me his estate, upon condi-
ton that share the same with his
ward and stepdaughter as husband
and wife. This unusual young wom-
an has installed, l believe, in the fine
old rooms a sort of roadside tea
house, which has become so popular
with auto parties that dollars are pour
ing into her Golfers. The young wlom-
an certainly possesses ingenuity sand
cleverness, to have made of this cIun-
bling dead old house an assured fiian-
cial success. But / am on my way to-
night to tell my uncles stepdaugh-
ter that I am not eligible for that po-
sition. AS she has put in no refusal
to the condition of the will, I take it
that she leaves that decision to my
self It's an idiotic position in which
to place man, but I shall leave the
ambitious woman sole mistress of her
realm"
'What," asked Daisy Brown, 'is
the name of this young woman's tea
room, and where is the houseY'
"a communication which l received
from her" Walford replied, "had an
inscription painted at the top: THE
House at the End of the Road Be
meath it, that poetic quotation about
Living in a house at the side of the
road, and being a friend to ALL 1t
was very pretty. Also, fancy, very
fetching. She still calls the place by
my uncle's name of 'Walford,' and
signs herself Marguerite, your uncle's
stepdaughter."
Daisy Browns face was rosy in the
freight, the sweet sincerity of her
gaze was refreshing, somehow, to
Lyn's tired spirit.
81 know the place very weIl,n she
said softly, "and I know-thls Mar
guerite, too. You wrong her when
you think she was too acquiescent to
the will condition. She was just try
ing to hold the place, you see, until
you should come, and to practice, per-
support. She has been successful, but
that is because she has worked so
hard, cooking and baking herself and
really trying to be- too, "a friend to
ALL Your uncle's last illness had
taken all that he had. 1t was long
Illness, aud Marguerite was as faith
full as she could be. So, he liked her
and as he had always liked you. it
was due to his affection for both that
he planned the mistaken will" Daisy
Brown dimpled into smile. "But
the managing sort of person will not
want the gift of your uncles house"
she said "and / am quite sure that
ale would not wish either to manage
esHs Ncle's nephew. You see, she
be- finy home OF her own that used
70 he her mothers when her mother
was Daisy Brown, and there, this am
oifious Marguerite, is just Daisy, too.
10 the old couple who lived there with
her when she was born. And in that
little house Your unele's stepdaughter
cooks and hal5es the things for her