The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1921-01-28

When the man returned to the
\ Iseboat the Iron-Gray- Woman still
VHA back in the shaky rocking chair.
YHpping the battered cup full Of fresh
4 Vter, the man stepped to her side.
Your cool drink. mother"
The thin lids raised. The eyes she
I,vo ned toward him must have been
lderfully beautiful in her day
Y,.ge and deep and lustrous. The
Ugh that wasted her breast seemed
Ierless to dim their luster.
lVerhe man crossed the cabin and laid
Al hand on the rumpled curtain over
Butt doorway. about to return to his
Ark Of sharpening the fish spear.
WasIt looks cool-and calm-up there"
Tt4e paused; glanced back over his
Eaulder at her, and waited for her
ID 10 on.
"Is that log house see up there
under the cliffs?"
under the weight Of him as he came
to the window. He had to stoop low
to bring his eyes level with the open
Ing.
"A log house; old and empty"
The on-Gray-Woman sat musing a
moment, her eyes astray among the
trees nodding languidly In the serene
June afternoon.
Il wish might live again upon the
shore. The sun beats down SO hot
upon the houseboat, and grow weary
of the eternal throb Of the river. II
could only live little while up there
I should grow strong"
"And why not7 It's empty. and mo-
body would care. In these deep woods
there's nobody to care"
A flicker of light crossed her face.
'Fd get well up there, under the
strong cliffs, with the cool spring so
near. And I've lived so long-since
you were a child in arms-on the river
the Ohio; the White; the Wabash !"
always, mother! Always the house
boat-drifting drifting-and you so
frail. SO beautiful p
The man left the window and knelt
by the rocking chair. The Iron-Gray-
Woman saw the question In his eyes
hunger for some word out of the
past; word that had never come. All
his life she had kept 1t from him
whatever It had been that happened
back there behind the veil of her ST.
lence that left him nameless; 4 river
waif a nomad in an orderly world: .
fisher Of pearls; pearlhunter. Her
eyes came back and faltered over him.
No longer a child; bOy-the refiec-
tion startled her. A man knelt at her
side-the question written big upon
his face And 1t was his right to
know. Her head dropped back against
the quilt that cushioned the chair. It's
a solemn thing to be the mother of
man-glorious but solemn.
The lustrous eyes-brighter for the
fever wasting then-came back to him
after time. He saw a far-fung
thoughtfulness In them; knew they
had strayed into that past from which
he was barred. The thin lips parted.
The mans fingers curled tense upon
| the chair arm.
'sTo city on the Wabash. In early
| days, came three families of Virginias
purest blood-my family. your fathers
| family. and the family of-of-another
| man."
l
| and was silent for a moment. The
man picked up a wasted hand; stroked
| It softly between his own, and she
| went on, strained and slow. like one
| desperately nerved to a long-dreaded
| task.
| my parents both died when was
SO small that can barely remember
them, leaving me, their only child, to
| the care Of distant relative, q great
uncle Of my fathers. This great-great-
| uncle-well, as 1 look back upon my
life I cannot remember that he ever
gave me pleasant word.
my aunt was as different as dawn
to dark. She was everything that he
was not. A thousand times she loved
my hurt away.
''They had daughter, an only child,
almost my age, and of the same name
surname and all. When uncle was
away on business trips, as he often
was for weeks, 1t was like sunshine
after rain. Such happy timesl They
are high among the few pleasant
memories of my life."
The Iron-Gray- Woman paused, her
DARK, deep eyes seeming to search
back into the dead past, like traveller
straining his gaze across a stretch Of
desert to where the oasis lies. The
man shifted to his other knee and sh.
went on.
My aunt died when we were in our
girlhood. After that-the gray days
were ever more than the bright. A
| Defulance settled deem upon NV uncle
His best word was growl The serv.
ants moved about the house like silent
shadows.
I'm this same city upon the Wabash
lived two other families, as have told
you-your fathers family and the
family of--of-another man. Your
father and this other man were botl
my suitors. But my uncle tried every
means in his power to turn your ia
| thor away from me to nv cousin