, 1922-04-05
Chapter ao-contInued

He did not answer. he had her
hand now for farewells. and perhaps,
with the thought Of those short ak
years had come also the thought that
this slender figure in the housewifely
blue linen. this exquisite little head.
so trim and demure despite all irS
rebel tendrils of gold, this lovely face,
still the face of a child, with a child's
trusting, uplifted eyes. might have
been his. The old home might have
been their home, and perhaps-who
knows. there might have been a new
Cherry and a new Peter beginning to
look eagerly out at life through h
screen of the old rose vinei
Too late now. A single instant OF
those lost years might have brought
him all this, but there was no going
back. He put his arm about her. and
kissed her forehead. and said: God
bless you, Cherry"
God bless you. dear!" she an
swered gravely. She watched the tall
figure. with Its little limp, and with
the dog leaping and circling about It
In ecstasy. until the redwoods closeu
around him. Then she took up the
broom again. and slowly and thought
fully crossed the old porch. and shut
the door.
Peter, walking with long strides.
and with a furrowed brow and absent
once more the old trail that led up tv
the cabin.
1t was busted, orderly, complete; he
and Alix might have left it yesterday.
Kow had seen him coming, he thought.
and had had time to light the fire,
which was blazing freshly up to the
chimney's great throat. He sat down,
staring at the flames.
Buck pushed open the swinging
door between the pantry and the sit
ting room. and came In, a question In
his bright eyes, his great plumy tail
beating the floor as he lay down at
Peters side. Presently the dog laid
his nose on Peters knee and poured
forth a faint sound that was not quite
a whine. not quite a sigh. and rose
restlessly, and wen to the closed door
of Alix's room. and paved 1t, his eager
nose to the threshold.
mot here, old fellowF Peter said.
stroking the silky head under his
hand.
He had not been in this room since
the day OF her death. 1t struck him
rs strangely changed, strangely and
heartrendingly familiar. The windows
were closed. as Aiix had never had
them closed. winter or summer, rain
or sunshine. Her books TODD in their
old order, her students Shakespeare,
and some of her girlhood's books.
Little Women" and ''Uncle Max" In
the closet, which exhaled a damp and
woody smell, were one or two of the
boyish-looking hats he had so often
seen her crush carelessly on her dark
hair, and the big belted coat that was
ms plain as his own. and the big boots
she wore when she tramped about the
poultry yard. still spattered with pale,
dry mud. Her fathers worn little BIZ
Bile lay on the table. and beside 1t an
other book, Duck Raising for the
Market" with the marks of muddy
and mealy hands still lingering on its
cover.
Suddenly. evoked by these silent
witnesses to her busy and happy life.
the whole woman seemed to stand be-
side Peter, the tall. eager. vital woman
who had been at home here. who had
ruled the cabin with a splendid and
vital personality. He seemed to feel
her near him again, to see the inter-
ested eyes, the high cheek-bones
touched with scarlet, the wisp of hair
that would fall across her face ONE
times when she was deep in baking,
or preserving, or poultry-farming. and
that she would brush away with the
back of an impatient hand, only to
have 1t slip loose again.
One of her kitchen aprons. caught In
the current of air from the opened
door. blew about on Its hook. He re-
nembered her, on many a wintry day,
butt0ned into just such a crisp apron,
%radiantly busy and brisk in her kitch-
en-, stirring and chopping, moving con-
stantly between stove and table. With
strong hands still showing traces of
-four h would come, to sit beside him
at the piano. to playla duet with her
characteristic dash and finish, only to
jump up In sudden conjunction. with
an exclamation: "Oh, my ducks-Td
forgotten themi Oh, the poor little
wretches I"
And she would be gone. leaving a
streak of wet. fresh air through the
warm house from the open door, and
he would perhaps glance from a win
dow to e her, roughly coated and
booted. ploughing about her duck yard.
delving into barrels of grain. turning
on faucets, WELDING a stubby old
broom.
She loved her life. he unused. with
a bitter heartache, as he stood here
in her empty room Sometimes he had
marveled at the complete and unques-
tioning Joy she had brought to It. Pc
ter reminded himself that never in