The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1922-10-12
At the Lands
End
BY JUSTIN WENTWooD

Lands End Is a desolate strip of
land jutting far out into the ocean,
1t is dotted with sparse fishermen's
cabins, here and there Is a squatter;
nobody seems to own Lands End, no.
body goes there.
Elihu Reed set his lobster pots and
carried his catch across the bay to the
nearest market. His father had lived
there, too Lands End was home to
him. 1t should have been to June,
sullen, discontinued girl who had al
ternate moods of joy and laughter.
"June's not one of u.s." said the Por-
tuguese squatters. "You can see it in
her face"
What she was no one knew. She
had been washed up from a wreck, 20
years before, n babe, miraculOusly
breathing. All the rest of the passen-
gers had gone down when the ship,
ripped by the Needle, sank to the bot
tom Of Deep Hole.
Elihu Reed adopted her. His wife
cared for her until she died. Then
the girl stayed with her adopted ia
Their, cooked for him, kept house. Elihu
was not tyrant, just q sOmber, re-
ligious man with the elemental
strength and gloom Of the sea in his
soul. He never understood June.
"What d'you want to go away fOr?"
he would demand when the girl was
inslstent. Its good enough for me;
1t ought to be good enough for you.
Haven't brought you up as my own
gal?"
81 can't stand for it here" June
muttered. 81 want TO see the city.
want little fun
II was the cry of youth. Elihu
took counsel of a neighbor.
"She1l be ready to settle down
when love comes along" he said.
They're all alike at that age"
Love came where no one would have
looked for 1t, in the person Of Tom
Santley, the neighbours son, a melan-
choly, retrospective boy who played
the fiddle drearily along the dunes,
had ambitions which every one could
see were destined never to be realized.
1t was propinquity, perhaps, chance
word or two, kiss, an embrace-they
were engaged.
81 don't see what she can see In
Tom Santley," the neighbOrs said
81 can't see how she can bullyrag
him that way, or why he stands for
It."
The bitterness Of their quarrels
spread through Lands End. She
gibcd AT him, nouted him. and still
they remained engaged. They were
TO be married in the summer. Tom
was reclalming land, running up a
cottage. And they seemed at mortal
strife. What would it be after mar
riaees
one day an astonishing rumor ran
through the community. Elihu had
received a letter from the American
consul at Padua, or Pavia, or Flor
ence, or one of those outlandish places.
June's parentage had been traced. 1t
happened through a man who was
spending the summer at Lands End
the year before, an artist who painted
knew Italy, and had seen the italian
name written inside one of June's
baby garments.
June belonged to a wealthy family
at Padua, or Milan, or Genoa. They
were ennObled, too They had lost a
grandchid. years before, in a wreck,
while the father and mother were pro-
ceedlng to Washington, where the man
ho1 10 n
was how the story ran.
f1lihu stood perplexed, holding the
letter At first he did not know
whether to tell June or not He loved
the girl in his own fashion, and he
dreaded letting her go to foreign
countries. Ellhu did not trust foreign
ers; they ran ut you with knives, poi
soned you. ate snails, frogs legs and
mice, and were generally queer.
He decided 1t was her right to know.
'"There y are, June, my gal" he said,
hinging the letter down on the table
"Now you can do what you've long
had a mind to do. You've always
kicked against the pricks in Lands
End. Go and take whatever's COM
| Ing TO you"
June read the letter, white Of face,
tense Tipped. Then Toms flute was
heard and she shuddered. Tom was
coming in.
Don't let him know! ~ whispered
June.
81 guess he'll have to know" said
Elihu.
"I-rm not going" said June. e
only wanted the right to go, If l
chose-not to go. love Lands
End"
Tom came in, looking uncertainty
at his betrOthed; he feared her tenn
per. June flung the letter into the
stove.
"Hello, Toni" she said, kissing
him.
Just that. But the look In her
eyes told him that the past was dead
and forgotten. With arms linked they
left the cottage and paraded across
the dunes toward the sea.