The Holly chieftain., 1922-01-19
CHAPTER v-contlnu.d.

young man-noticed him about. Well
-well-welll Anne, too"
In June came the blissful hour in
which Anne, all bushes and smiles,
could come to her uncle with a duti-
full message from the respectfully
adorlng Justin. Their friendship, said
Anne, had ripened into something
deeper. Il
"Justin wants to have frank talk
with you. uncle" Anne said. land
Of course I'm not to 60 until you are
sure you can spare me and unless you
feel that you can trust him utterlyl"
Anne's engagement cups were
ranged on the table where Cherry's
had stood, and where Cherry had
talked Of coftee-colored rajah silk
Anne discussed the merits Of "smart
but handsome blue tailormade."
! The wedding was to be In Septem-
Der, not quite year after Cherry's
wedding. Alix wrote her sister pages
about 1t, always ending with the em-
phatic declaration that Cherry must
come down for the wedding.
Cherry was homesick. She dreamed
continually of the cool, high valley,
the scented aisles of the deep forest,
the mountain rearing its rough sum-
NIT to the pale blue of summer skies.
June passed; July passed; 1t was
hot at the Emmy Younger" August
came in on furnace breath; Cherry
felt headachy, languid and half sick
all the time. Martin had said that
he could not possibly get away, even
for the week Of Anne's wedding, but
Cherry began to wonder II he would
let her go alone.
aIf he doesn't, l shall be sickr' she
fretted to herself. In certain burn
ing noontime, toward the middle Of
August. Martin, who had been play
ing poker the night before, was sleep
ing late this morning. Coming home
at three O'Clock dazed with close air
and cigar smoke, he had awakened
his wife to tell her that he would be
'dead" in the morning, and Cherry
had accordingly crept about her dress.
ing noiselessly, had darkened the bed
room and eaten her own breakfast
without the clatter of dish. Now
she was sitting by the window, pant
ing in the noon heat. She was think
ing, as 1t CHANGED, Of the big forest
at home and Of a certain day-just
one Of their happy days !-only year
ago, when she had lain for dreamy
hour on the soft forest floor, staring
up Idly through the laced fanllke
branches. and she thought Of her IA
ther. with his mild voice and ready
smile: and some emotion, almost like
fear, came over her. For the first time
she asked herself. In honest bewilder-
ment, why she had married.
The heat dsepened and strengthened
and Increased as the burning day
wore on. Martin walked up, hot and
headachy. and having further dis
trsssed h,yzself with strong coffee and
eggs. departed into the dusty, motion
less rasaace out-of-doors. The far
brown 1ills shimmered and swan. the
"Enam1 Younger" looked its barest,
its seliest, its least attractive self.
There was = shadow in the door
wAyj she looked up surprised. For a
minute the tall figure In striped linen
tnd the smiling face under the flow
efy hat seemed those of a stranger.
Then Cherry cried out and laughed,
and in another instant was crying In
Allx's arms. SIS
Alix cried, too, but 1t was with q
great rush of pity and tenderness sor
Cherry. Alix had not young love and
novelty to soften the outlines Of the
Emmy Younger" and she felt, as she
frankly wrote later to her father, "at
last convinced that there is hell r.
The heat and baroness and ugllness
Of tile mine might have been over
looked, but this poor little house of
Cherry's, this wood stove draining
white ashes, this tin sink with Its
pump, and the bathroom with neither
faucets nor drain, almost bewildered
Alix with their discomfort.
Even more bewildering was the
change In Cherry. There was a GER
tain hardening that impressed Alix at
once. There was weary sort of pa
thence, disillusioned concession to
the drabness Of married life.
But she allowed the younger sister
to see nothing Of this. Indeed. Cherry
80 frightened under the stimulus of
Allx's c0mpanionship that Martin told
her that she was more like her old self
than she had been for months. JOY
Ously she divided her responsibilities
with Alix, explaining the difficulties
of marketing and housekeeping. and
joyously Allx assumed them. Her VI
tality infected the whole household.
She gave them spirited accounts Of
Anne's affair. Hes nice little aca-
demtc fellow" she said of Justin Lit
tie. III he had q fatIron In each