The Holly chieftain., 1922-09-07
i-continued.

At length they rose. Monona flung
herself upon her father. He put her
aside firmly. every inch the father.
No, no. Father was occupied now.
Mrs. Deacon coaxed her away. Monona
encircled her mothers waist, lifted her
own feet from the floor and hung
upon her. "She's such an active
child" Lulu ventured brightly.
"Not unduly active. think" her
brother-in-law observed.
He turned upon Lulu his bright
smile, lifted his eyebrows. dropped his
lids, stood for moment contemplat-
ing the yellow tulip, and so left the
room.
Lulu cleared the table. Mrs. Dea-
con essayed to wind the clock. Well,
now. Did Herbert say 1t was twenty
. three tonight when 1t struck the half
hour and twenty-one last niglre or
twenty-one tonight and last night
twenty-three? She talked of 1t as they
cleared the table, but Lulu did not
talk.
Cant you remember?" Mrs Dea-
con said at last. II should think you
might be useful"
Lulu was lifting the yellow tulip
to set 1t on the sill. She changed her
mind. She took the plant to the wood
shed and tumbIed 1t with force upon
the chip-pile.
The dining room table was laid for
breakfast. The two women brought
their work and sat there The child
MOnona hung miserably about, watch
ing the clock. Right or wrong, she
was put to bed by it. She had eight
minutes more-seven-slx-f
Lulu laid down her sewing and left
the room. She went to the woodshed,
groped about in the dark, found the
stalk of the one tulip flower in its
heap on the chip-pile. The tulip she
fastened in her gown on her fiat chest.
Outside were to be seen the early
Ftars. 1t is said that If our sun were
as near to Arcturus as we are near
to our sun, the great Arcturus would
burn our sun to nothingness.
In the Deacons parlor sat Bobby
Larkin, eighteen. He was in pain all
over. He was come on an errand
which civilization has contrived to
make an ordeal.
Before him on the table stood pho
tograph of Diana Deacon, also eighteen.
He hated her with passion. At school
she mocked him, aped him, whispered
about him, tortured him. For two
years he had hated her. Nights he
fell asleep planning to build great
house and engage her as Its servant.
Yet. as he waited, he could not keep
his eyes from this photograph. 1t
was Di at her curliest. at her fullest,
Di conscious Of her bracelet, Di smil-
ing. Bobby gazed, his basic aversion
to her hard-pressed by most reluc-
tant pleasure He hoped that he would
not see her, and he listened for her
voice.
Mr.. Deacon descended upon him
with an air carried from his supper
hour, bland. dispensing. Well! Let
us have it. "What did you wish to see
me about?"-with use Of the past
tense as connecting something Of indi-
rection and hence of delicacy-a
nicely customary, yet unconscious.
Bobby had arrived in his best clothes
and with an air of such formality that
Mr.. Deacon had instinctively suspect
ed him Of wanting to join the church,
and, to treat the time with due SOL
emnity, had put him in the parlor un-
til he could attend at leisure.
Confronted thus by DIS father, the
speech which Bobby had planned de-
serted him.
II thought If you would give me a
job" he said defenselessly.
$50 that's I'll" Mr.. Deacon, who al
ways awaited but touch to be either
irritable or facetious, inclined Glow to
be facetious. "Filling teeth7" he
would know. Marrying folks, then?"
Assistant justice or assistant dentist
which?
Bobby blushed. No, no, but in that
big buildlRg Of Mr.. Deacon's where his
office was, wasn't there something
1t faded from him, sounded
ridiculous. OF course there was moth
ing. He saw 1t now.
There was nothing. Mr.. Deacon
confirmed him. But Mr.. Deacon had
an idea. Hold on. he said-hold on.
The grass. Would Bobby consider
taking charge of the grass? Though
Mr.. Deacon was of ;he type which
cuts its own grass and glories In Its