The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-01-06

marry him but she put him off.
 Continued from Yesterday
 Julia tried, early in her stay, t
 make the room she shared with he cousins, and her grandm others kit
 chen, a little more attractive. But tn
 easily improved. In the barebedroon
 there was an iron bed, large enougl
 to be fairly comfortable for thre, tenants, two chairs, washstand, ant
 a chest of drawers that would no
 stand straight. The paper was light
 and streaked with dirt and mould, ant
 the bare wooden floor was strewl
 with paper candy bags and crumplet
 programs from cheap theatres. Ther' were no curtains at the two windows and the blue-green roller shades were faded by the sun. Not a promising field for a reformer whose ideal wa: formed on a memory of the TolandS guest rOOmi
 1 The kitchen was quite as bad; worse 1 in the sense that while Julia might do as she pleased in the bedroom, hel
 grandmother resented any interfer. ence in what old Mrs. Cox regarded
 as her own domain. The old woman found nothing aniss in the dirty newspapers that covered the table, the | the odds and ends of rags and rope and c1otheSpins and stockings that lit
 tered the chairs and floor, the flies | that walked on the ceiling and buzzed
 
 ragged her on that morning that she essayed to clean a certain wide shelf that, crowded to its last inch, hung over the sink.
 I throw this away?" the girl said over and over, displaying a nearly empty
 box of b1acking, a moist bag tightly rolled over perhaps a pound of sugar, clock, bottle of toothache drops. a dogs old collar, a cracked saucer with a cake of brown soap tightly adhering to it, a: few dried onions, a
 broken comb, the two halves of a broken vase, and a score of similarly assorted small articles.
 Jest don't meddle with 'em, Julia, ' Mrs. Cox said over and over again uneasily. I'm going to give all that a thorough cleaning when get around to it!"
 She was obviously relieved when Julia gave the whole thing up a bad job, and went back to her aimless wandering about the house. Mrs. Cox never went out except to church, but now and then Julia went down to Mrs. Tarbury's and vaguely discussed engagement, exactly as if several very definite offers were under considera- ton.
 Just at this time Ju1ia's youngest uncle, Chester Cox, wrote his mother from the big prison at San Quentin that he was coming home. The let ter, pencilled on two sheets of lined, grayish paper, caused a good deal of discussion between Mrs. Cox, her hus- band, and her granddaughters. Ches- ter, now about thirty years old. had been pardoned because of late evil dence in his favour, when a five-year term for burglary was but one quar- ter served, but in his old fathers eyes a jailbird was jailbird, and Chester was still in some mysterious way to blame. Mrs. Cox was only concerned hQoaJSa 0f job and apt to prove a burden, but the three girls, frankly curious about him, nevertheless reserved judgment. He had always been an id1er, he had always been a weakling, but if he really were accused falsely, they could champion him still.
 The day he had set. for his return was a Sunday, but he arrived un- expectedly on the Saturday. afternoon, to find great trouble in the Mission Street house. Evelyn and Marguerite were free for the afternoon, and were in the kitchen with Julia and their grandmother. It had lately come to Evelyn's ears that her grandfather had been borrowing money on the little property, and old Mrs. Cox was be- side herself with anger and fear. The house was her one hope against a destitute old age. She fairly writhed 1t the contemplation of her husbands | -reachery in undermining that one stay. While she was slaving and | struggling, he had airily disposed of | hree hundred dollars. She was stifed | oy the thought.
 He'd ought to be sent to jail for t!' the old woman said bitterly.
 You can't do it, Evelyn, the bear 1T of the bad news, assured her inn 
 well. he'll see what I can do, when le gets home!" Mrs. Cox muttered Julia, distressed by the scene, laid her and over her grandmother's old .notted one, as she sat beside her at he table, but could find no words with which to comfort her. Her soul vas sick with this fresh sordid reveIa- n another minute of existence in this reary. dirty house. with the glaring unshine streaming in the kicthen wir- | ow and 8 high summer wind bowling utside.
 The talk was ended by a ring at he door, and Julia went through the ark, stifling passage to admit a lean Ii f light hair on his sunken cheeks, nd curious look of not belonging o his clothes
 'Tt's Uncle Chess, Grandma" said he, leading the way back to the ltchen- Mrs. Cox gave her young st child kiss, assuring him that she rever would have known him, he ooked like a ghost, she said. and E ,hester sat down and talked a little to his mother and nieces lis voice was husky, full of apolo- , 'etic cadences; he explained pains akingly the chance that had brought jim home twenty-four hours early, as n the world Julia, helping her ( ;randmother with preparations for inner. did not know why she found