The Elk Mountain pilot., 1923-11-08

cents on the replacing of Mr. Wopple's
WINDOW. 1t had been a slow matter
~ accumulate the money to pay for
her moment of impulsive violence. and
never again would she be lacking in re-
spect for pane of glass. But now to
a''e uoiiar-no, dollar and twen-
W ceh's-in week In less time!
ihere would be endless preparations to
,hake' and the money would have to be
III hand before the plans could begin
She could not allow herself more than
'iree days. 1t was appalling. The
WINDOW money had been raised by
ione, weary hours of solid labor:
picking up wood, washing steps. run
ming errands The rewards had beep
IN reverse ratio to the intensity of eff
iorts and had ranged from one cent
up TO dime per job. The latter had
oeen the insurmountable limit.
1t was painfully evident that these
SLOW methods must be abandoned in
laVor OF gigantic financial coup. Let
tle discouraged the society of Crink and
Ihad, and withdrew to her favorite va
cant lot for purposes of meditation.
Throwing herself down in the shade
OF weeping willow, she proceeded to
translate her outburst Of assurance in
10 plans for concrete wherewithal.
BY jingoes!" she said to herself. 81
gotta get that money in lump. This
amt no dime-bank stunt. It's race
tween me and Christmas, and I'm
going to get there first" Miss Penfield
leaned over and pummeled the ground
with her fist. I'm gonta D'you hear?
I'm gontal"
Having registered her determination
both verbally and physically, she felt
considerably relieved. Lifting her
eyes, she shook off her tenseness and
surveyed the world in a wholly recep-
tive mood. A boy was whistling
around the corner. He came In sight,
distributing handbills. Lettie watched
him climb steps, slip dodger under
the door, run down again, climb other
steps.
Her gaze ceased to follow the boy,
became fixed, dreamy. Her body was
motionless. by Georgel" she mur-
INJURED. I'm getting an idea. 1 can
most see it,
1t developed that this particular idea
was not to be captured in the space Of
ten seconds, but Lettie stayed by with
Incredible patience. Finally the mental
visioning was clarified. She sprang to
her feet, wild with excitement and
hope, and dashed off several blocks, to
one of her hunting grounds, the free
edge of lumber yard. Here she rum
mayed until she had collected a num-
ber of long, light pieces of wood,
which she bound together with an old
wire and dragged home.
The afternoon and all Of the follow
ing day were spent by Lettie in the
most secluded corner of the Penfield
back yard, and no king in his castle
was ever more unapproachable. Crink
and Thad were left In no doubt re-
garding her desire for isolation. The
beloved FIJI Caesar was Tended off
with an active coldness that wounded
his affectionate nature. Bonnie Ger
aldine !lmped about the yard without
exciting even the fieeting compassion
Of her mistress.
Mrs. Penfleld, glancing from the
window occasionally at the small fig
ure busily working with hatchet and
nails, sticks and old wire, was moved
to pity over the disappointment which
She feared was in store. 1t was evil
set on success and that she was risk
ing everything on one venture. And
yet how could she make anything out
of her little old scraps that anybody
would buy? The tears gathered In
Mrs. Penfleld's eyes as she imaged the
probable crumbling of Lettie's hopes.
Every little while there would be
spanking of steps through the yard,
flash of black curls through the door,
furious beating on the temper gong.
Take that, will your" Lettie would
cry, addressing spirit within herself,
often addressed before. "Lordy, I'll
beat you. You make me-tired-al
time trying to-get mel Now how do
you feel?"
The temper gong had long since
ceased to be thing of wood. Lettie's
Imagination had endowed it with a
fraCIlOn OF ner own udtuEc, tnc uhuC
sirable fraction, and she scolded and
threatened and pounded 1t with fury
that was sharper because Of the per-
sonification.
Mrs Penfield traced the frequency of
these demonstrations to undue exer-
ton. "Lettie, dear. don't work so hard"
she demonstrated.
"Penzie, darling, l GOTTA" replied
Lettie firmly. There amt much time,
and the old thing balks on me-"
But In the middle of the second fore
noon Lettie came into the house with
impressive triumph. Her steps were
measured, her head high.
"She works." announced the child.
with a brief nod toward the contriv-
ance she was carrying. 1t was long,
slender stick with wires at one end,
but Lettie gave no explanation Of its
purpose. Instead. she took 1t into the
bedroom and hid it jealousy behind
her own sleeping box.