Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-08-02

Escaped
p, ON q certain evening OF early
spring, iugt about the time when the
laSt glimmcr OF twilight was about
TO fade into the final delicate shades
~ dusk, woman opened the door
al n lonely cottage. which stood in
he midst Of a belt of fir trees high
above a deep valley. and. standing
on tho doorstep. looked at the lights
WITCH had already begun to twinkle
fas below,
From force of hnbit. concentrated
long before ana practiced through
ntHhy years she had shaded her
eyes with her right hand. although
The sun had then been down n good
half hour An observer would have
Thought she was peering anxiously
through the aloom--in reality she
Was listening for the sound OF
tdotstcp on the rocky path which
came upward nom the stream at the
loot OF the bank 1t was her custom
10 listen FOR this fOotstep every
night. and because the sun shone
directly on the place in spring and
simmer at that hour she had con-
trnCted the custom Of shielding her
cNeS.
The familiar aspects of the land
Scape were still plainly visible to
this solitary watcher. ON tho OPP
positc side Of the valley she saw the
ancient castle In which Saxon
king had kept his state. and near II
the old church, square lowered.
gray walled. scarcely less ancient;
the picturesque inn. with its thatch-
cd roof and timbcred gables: an
ed farmstead or two: cottages
whose ages were reckoned by
generations instead OF by years.
Nearby was Il complete contrast
in q. little town of red brick cot
tages, built ON regular and mathe-
matical lines. not one brick of which
had been there In her childhood-no.
ror for years after she was wife and
mother. There was always some re-
sentiment In her ms she looked at
these evidences Of modernity; she
efncmbcrCd that where the new
village now lay there were fields
which were famous for their mush-
rooms. and Coppices celebrated for
their nuts and trees. under which
she and her companions had played.
And between this new hive of in
dustry and the river rose the out
ward evidence of the underground
force which had made the change
between old and new--the outer
werks OF coal mine, the gigantic
shattinEs. the mighty scaffoldihgS.
the great wheels. the sheds, engine
houses, pumping houses. machinery
houses, the mountainous banks OF
slag--all OF which had sprung into
being since that day when a sCient-
lido man with Il long nose and blue
spectaClcs who was stopping Mt the
castle tod Sir Robert ManuerSley
that his ancient estate lay over
coal seam which might prove to be
worth millions.
Margaret Britteu turned from this
scene full OF wIstful longing. She
had the instinct OF folk who are
born and bred on the soil, and
Change was hard to bear. She had
first seen the light in that cottage:
she and her man had lived I'm II
when her own father and mother
W ere dead; there she had borne her
own children. All connected with
her had earned their living on the
land in the old fashioned ways-as
,jtborers. gamekeepers. woodsmen.
Now there was only one man OF her
family lcft-her son Jim-and In
stead OF following the pillow over the
broad uplands behind the cottage, or
assuming the Keepers velvet coat.
lie, too. had been claimed by King
tcal and earned his money-good
money. rs she knew-as check
weighman at the colliery.
As she turned TO glance within
the cottage doorway Margaret heard
.iim's step on the rock strewn path
lway far beneath. and then his
familiar whistle. She ran within
and opened the door OF the oven a
fcw inches, and took peep at
something which was undergoing
some process inside. and thereby
suffered savory odor to escape
which reached the nostrils or Mr..
james Britten twenty yards away.
THAT smells good. mother he
exclaimed minute later. as he came
busting into the cottage, and
selling Margaret by her ample waist
kissed both her cheeks. you could
smell that over at r Mannersley!
What is II this time
IT'S liver and bacon, with an
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