The Coolidge examiner., 1931-05-22

I soles of her shoes were almost
worn from her feet. She struggled
bravely as they entered the clear
| ing, with the ruin of the house
| ahead of them. Both were so
tired in soul and body that their
minds seized upon this end of
their journey as relief from
longer supporting the burdens of
the flesh. In way, it was like
coming TO home which they had
! forgotten. For this was LuSSan's,
place filed with memories of
hope and triumph and bitterness
out of which it built a welcome
| for them even in its loneliness.
TOinette's lips almost smiled. as
| if she saw Madame LuSSan at the
threshold of the door calling to
! her above the laughing voices
of men and women, above her
| fathers CHEEKY greetings to friends
and neighbOrS, above the restless
stamping of her horses hOOfs and
the crying of the auctiOneer. She
might have seen and heard these
! things but yesterday; now there
was sleep-a dark and lifeless
ghost of Il house, cricketS raSping
their wings in the tangled grass.
jungle growing where before
there had been broad and level
green.
Both were children now, seeing
. ha ,rhn oh I
see them, wide-eyed and a little
! afraid at first, and yet comforted
by the nearness of that yesterday
in their lives. The stars and the
cricketS and the ruStling grass
and the wind in the trees seemed
to listen and move to the cautious
tread of their feet. rabbit ran
ahead of them. An owl flew off
the roof of the house. A bat
dipped in spirals and curves be-
fore their eyes and thorns caught
playfully a: their shoes and
clothes. And they felt safe. A
warmth crept through their blood.
and with it a relaxation of nerves
and eyes and brain. Here was
sanctuary. Rest. Peace. They
sensed these things without speak
ing as they approached the build
ing. The door was open. Star
light Splashed like the golden glow
of candles on the floor. They en-
tered and stood silent as if lis
tening anXiouSly for the voices of
sleeping ones whom their entrance
might arouse. Emptiness was here,
a spectral vacancy, but with 1t
were neither death nor fear.
They were a little apart, ana
TOinette looked like broken
flower ready to fall.
Wait for me here" said Jeems.
u am going for an armful of
grass"
He made a bed in corner of
the room, and TOinette sank upon
1t. He covered her with his fathers
coat which he had brought from
the valley and went outside to
watch and guard with Odd.
He could hear her sobbing as
tears came at last to give her COM
fort. He fought back a thicken-
ing in his throat and hot flame
in his eyes as the boy in him
called out for his mother. He, too,
wanted this easement for his grief
But he stOOd-a man. Odd watched
tirelessly and sleeplessly with his
master.
After a long time, there was ST.
lence in the old house, and Jeems
knew that Toinette was asleep.
He went in quietly and replaced
the coat about her. Her face was
white and lovely, and wet Iashes
glistened on her cheeks. Timidly
his fingers pressed the silken braid
of her hair. He brushed q wisp
of hay from her forehead. Uncon-
sciously his lips moved. Hope and
faith and prayer seemed to stir
in the room as he dared to raise
the soft braid to his lips, and then
he returned to his place outside
with something like a glory en-
shrined with his sorrow.
He sat on the ground with the
house at his back and his bow and
Sheaf of arrows and the English
hatchet within reach of his hands.
The stiffness seemed a live thing
that had barred all sound from
solemn hours of meditation, and
he soon began to feel its influence.
Slowly and irresistibly it brought
the desire to close his eyes and
sleep, and he rose to his feet in
struggle to keep awake Odds
teeth clicked and his eyes cleaned
with undimmed vigilance.
For hours they watched together
and marked every changing sha-
dow They skirted the edges of
the open, advancing a step at a
time and with as little noise as the
owl wings that now and then
fiOated about them. They scanned
LusSan'S meadow, and JeemS
climbed a tall tree to see if he
could discover a glow of fire. At
intervals he returned to the house
and looked in at Toinette. 1t was
after midnight when he sat down
again, and soon the stars seemed
to be laughing at him and to be
drawing nearer as if they had
beaten MIN in a game. They closed
his eyes. Odd rested his heavy
jaws between his forepaws and
gave a deep sigh. Exhaustion
then sleep.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)