Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1935-04-24

now; the uum was sheet of bfl
h satin. twinkling in the light and sliI
ping into exquisite jade and ultra
marine shadows against the ..Ovel
/ hanging banks.
"Oh, we do have fun" Edit
commented luxuriously, lying on tn
fiat hot stones as the meal finished
There was silence in the grOul
that was resting on TIE shingle il
the dusk. A great owI"f1oated low
over the dam, and was gone; thu
creek rippled, rippled in the pause
Clearing away all signs Of the
picnic in the faSt-gathering dusk
Gail tried an experiment. Upor
Dicks carrying off the coffee poi
to throw the grounds away behind
the trees, she rewarded him with a
casual "Thank you, dear!" said in
just the tone she used to Sam and
Phil. Later she said again, "Take
thatS will you, dear|
She couldn't remember whether
she had ever called Dick dear" BE-
fore. If she had, it had not meant
anything. Probably she had, for it
seemed to make not the slightest
impression on him tonight. If he
had looked surprised she had
planned to laugh quite naturally
and say, II thought I was talking
to Sam!"
But there was no necessity for
this explanation. Dick paid no at
tention to the affectionate mono
syllable. Oblivious old Dick, she
thought, who never dreamed that
close beside him was woman who
was thrilling with love and happi-
ness and the need for him in this
wonderful hour of autumn warmth
and mOOnshine!
They walked, singing, down the
steep, rutty half mile to the cars
Gail needed a hand now; the hand
that gripped her was Dicks. She
marveled that he could not feel the
electric current that ran through
the tips of the square, firm fingers.
Afterward she always remembered |
the night they went up to the dam.
hot night of mOonshine and laugh
ter and talk on the shingle above
the dam.
Soon the weather changed and
tn n0f0hnr tn
earnest. The leaves began to fall
now, and the winds to blow. To
Gail it was a thrilling time, this
autumn filled with hints of change,
of endings and beginnings. She was
in love, and it was entirely different
from what she had expected it to
be. Far from giggles, rapture and
excitement, it was a serious busi-
ness: it made her feel grown up and
responsible.
She could never love anyone else
but Dick; it was all settled. Every
thing she thought now had to have
him in it; the future had narrowed
itself down to just Dick.
He had no money, he was coun-
try-bred, he was only the son of the
people who rented the old Lawrence
place over in Stanislaus-it did not
matter. Gail, who had always felt
that Clippersville limited and bound
her, knew herself quite willing
all! breathlessly willing to live
in Clippersville forever,
DR. out on the Stanislaus ranch for
ever if Dick so decreed. What Ariel
)r Edith would think of this sud- 9
len altering of all her dreams was {
there was nothing any
where, except Dick! c
All life was miracle now, and f
she walked in the glory of it like b
somebody lifted above the earth. All il
he happy DID customs that she and q
edith had known for years were
Ouched with new joy and new pain. f,
When Dick Joined the family circle G
he air was only little more elec- k
rified than when he did not come. L
And meanwhile Van had estab- r;
ished more comfortable footing
D the old Lawrence house than ever I"
efore, and while he and Ariel did G.
Ot seem to be exactly firting-ex- o
city having an atfair-there was a W
ar more substantial base to their nj
than his friendship with 10
iail had ever known. Very quietly, in
an almost bored tone, Ariel told h;
er sisters in early November that
an was going east to get to work. nC
mo more cOllege?" W
NO, he wants to get into busi- "
ess. His father says he'll start OF
i'm in the New Jersey plant" tn
"Then he won't come back to
~
"Yes. He's going to be back for m
week in January. That's-that's m
Onth after next!' if
He's coming back after her!"
dlth said. when she and Gail were th
one. tb
"Oh, Eide. it does look like it!" it.
Calls imagination was off at full or
'eed: Ariel married at eighteen to no
'ung Van MurchisOn; Edith and tn
nil and Sam living on here at the tn
q house; herself and Dick .. in,
But this last snatched at her
cath. Herself and Dick. People dl,
the library would glance at her: SD