The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1937-02-19

later" said MIR. Woodhouse evaslVely.
Can you be ready to go out with me
this afternoon? I will take you In my
car"
ayes, sir" said Etrem.
"All right then, you can go now.
Efrem bowed from the waist, turned
out of the office. He went downstairs
and into the sidestreet where he parked
his car. The car was a very old n
very large limousine on high wheels.
The once light grey whipcord OF the
upholstery was discolored n torn
and some of the springs in h seat
were broken. But between the windows
on each side there we're pointed cut
glass vases filled with artificial mas
turtium in red and yellow which cas-
caded brightly and stiffly down the
walls. Efrem was very proud and Iona
of his car which to him was almost
like a human being.
The car had a meter and Efrem
had driven it as a taxi for some time
at a railway station on Long Island.
Before that he had operated an ele-
vator in a noisy building in the down.
town section of New York. And still
further back he had been a soldier.
He had been a soldier ever since he
was old enough to hold a gun.
Now he drove his car to a small
garage belonging to a man he knew,
then went to his rooms, tied up his
few belongings into an old fringed
and returned to the office where he
sat until Mr.. Woodhouse was ready
Mr.. Woodhouse explained his duties
to Efrem. There were two children in
the household and over these Efrem
was to watch quite particularly. Efrem
listened sI E to MI; Woodh S!s h With e e1as
riveted upon Mr.. Woodhouse's face.
Mr.. Woodhouse was satisfied with his
first impression of the new night
Waterman, he seemed trustworthy,
solid, and good natured, like a large
shaggy dog. He spoke very little, and
in very broken English.
Night after night now Efrem sat in
the silent, clean kitchen which smelt
paper in his big clumsy hands: The
paper appeared only once a week. He
read and reread it until he knew eX-
actly where to find his favorite bits
and until the next issue arrived. He
often glanced at the kitchen clock and
very regularity every hour went on
his rounds. Sometimes the garden was
bldSh WV LIZ 44CtC4 uoC0 ~ V4VSOA4S
torch, moving round in the darkness
as easily as in the daytime. Once or
twice he reminded Mr.. Woodhouse
about the gun but MI. Woodhouse
wished to know him better before
trusting him with one.
AS Efrem had no duties in the day.
time he spent many hours sleeping.
cut from the lawn on the outside of
the kitchen garden fence, and would
sleep there in the hot, bright sun.
He used his small bare room over
the garage only for washing and
changing his clothes. He kept it neat
but it looked uninhabited and soulless.
He often played with the children
each other perfectly without the use
Of many words. The two dogs belong
ing to the household became so at
tached to him that they never left
his side. Sometimes with the dogs at
his heels he would wander round the
country, every detail of which soon
became familiar to him. There was
the house where some horses were
usually grazing and these he visited
as often as he could. He saved sugar
from his coffee, boarded dry bread
from the kitchen, and got carrots from
the gardener to take to the horses.
They grew accustomed to his visits
and when they saw him coming they
would trot up from the farthest end
Of the field, tossing their heads. He
gave them Russian names and spoke
to them in his own language.
Efrem's thoughts were as awkward
as his big body. They were slow and
simple thoughts. His new environment
had SO completely absorbed him that
it almost obliterated the memory of
those occupations which were so foreign
to all he had been reared in, and
which had been his portion since
leaving Russia. He spent his nights
roaming about the garden or sitting
beside the artificially made stream,
under the trees. He was stirred by
memories of a remote past and pres
emily was entirely submerged in them.
His present surroundings blended
themselves with the recollections of
his life back in his own country and
became as one with them. And as
he was freer to live in his memories
at night, it was night. that he pre-
ferred.
The Woodhouse property stood on
a height overlooking the Sound. At
night the field in front of the house
as it sloped toward the distant water
could have been the field of his grand
kINy@y ~~~ IT, 1-I 49,