Henderson daily dispatch., 1938-01-06
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~ Temple Bailey
COPYRIGHT RELEASED BY CENTRAL PRESS ASSOCIATION

! in the throat of a wolf, the bark of
dog which has found it's master.
It was Jason who stood over me.
quivering, whining, trying to lick
my cheek, loving me.
| Mimi had begun to be uneasy
early in the evening. From the
window of her own room she could,
| in clear weather, see the trail
which / had followed, but now the
mountain was hidden by a thick
curtain of snow. AS the storm in
creased Dora tried to reassure her.
There were many such storms, she
said. Mimi called up the men at
the barns, and learned that l had
not come in. Timothy, arriving at
the moment, offered to go and look
for me. Mimi would not let him,
so he built a great fire on the
hearth and she told him stories.
Jason would not stay by the fire.
He put his nose to the crack of
the front door and refused to leave.
At six he sat up, cooked his ears,
and barked and whined.
IT thought he heard you, Jerry,
so I let him out, and he was away
like a shot. Then we waited, Tim
and I, but you did not come or
Jason either. The snow had
stopped, so 1 went to my room
and looked out. It was too dark
to see the mountain, but there
seemed to be great star hanging
low in the sky, and as I watched
it grew bigger and bigger, and
then I knew it must be a fire and
that you had lighted it, so I called
up the men and sent them after
YOU"
The men met Jason halfway. I
had tied my handkerchief to his
collar; and it was he who led them
back to where I lay.
They made a rude stretcher of
the blankets they had brought, and
placed me on it; then with the
carefulness of those who are the
guardians of the forest, they beat
out the fire, and heaped snow on
it. Thus, the little tree, which was
to have lighted our Christmas, lay
alone under a white pail.
tainted again before they got
me home, and opened my eyes to
see Minis face above me. It was
very white, and the eyes were
frightened. And it was those
frightened eyes which l took with
mo into NV DRAINS
For was very i'll. My leg was
broken, and the exposure had
brought on pneumonia. l came
out of my deliriuln now and then
to worry about Mimi, and to try to
tell her of TIE things had thought
while I lay half-frozen on the
mountain side. l was always try
ing, too, to tell her about the
ranch, and what Uncle Jerry had
said of it. "He told me it was a
shining palace" 1 kept saying, II
didn't know it was a shack like
this"
And she would soothe me: per
haps, it is a shining palace, jerry"
and try. to smile at me, but always
her eyes were frightened.
Mrs. Hayes came down and
helped with the nursing, but she
had to go back to her own sick
man. Dora had all she could do
with the homework. The men
from the barns did what they
could, but they were awkward and
uncouth. So it was Mimi whom I
saw day and night, tireless, with
deep shadows under the frightened
eyes, her hair brushed back from
her white face, her simple gowns
faded from many washings.
One day 1 caught her hand as
she bent over me, Where is the
Mimi of the peacock portrait? ?"
She tried to speak lightly, e"She
has flown away. A fairy waved
wand and changed her into "a
little brown hen"
"You mean that country clod
turned her into Cinderella"
Hush, jerry"
(TO Be Continuedl