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"S‘““‘ S"‘”"’“'S .““‘S“‘it’ “:3 t‘:9‘.::‘"..'.':: an :".:1..::':: ’?.‘;‘‘‘.l' ".”.‘-2
reakfast drank the ast of is Co a 4 , - . ’ . , ' ’
Fe and’ shoved back‘ his chair just lmur way? argum‘ 'They‘e pee“
’ . . doin that now .i’or more than thirty-
from the table with a rasplng scrape me years’ Mr “-5 just meg, way,
along-the floor. His Wife glared at him mustn't mind a little thing like that."
angrily. ‘Alml. could stand it. she redacted. He
"Haven't I told you about three times hadn't been used to anything else, and
a day that I wish you'd lift your. chair hadvaceptcd it‘ as a rnatteuof ‘course.
when you get up, an’ not scrape ‘all the But the Comlnual dvlllftflft Walfafg
Varnish 0“ ‘he “or?” %'?‘“i..-‘’.“ i‘.f'r..’i‘.‘.'.'v9- 35.2”-‘...Sf.e$2.i"..u
Ea5y'going’]7rovDcauve Joshua smiled sitaalslped lit?!‘ foorso hard that a too in-
back at her with an irritating air. quismve Nady gm mu, 1 frightened
"I reckon so. Jest ‘bout that number squa.Wl( and rumpled feathers. “I hate
u’ times." , this narrow, fussy little village! I hate
--wen, why don't you pay a nine at.’this continual bickering and squabbling.
tention to lt?"‘she snapped v‘ - "ind ghls tall. 03hIlD‘Il;l1l‘i$ in the world
. uNaOW, naow,"kee ca'm, Mother. c:,f,d5jC;:g’S,;bout d‘ie!..
How he I goin' to git up ’thout moviu‘ She empued the last 0, the pan of
111? Chair? v Didn't I 13)’ ‘M5 5001'? An‘ corn, and a great round tear Walled out
varnish it’! An’ who’s got a better right or the corner of each blue eye. and rolled
to scratch it up?" He leaned back so slowly‘ down a Dink cheek.-
that the rear legs or his chair dented -She wiped them 0” Msllly. Alylal:
the surface. and pulled out a blackened 1",“ C"“”"“' “fl ” “’0““““ d" W 9
. . , um see her with tears in her eyes.
WP“ "Cm 11“ X’“cke" . - - 'Alvah di(ln’t like crying women.
Mr3- Sim”-103,3 3my< ey95‘ aa5“ed' It had been almost a year since Alvah
“There you so again. You’re'the al.'- Simmons ma led her to his ome as a
gravatinest man, Joshua Simmons, that ‘June brltlf‘. She had been glad to give
ever breathed. Just look at that floor! up her school in the yellow Schoolhou-=0
Il:lren‘t I told you a thousand times doll‘)! in yak 12.‘?-ll.v' ‘for the strals;hht-
that I wish you'd clean the manure oft g:;t:g' ;'];i‘: ‘em “"1 ’'’‘'"g “”“e’' W "
your feet before you come in to sit ‘
down at the table? ’Phew!,Iiow do you better um'n any other fellow in the wit
you latte.
barn mill road was a picturesque affair. with
’ reat rosehushes in the doaryard. and
Yer clematis and Virginia creeper running
up high over the front of the house. and
Little Mrs. Alvah Simmons sizht-ti the mellowa 0! asje ovezthe place. It
dgeply, and hastily excused herselt [rain .had seemed romantic. ntlly. w-th its
the table. Iler husband's father and rolllng knolls and its waving tields of
mom" were at 1; again, she set her oats and hay. Pa Simmons had seemed
teeth hard as more sounds at wrangling a, llkahle. senlal old soul. and Mother
came tram the dining,--rnomgand snatched ‘Simmons 8 Woman who congealed a bus:
up a pan or cracked cclrmxln the com- hem‘! Under 3 brusque exterlcr.
Dar.-ltivs: quiet of the chicken-house. she > Alvah had brought her home to the
Hung llallllfllli 0 CDT“ ‘O the Surging. old place. “For a. while we'll better
hens.’ who clucked and crowded and live with the old folks," he-had told her.
taught about her, while a tumult of bit- “It costs 3 lot to xix up a place of our
221" thought! ran rlot thru her brain. own, but we'll have one in a year or
Her good-looking young husband also two. erhaps we can buy‘ the Ben Dyer
shoved back from the table, and started place at the village. But guess we.
(or the barn. "Silo, now Honey," he can get along at home for a little while."
, Kr
so lonesome I
track in a lot 0’ manure lrorn t 1:
under the table?" ,
“Dunno. an’ dunno’: if I care.
bl-enkl‘ast‘s on the table, sin‘: ti?"
‘xv?
who 7 .
. 1,“.
‘Eat a livin' out of it
had assented, willingly. gladly.
even. Anywhere that Alvah wantod too
go, she would have been erfectly C011-.
tented. She would have followed him
to the end of the earth. II he had said.
“Let's-go-on the top Bumtrcoat
Mountain an‘ live there," she would haue .
gone with him cheerfully and unhesl-
tazingly. ' '- .
Dlft :1 year of living at the old place
had worn off the illusion. She realized’
only too fully that Pa Simmons, in spite
of hls‘bluf1 genlalityphis h:lll-fellow-
well-met ng ‘ to
She
provident generosity and personal sel-
hshness. He was SlilfUE:‘S in his busi-
ness arrangements, careless about his
personal habits, and “hard to get along
with." e swore roundly at the cattle,
and horses, and'.s0metimes at his wife:
he lost his temper and helztbored the‘
cows with stick 0! col-dwood; he '
tracked manure and dirt into the house;
he lit his pipe and [lung the matches.
into the corner of the -room‘. now and
then he spat on the floor; he blew his
nose thru his fingers; and her critical
mlndlwent on enumerating his slwrt>
comings till it seemed as if there were
110 El] .
She told herself that Mother Simmons,
for all her mothery big heart. had :1
sharp tongue and a quick temper; that
sl was unreasonable and "at" in her
views: that daily quarrellng with her
husband had dulled her finer sensibili-
ies.. The old farmhouse, which‘had
seamed -picturesque and romantic. now
appeared merely rickety, frowsy and ill-
kept. rolling knolls, which had’
charmed her by their beauty. now ap-
peared merely as tyrannical monsters
on which crops coultlbe raised only with‘
lndnite hard grinding, back-
‘ from sunrise till dusk.
.still-her heart thrilled a little at the
sight at ‘her stalwarfyoung husband
swinging along rrom the rear or the
barn. his arm around her,‘
“bussed" her in true loverllke tasllion,
and took the pan from her hand.
“AIvah," she asked determined
to take the opportunity, "Can't you let
me have a little money‘! I want to go
down to the store and get some percale-.
for a newhouse dress. This one is al-
most worn out.“ .
t.,-...a:‘+., '
Joshua Leercd nt Her. ““’eIl. ‘Yh1Il'l
Y .
er Flint Orders. Boss!"
ways-losing his new-round ambition.
and rapidly acquiring a. "yvhat's the
use?" spirit.
““'hy don't you raise something that
dy money?" she
around the farm.
planted besides the garden for the things
wc‘ll'eat this summer. Why not D131“
something that we can sell?"
is old man looked at her in mild tol-
CIDUD appeared on Alvalvs face.
Planted three
Worked all sum-
mer on it, an‘ liked to kill myself a-doln‘
oi‘ it Come a frost Jest a day or two
‘fore it was ready to take to the fac-
tor)’. an’ I never got a cent out of it for
my summer's work. Wasn't even Hood
for fodder." '
“But there are other lthings besides
sweet corn," argue girl, uncon-
vinced. ,"Your land is late. and sub-
Ject to early frost: in the fall. You take
chances every‘ time you plant that. Tiler‘?
are plenty of other things that are in
demand, aren't there?” '
he old man's eyes opened wide;
' “Why, bless ye, girl," he chuckled. "gnel
H . <- ,. ks '3 ‘ ut rullll
himlflxgk tsizhetei11aS,::dn:’;‘t‘ 3,: rarm1$.hien‘E(r:0r‘r:er?:?o?ksb?nat's lived
me rem, money that you get on “$3 o it all our lives. Ye
[arm is what comes in from the orchard some ollthem green
and these iew chickens and milk?" ”
“W . guess that's so." he admitted
sheeplshly. "Un!ess'n we sell a cow. or
a l>‘l‘g1'. 0; sI0methin'." t
" va , thou h: on W ,-
planner than thft," ghe flaemeeda oiiietttg 'f“‘"“' “me,” We've “"9" d‘’“'" -
h m. > . “L don't’ see any ready money COIN" ,-
“VVell, Pa says there's no money in "We Ye
‘a"nln’- snywayx All he can do is to
You see, money‘: awful . .
tight this time 0’ year ain't
littla- wrinkle ap-
peared between her eyes, and her lips
shut in a. tight line.
“ vah. I‘ve heard that since the mid-
dle of the Winter. Isn't there anything on
this farm raised to bring in some money?
How do you get along?"
Ile shifted his weight uneasily from
one foot to the other. “Well, Sam trusts
t at it," persisted the girl
“Yen and a rnighty Door one at that."
she rgtorted. She strode or! toward the
house. with her crestfallen husband :91.
low ng. ' . ,
Joshua. Simmons had rolled out to the
the eggs from fifteen or‘ twenty hens
will payme bills during the summer. is
it?"
The old man stiffened, and his good-
kit h . humored t l . h :1 t temper-
behClnecln':lli‘en:tt>S:;”teoLl 3f’t“$‘ttL'l.r'.“." $23” ‘'1 s'nose yeo cear':ntCePlll'C7leatnl1gilengs ‘(hunt run-
nmoke. 11 Ea 35'‘ nin’ my own business," he snappedr
was runnln' this (arm long ’fore ya “'35
‘born. an’-Icnl'lai.e I know a leetle some-
lll1n' Yll." He rose and stamped 9“
'lnto the barn.
Alook of deep concern came over Al-
va . "You ouglltn‘t to talk to I‘:-I
'llke that." he chided his wile. “It-It
stove.
“Its powerful dlsapp'lntin'" he
... , . - grum-
hled, Backers to 15 cents
he can't scare
lines, "
Am: :21‘; ‘am , > lessness. "All right, Alvah, have it your
“ml heath MS 9 “ "Om tho henyard. own way,“ she agreed. “I've got W
complaints. She looked have some money for clothes and things.
The superintendent wants ma to take
the fall term or school down at the vil-
-, 135:9. and I guess I will."
A frown came over hlsytace. "WM"
'- Hard ,'
mother-in-law but . l
H , . no. that wont a . I‘ l ld tllln(
M w
‘ “'Y‘Rl1f;l”Y 7: only n ‘
y u properly. It's a husband's place
Eam t:‘&"3"'-1 tnnllfovlde for his wile." ,- A
" 5 ‘I955 “ 611. are you?" she answered time“?-
their nvrount, but b ,.
was drifting into, frfeause 1' r h