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Copyright, 1999, by David QO.
Cook Publishing Company. ~
Vou. VILL. Nov 16, | UBirsHED
DAVID C. COOK PUBLISHING CO., ELcIN, ILLINOIS, AND 86 Wasntneron St., CHIcaco,
April 17, 1909.
BY HARRIET WINTON DAVIS
HE had intended to write only a
~ short letter without a hint of home-
> sickness in it, but it was no use—
“she had to give way.
bear it, she speedily told herself; and she
must brace u It wouldn't do for Mrs.
Ryan to see her with red eyes—she. might
teil them at home—so she tried to steer her
thoughts in a-safer channel. The buffalo
grass wasn’t really so bad to: walk on;
how soft and elastic it felt under her feet!
Ilow novel the flowers: those of the
“ prickly pear,” like yellow satin, with here
and there the roseate blooms of, the finger
and the bird’s-nest cactus making gay little
spots on the somber sod! She only knew
“ Dear Auntie: TI can’t talk to mamma,
it ‘would distress her so, and of course
is- still’ more out of the question;
I’ve simply got to pour it out to some-
body; or die. Oh, auntie, I'm so thorough-
yc wretchedly miserable!. Think of being
_stranded on this desolate prairie, shut off
from-all society and: pleasures, deprived of
:-everything that makes life worth living—
swell, not exactly that, the lace seems de- them by their common names, but they
cent enough for a little new W. estern town, | Were So expressive—what~ need . of. any
. and. the people are not. all unspeakable ; others!
some of them are really nice, but, oh, it is
so. different from home! I never can get
used:to it, I don’t want to get.used to it.
T hate it! Oh, dear! I know I shall be re
‘morseful after this letter has gone.
_ beginning to be now, when I ‘think that
papa’s health seems already. improving
» little, and I am thankful, beyond all words,
“t that there is a place anywhere in the world
“: where: there is a chance for his recovery,
There was evidently no one at home in
the little sod house. Wild cucumber. vines
trailed gracefully over closed windows, and
the red painted door did not open to Jean’s
gentle knocking, so she gave it up—reluc-
tantly, for she liked -the friendly Irish-
woman with the broad, smiling face. Be-
sides, how was she ever going to find Mrs.
Remsen? “ Mrs..Ryan said she. could see it
+] from here, but there must be something the
forcing to be exile: froin everything we matter with my eyes,” for can’t,” and
love? We were ‘so happy in ‘the dear old Jean walked” slowly < on. The balmy aur
home, there were opportunities there for was having cits effect, and insensibly . her
me to do something—to be something in| Spirits had lightened a little. She thought
the‘ world. Now all the time and° money | she never knew till she came to this prairie
. spent on my music, my education general-| country how- much sky there was, an
‘ly, seems thrown away—utterly wasted, Ij anyone. could’ see ‘for himself that. “ the
“had: hoped— earth was round like a ball.” Occasional-
ly a gopher darted from his subterranean
home, and at a safe distance sate up in his
funny way, regarding her. with suspicious
eyes. . A little further, on she could see a
line of low trees or bushes, such as hover
about the little streams and creeks in the
Western country. It seemed near, and one
specially alluring clump’ of. green she
wanted to explore,
As she. approached the tangled screen
she heard sounds, as of someone stepping
on dry branches. | She* stopped. suddenly,
but “a soft childish yoice floated ~ out:
“Now, Freddy, you'll remember about be-
ing good to-morrow, won't you?”
Her feet had been noiseless on the soft
sod, and two startled little. faces looked
into hers as she pushed through
the bushes... But Jean was a
winsome thing, and she was
soon sitting in the “ playhouse ”
listening to the eager voices as
the poor little. treasures. were
exhibited. A rough box served
as table, displaying choice bric-
i-braec in. the way .of- broken
china, bits of glass, and gay-
colored picture cards. A handle-
less teacup held wild geraniums
with their. red blossoms an
olive-green leaves. J
terested in everything.
glanced at a pasteboard box,
brilliant with impossible flowers
from some seductive catalogue.
“That’s a s’prise for mamma
to-morrow, and I. haven’t, told
her a word!” Freddy whispered,
noticing the direction of her
eyes. And I’m going to be
good all day,” he added, “ every
single minute.’
“Ti’s for marmma’s birthday,” Annie ex-
plained. “It’s a. workbox . to’ keep her
thread and things’in. Mrs. Ryan gave me
the pictures, and I cut them out and pasted
them on. There ¢ aren't Any, two’ alike,”
Just ‘then Jean heard her mother call-
ing her, and the letter was-hastily locked
in the desk. A few minutes later she was
ssmiling a good-by to her father in the win-
dow. .
unsclfish child, what a
~ comfort she is! Douglas said to her-
self, as she watched “the sirlish form, “ but
“it’s a great change for her.” And a little
shadow fell on the delicate ‘face. But only
‘for’a moment; it was all gone when she
went into the sitting-room.
© Oh, no, Robert, she could not get lost!
_Mrs..Ryan’s house is in sight all the way,
as soon as she gets out of the village, and
the sewing woman is very near her, she
told’ me. It will do Jean good; she has
been staying in the house too much lately.”
“Yes, I thought she looked a little pale
< this morning,” Mr. Douglas answered.
-“But-I’m glad she seems so contented
ere’?
“The pr recious,
“Yes—if she is,” Mrs. Douglas thought
, to-herself, but she did not say it.
~ At this time Jean was saying, “I can
~. find her easily enough if she lives anywhere
“near Mrs..Ryan’s. Anyway it’s better to
be out in the sunshine.”
The.sod house was, as her mother had
~said, in’ plain sight all the way, and ap-
“: parently not far “off: objects in that clear
‘air seeming so much nearer than they real-
~ ly-were, but she wondered how, without
some such. landmark, people ever found
“their, way overs that trackless expanse.
. She thought, with a heavy heart, of the
girls. at home—what would they think, as
they. drove or walked through the beauti-
fully shaded, well-payed streets, if they
‘ could see her now, trudging along on that
“+ Matted, dusty buffalo. grass—just a speck
on. that immensity of prairie? What would
they think ofa country with no moun-
* tains, or’ even hills, and hardly a respect-
able tree in sight? .A tear of self-pity
dimmed her eye—oh, how hard it was, how
~ could she-ever bear it? But she’d got to
she added with evident pride. |
Ireddy did not want to be outdone, and
was looking around in search of further
entertainment - for. the-. guest. . “ That’s
what they shoot Indians. with,’ he -an-
nounced, picking up a little bow. “ They Fe a
5 bow" narrerers.’
“Oh, mamma and I picked up those
arrowheads!” . Annie” exclaimed.“ You
know there used to be Indians all over here
till the white people drove them. away.
It was the Indians who had the arrows,
Freddy,” she corrected parenthetically, put-
ting ber arm around him; but Freddy
squirmed away. “There used to be buf-
faloes, too, there are lots of horns on the
ground: they’re beautiful and shiny: when
they're polished,” she yent.on—Jean-was
such a delightful listener—* but I think it
was too bad to kill—’.~
“ There’s a swallow over there,” -Freddy
interrupted, pointing. a chubby finger.
“Fle means a wallow,” explained Annie,
Jaughing. ‘“* Haven’t. you seen those hol-
low. places on the prairie?” she added, as
Jean looked mystified. .« The buffaloes
made them by rolling in them.”
Jean could have ~-stayed~ there all” day;
she was fond of children, and she found
these very attractive, so she rose reluc-
tantly. |
“Do you know..where Mrs. Remsen
lives?” she asked Annie,
“Why, she’s mamma, ” Annie said, with
a pleased smiley “and we live right over
there,{ holding back the portiére’ of wild
vines as she spoke. .“ Don’t you. see that
that_ _Jean lingered.
neighbors had given of a “dugout”; how .
it is made by excavating into an embank-
ment, which forms the sides and roof of
the dwelling. She remembered his account
of driving, one dark night,’ when he was
new to the ways of the West, right over
“dugout ” not knowing, till éjaculations
rose from below, that he was on the roof
of a house. Jean had laughed at the time,
but somehow it did not seem so funny now.
Accompanied by the children’ she made
her way tothe stovepipe. Nothing else that
suggested a human’ habitation. was. visible
until they had gone around the embank-
ment, and there they‘ were at. the front
door.. The room into which it opened was
cellar-like, but the well-swept hard earth
floor had its braided;mats, the one shining
window ‘its. snowy . cuttain, while a~few ©
beautiful paintings. hung, unframed,. over -,
shelves” of books—eommon, plain shelves,
but well filled. :
The — whirring. of. a sewing machine .
stopped, and a: woman. came forward to |.
greet her; woman so different from
Jean's expectations that sh, “felt awkward -
for a moment—an -unustid! sensation for —
Jean. -
“You exquisite’ creature, where did you —
come from?’ she thought, as soon as she>
had .regained her mental equilibrium. ~Al-
most apologetically she stated her errand,
but Mrs: Remsen assured her she was only
too glad to do the sewing. “It took some |
time to settle the relative merits of tucks °
and ruffles and. bias bands, and even: after
Then. somehow they
dvifted into a discussion. of
books, of music and art. She
“TWO STARTLED, FACES LOOKED INTO ILERS.
stovepige?” as Jean’s” exes roamed aim-| to ‘he anything to do.”
lessly around, ‘“ That’s or hou
felt almost like pinching her-
self to make sure it was all
“It seemed so improb-
able to have found .such a
~ecompanion in such surround- «
ings. . :
“But I’m so rusty now ia
everything.’ Mrs. - Remsen -
said, interrupting herself in *.~
some comment, with a half .
rueful little smile, “that I°
_ hardly feel entitled to an,
opinion about anything.”
“Mrs. Remsen, I get ‘so
desperately homesick - some-
times, don’t you?” Jean said .
~ suddenly, ‘
The older ‘woman “hesi-
“ tated a moment, then she an-
’swered in her low,’ even
voice, “I-used’ to at first,
but. now I look back with a
feeling of wonder at myself
that I could have been any-
thing but’ perfectly happy-—-
then.” 5 .
Jean . wondered with .a
quick throb of*. sympathy
what-was back of this. She
kept still, hoping that Mrs. |
Remsen would . say some-_”
thing more; but the beauti-
ful lips parted only to smile
at Freddy as he leaned on
her lap, looking up at- her
with his big, brown - eyes,
-s0 Jean went on: ‘ Every-
thing .is so different here. I.’
never. can~ get..used to. it.
One misses so much, and—
oh, it’s all ‘flat, stale, and
unprofitable.’ The days just >>.
drag! There’ doesn’t. seem
Mrs. Remsen smiled at Jean now. “1
Yes, Jean saw the stovepipe aang ap-| can’t make that last part apply to me, Miss mes
parently out-of the ground, and: then she| Douglass ;~ the days never seem
thought ” of ‘the "description one of their enough for ‘all rT
alf. long
want to, do.” Then. she