Show beneath his station 0 by R RAY BAKER copyright old roan leaned forward and TUB rested a hand on a knee of his son they sat before a fireplace in which a snapping blize was glang against a fall chill the old man he was not that when you came to a closer he looked old seated us he I 1 ad hem in the shadows for his allver h ill wa all that was really distinct in the dusk but now when he leaned to ward his son the flame ga his cheeks a youthful tinge there were wrinkles but not deep one would take it he had led a tre and easy afe until gradually the am pres slon formed that there was some tiling about him denoting a sorrow possibly it was ills ees its up to you paul he said in a voice that was singularly soft and pleading 1 I would not try to argue you out of this marriage but I 1 want to warp you to be sure you are not making a mistake as I 1 did once I 1 regret to say am sure father the son said with a note of finality 1 I love this girl of the wilderness but your station in life his fa ther insisted this girl cannot be your social equal you say she and her mother live in a shanta in the woods near cedar creek where you spent your vacation they must be crude people ashes a good and a lot better than most of the alris in my station of life paul said 1 I did not see her mother for I 1 never could get anne to invite me to their home in fact it Is not her mother anne told me rather it la her adopted aunt anne Is really the daughter of the sister of the husband of the sister of the worn an she calls mother it you can grasp that they live in the woods from choice annes father wealthy and left a large amount of money to his daughter and anne insisted on sharing it with the woman she now calls mother because they love the woods and choose to live in them that does not indicate a low station does it and what if it does I 1 love anne it all sounds very rosy this love talk observed his father and there was a touch 0 bitterness in his voice but it always work out that way look at my own case your mother was a lovable good girl but she had not been educated to ray ways of thinking like this girl you think you love she was fond of the woods and she wanted me to spend my life in them I 1 could nota myself to it because I 1 love the noise and bustle of the city the silence of the wilds drives me frantic but I 1 consented to try it and built a hahl in the woods not a modern structure as I 1 desired but a gustl log house to suit your mothers fance I 1 could not endure the solitude and finally one night we quarreled and u terrible quarrel it wasl in fairness to your mother whom I 1 loved in spite of our incompatibility I 1 must say that I 1 was the cause of most of the quarreling the net morning I 1 left the house with sou he went on 1 I sneaked out of the cabin with you bundled in a blanket before dihel your mother was awake I 1 did not return or three months and when I 1 did repent ant I 1 found nothing but ashes to mark the spot where we had tried to live and never wag I 1 able to get a trace of your mother the eon was silent several minutes 1 I know you mean well father he finally said but I 1 love this girt I 1 am sure of it and besides I 1 love na ture too so we ought to get along it was pauls wedding day and he waa on hla way to claim his bride from the forest nia father waa with him 1 I bald my say and youve made jour choice ton h said it Is for you to decide and 0 course im go ing lo 10 be present when my con Is married even it it should be in the center of the african jungles so they packed traveling bags and took a train for tb wilderness at cedar creek they dis embarked and set out on toot through a path in the woods two houra of walking brought them to a clearing where a log bouse abent a thin wreath of smoke heavenward it was a small hut but it looked in an island in a sea of flowers and vines this Is the place paul announced 1 I had never been it but I 1 received good directions in my last letter ills face was lighted up expectantly from the door of the hut romped a laughing girl clad la a blue blouse short khaki skirt aad leggings in the doorway behind her appeared a tall handsome brunette of middle age paul clasped the girl in his arms but suddenly she broke away 1 I must introduce you to mother and I 1 must meet your father ehe said turning toward the hut to stop dead etall amazement shining from her big bright eyes well would yon look at mother F she cried and paul turned to stare in astonishment that equaled or eur passed hers for pauls father and annes mother had followed the example ot the young people and were hogging each other tightly while ehe repeated over and over the one word georae Ge oraa aad he was ethel |