Show AA AaA Aa-A GAME POSTPONED f y T TT KCopyright 1895 by S S McClure Limited Lim-ited It had been snowing for two days and now the snow plows were out and ihe first really good sleighing of the 2 iwinter would begin The great fields lay in unbroken whiteness The woods along the banks of the Iowa river were billows of snow The large farm houses and the number num-ber and size of the barns and other outlying buildings gave evidences of the richness of the soilthat lay buried and resting for another harvest Judge Hiltons house had the distinction dis-tinction of boing built of brick There was a dignity in its solidity over the USual white frame houses on the surrounding sur-rounding farms that well became the dignity of the judge The judge was New England born and bred There is a veneration for Puritan ancestry in the entirely western west-ern soul that the Puritan mind still I clings to for good old English blood Isabel Hilton was her fathers housekeeper house-keeper and only child The mother had died while she was a baby and i she had ruled the house and been ruled by her father since that time She had all her fathers reserve and pride of family and at the same time his happy nature and gracious manner that won her friends when she desired to make friends Those who found it impossible to win their way into her favor called this reserve in Isabel her down east airs There was a dist dis-t couraging belief among the young men S in the country around some of whose fathers owned farms and herds of cattle cat-tle large enough to divide and establish III estab-lish them in envious beginnings that if the judge thought any of them worthy to win his daughters love there would iifver be an opportunity to gain 5 the consent of the young lady I I The judge had theories against Isa bels entertaining young gentlemen nor would he permit her to go with any escort but himself The privilege of spending the evening even-ing with Isabel in the protecting presence pres-ence of her father was considered a mark of distinction and held the one Iso I-so honored on the wave of hope If a fellow had the backbone to out I Bit the judge some night he might propose pro-pose to the daughter was the comment com-ment Mr Holderman made to his son one day Clint Holderman had been 1 one of Isabels most persistent admirers admir-ers The trouble of all of you is you go I there shaking in your boots and talk t to the judge and come away with the I Lig head because you dared do that but I tell you if I was a young fellow Id outsit him if I sat till the break of clay Its some such pluck as that the I judge is looking for He raised her and he knows her value and she aint going cheap to none of you If you can get in ahead of the other fellows and tow her in Ill give you 10000 and deed you a section of land Come now lets see what youre made of In some way this lordly promise got adrift the current of count gossip and roused the admirers of Isabel one and all to new interest in the contest Large Stories were told of the late hours the judge kept that winter with Isabels suitors Clint Holderman drove over to the brick house early on the evening that he had set his mind with flintlike de termination to give his fathers advice r ad-vice a trial It was a cold night and as he sped along in his new cutter drawn by a handsome span of black horses and well tucked in with buffalo robes his heart was warm with hope He had spent many evenings of the winter playing chess with the judge S1 he was sure of his welcome but to i right he looked beyond all this He thought of the hour when at last with his heart and understanding touched the judge would bid them good night and he should be left alone with Isabel There was no handsomer young man I In the country than Clint Holderman none who danced better or who drove better horses but more than all this I the judge had repeatedly told him that he had never known a man who played I a better hand at chess This was an encouragement indeed frr ii the judge had a weakness it was for chess and it would be decidedly pleasant to have a soninlaw who could be to him such a ready source S of entertainment As he drove into the yard the judge came out on the side piazza Good evening he called out just drive on to the barn the man will put WP your horses One of the farm hands came out of Ihe stable as he spoke and Clint threw him the reins and followed the judge into the house Snapping cold but splendid sleighing sleigh-Ing the judge said while Clint was pullinr off his overcoat in the hall Yes I believe MY ears are touched Clint answered rubbing them Isabel is popping some corn Shell be glad you happened over to help eat I It He led the way into the long sitting I room at the end of the hall Isabel was on her knees before an 1 open wood fire shaking a cornpopper The white kernels snapped and expanded ex-panded with a pleasant sound The lamp lad not been lit but the firelight made the room light and cozy S Isabel here is sIr Holderman my iflear She sprang upI up-I didnt hear you come in Good evening Come over here by the fire Why its Clint she said as he came into the glow I thought father meant your father I never think of you as EMr Holderman Have some corn rfhe < held the popper open T > efore him Im sure I never thlnkof you as Miss Hilton he said plunging his hand into the corn and laughing That would be a little too much like strangers strang-ers as long as weve known each Other The judge cleared his throat HI have always decidedly disliked the informality of country people in caning can-ing everyone by their Christian names he said It leaves no degree in intimacy But I suppose it Is impossible im-possible to know where to draw the line Isabel went back and knelt before c the fire again Oh I dont know she said shaking shak-ing the popper vigorously As long as at is a custom I dont think anyone feels It a mark of special Intimacy and 50 the custom is protected by being a custom The young man sat awkwardly In his fr chair and was silent They seemed to be closing the doors 5 against any thought he might have 3 of closer intimacy with the family S The judge left the room for a moment mo-ment and came back with a lighted lamp and placed it on the clawlegged table in the centre of tho room He I had put on a long dressing sown faced with crimson quilted silk and now he I drew his great chair up before the fire I r and stretched himself out In it 3one Mr Holderman I will let you 1 shake the popper for me and Ill go down cellar and get some apples isabel Isa-bel looked at him with a merry twinkle I in her eyes and she held the handle towards to-wards him and then ran out of the g roomS room-S Clint grasped the hanile of the pop Ba er with the delight of success floodIng 5 flood-Ing his veins Isabel had never before t given him reason to believe that she cared for him that could compare jwlth that look S Daylight would find him sitting J right there but he would beat the q judges watch and gain the opportunity 0 opportun-ity cf speaking to her 0 c It was e delightful evening The iJ t udge partook of the popcorn and the conversation was more than usually I able and entertaininsr 0 f1 A I I II 1J6 f 1 > ° 8 Isabel sat on the opposite side of the fireplace and crocheted on a blue wool scarf There were pink spots burning her cheeks and her eyes were very sweet The time passed on until the noisy clock on the mantel clearly and forci I blyannounced the hour of 10 It had been comparatively easy this I far but now was the time when Clint usually went home 1 The eal contest was about to begin The judge shoved his chair back to the table pickedup a paper andbegan to read From time to time he glanced over the tpp of his paper at the two talking talk-ing Before the fire but still read on When tne clock struck 11 he threw the paper down pulled his chair back to the fire and drew the young man into an animated political discussion Isabel stirred about the room correctly cor-rectly putting things In order for the night It was nearing midnight For the last fifteen minutes the conversation I had begun to lag These were coldminutes of complete silence j Had you noticed that I had traded horses Clint asked in one painful pause No have you Isabel asked corning corn-ing forward with interest Yes Ive traded the grays for George Merwins blades Of course there was considerable to boot They go like the wind in my new cutter I I should think they would Isabel drew a deep breath I do like black I horses I never cared for gray ones I I always think of having to look for a redheaded girl she laughed I should think youd always be on the I lookout for one when you ride behind them themPerhaps S Perhaps Mr Holderman is looking for a redheaded girl the judge said I with a queer look in the direction of I the young man Theres a superstition supersti-tion that a redheaded girl has a violent vio-lent temper Now that isnt always true he said after a moments Silence I Si-lence in which his thoughts seemed to have been far away Isabels mother had as sweet a dispositiion as any woman I wo-man that ever lived and her hair was the color of that deep flame there Isabel was leaning on the back of her fathers chair Why father youve always said my hair was almost al-most the color of mothers Im sure no one would ever think of calling mine red I dont know about that the judge laughed and I dpnt know about the temper either he added reaching up and pinching her cheek I never liked red hair but Im sure I I dont believe In that sien Clint said clumsily He gazed fixedly into the fire and felt as though he were turning to stone The clock struck 12 with a resonant defiant stroke as though it understood the contest in which it held the stakes and refused to commit itself as to whose side would win At a quarter past 12 the judge stood upClint felt his heart beating wildly The moment of triumph was at hand The judge crossed to the bay window win-dow at the other end of the room Isa bels eyes followed him nervously From one side among the geraniums and ivy he drew the chess table and pushed it before him toward the fire I think it would be pleasant for us to have a game of chess he said affa blv blvClint Clint sprang to his feet Oh thank you sir but I think I must be going home Oh must you Well come over again and well get at it earlier in the evening It seemed hours before Clint finally found himself out on the smooth snow beaten road spinning along toward home He would have been completely wretched in his defeat if It had not I bee4 for that look in Isabels eyes when she handed him the corn popper He could endure her fathers ridicule and wait his time remembering that look lookAnd And so he made a good story of it at breakfast the next morning and added elevating his voice above the roaring laugh of his father and the shrieks of his mother and sister Never you mind The judge isnt through with me yet Ive only fired my first gun Ill own when I came out of the house I was out of shot but I havent given up the fight yet Oh youll let some other bantam rooster carry her off I guess Im safe enough en the cash and land I promised I prom-ised you his father answered with a provoking laugh Dont you count on it Clint said springing up from the table with fire in his eyes Im not downed yet I tell you I All right sonny well have a big dance to celebrate your engagement I and an oyster supper I suppose theres no rush about ordering the oysters Ill hold you to that Clint said bringing his fist up against the door If the things settled by Saturday week well have the dance If it isnt well it wont be Im going over to town after the mail He turned and went out ofthe room As the door closed he heard his sister say tittering I Clint has about as hard a time courting Isabel as you had courting mother This was a warm thought of comfort com-fort to him At least Isabel had never denied him her love and he knew that his mother had been hardly won It was a bright winter morning Before Be-fore him was a clear stretch of road to the Iowa river three miles away The white fields on either side sparkled spark-led In the sunlight The great drifts rolled up along the fences looked blue in the shadows of their fantastic ter racings The sleighing never was better bet-ter All at once Clint heard the noise of sleigh bells and a voice called to him Give me the road He turned and saw Isabel Hilton coming toward him driving her own bay ponies at a fearful rate Clint drove quickly out at one side of the road and she sped by him He saw that her horses were running run-ning away There had been no alarm in Isabels face though she was holding the reins with all her strength and had looked neither to the right nor the left as she passed him If there was one thing more than another that the Holdermans prided themselves in it I was their knowledge of a good horse I and splendid horsemanship Isabel Hiltons love of horses and her daring in driving them had been one of the first things that had won Clints admiration Her control and courage now appealed to him tremendously His own horses seemed to have felt the spiritfcOf the runaway pair ahead as they flew along over the snow after them Clint knew that at any moment Isa bels slight arms might lose the power to hold those tense reins so securely and the horses dash to one side and the crash come and there was nothing I noth-ing he could do On went the cutter ahead of him swaying to the left and the right but still keeping the road The bridge across the Iowa river was jus Ahead Clint thought of the bridge with terror If the cutter swayed to one side as It was doing now the crash would come on entering enter-ing He saw Isabels strength tightening on the reins and knew that she felt the danger Her horses flew up the slight Incline to the bridge and Clint braced his nerves to withstand the shock But to his amazement he saw that the horses were slowing up and entering the bridge with all the respect of well trained horses and by the time they were over the frozen current below they were walking as quietly as though they had decided on that point as the end of their excitement Clint entered the bridge as Isabel was leaving It She drove out to one c t < r r side of the road and waited for him to come up to her ffIll let you goon go-on ahead of me now if you want to she called out as he stopped Look here Clint called back J > M you think of those horses stopping at the bridge that way Id Ilka to know Yes didnt you I knew thy mi ht not but I thought they would if P could keep them in tne inul DidnTr you think of them doing it Well no I had souunhing else to think about looking at her admiringly ad-miringly Isabels face flushed but she looked at him smiling I wasnt afraid as long as the road was clear but I should have lost all courage If I had seen a team coming Talk of pluck Clint said driving a little nearer to her cutter Isabel what did you think of last night What did you think of me anyway She drove out into the road ahead of him and then looked back over her shoulders laughing I thought if you had only waited half an hour longer I would have been eighteen It ismy birthday today And with that she touched her ponies with the whip and kept well ahead of him all the way to the village When they met again it was before the fire in the sitting room at the brick I house where they had held the hours I the night before But the contest with the Judge had lost its seriousness Between them he sat imperturbable as lIe had sat the night before but tonight he was only an amusing barrier bar-rier and not a serious obstruction Love had leaped the bounds and was free It triumphed In their eyes as they looked across him and over him smiling knowingly at each other Were going to have a dance over at our house Saturday week and an oyster supper It is going to be a celebration of a great event In our family Clint announced with a meaning mean-ing gesture to Isabel Whats the event youre celebrating celebrat-ing the Judge asked looking over his spectacles Well thats somethipg of a secret until tomorrow I hope I can tell you then You must be sure and come were going to have a great time The Judge looked at Isabel Do you think we can go my dear Her cheeks were rosy Why yes I should think we could father Thank you then Well come the Judgesaid leaning back In his chair and looking at the ceiling And now would you like to play that game of chess we didnt have last night It was evident he had no intention of giving up the field Clint did not answer He was not as fearless of the Judge as he had supposed His heart throbbed excitedly Isabel pressed her hands together hard and looked into the fire The clock ticked loudly emphasizing the silence si-lence Finally the Judge brought his eyes from the ceiling and looked at the young man then he looked at Isabel Didnt you hear what I said to you he asked running his hand through his forelock and grasping the arm of his chair Yes sir I did said Clint respectfully respect-fully fullyWell Well then If youll allow me to say it sir I think Ive won the game already Whats that I I believe sir Ive won the game The Judge glared at him for a moment mo-ment and then his eyes fell on Isabel He looked from one to the other The ticks of the clock seemed to choke each other Well my boy he said drawing a deep breath the tears had started to his eyes I dont know but you have I He held out his hand I dont know but you have my boy I Thank you sir thank you Her father reached the other hand I I to Isabel and then stood up and dr w i her Into his arms then pushed her from him and crossed the room to the door leading into the hall I Isabels eyes followed him lovingly Then he turned and looked back at them and smiled I Im feeling a little tired tonight he said and I think if youll be kind enough to excuse me Ill go to bed He went out and shut the door Clint turned and took Isabels hands and swung them Well it looks as though wed get there dont it Isabel he said She looked up at him and smiled Yes it does a little FIIAOOXARD AND IJOUCHEI1 In one year Mme de Pompadour Is said to have spent SOOOOOf in perfumes Are many such customers to be found now Mme Dubarry owed her perfumer per-fumer 2275 livres 6 sol at her death History does not say whether this was for a years perfumes or whether the account had run on Luckless Du barry who might have escaped had she but believed in her danger Grasse is the better for her death for to this day a series of pictures which she commissioned com-missioned Fragonard to paint for her pavilion at Luciennes remains in the house in which that painter dwelt I Matson Malvilan still occupied by one of his descendants How did Fragonard hmself escape Perhaps as the walls and staircase of his house would seem to indicate because be-cause he knew how to go with the times He sometimes was heard to say that Nature had let him be born poor and had said Tiretoi de laffaire comme tu pourras At the critical period of the revolution he I certainly did so with great success These walls are ornamented with revolutionary emblems but they are so skillfully and artistically combined that the effect is excellent Bundles of fasces Phrygian caps heads of Liberty Liber-ty and heads of socalled lovers of liberty are there in all their grim austerity and yet amusingly enough it is evident that the painters imagination imagi-nation has sometimes strayed into paths more congenial to it for the cords which bind the fasces together never can help tying themselves into true lovers knots The pictures done for Mme Du barry depict courtly lovers of the Louis XV period and are of course highly conventional and somewhat superficial but in spite of strained composition singularly graceful They show perhaps what Gainsborough might have been if like Fragonard he had been a pupil of Chardin and of the Anacreon of Painting Boucher If you take the old masters seriously you are a ruined man said Boucher when Fragonard who had won the grand prix de peinture was going to Rome He did not take them seriously seri-ously Longmans Magazine ORIGIN OF soarc OF TIlE DULr Dust is to a large extent a product of human activity In houses and workshops on the highways and in the streets everywhere there is wear and tear of things and the product is always al-ways dust The wearing and cleansing of our clothing Is continually breaking up its fibres into minute particles and the friction of clothing on the skin carries away the scales of the epidermis epider-mis which are constantly being shed and renewed Every contact of human feet horses hoofs and the wheels or vehicles with paving and road materials wears away particles of Iron and stone The effects of the weather and the alternations of cold and heat disintegrate all exposed surfaces To these particles which form the dust Invariably present in dwellings and in the streets there must be added the Innumerable minute cells of vegetable origin Incessantly floating in the air and on a complete view the dust produced by the disintegration dis-integration of meteors by contact with our atmosphere must also be mentioned men-tioned Dust accordingly consists of portions of all substances organic and inorganic In-organic which decay by natural processes pro-cesses and are reduced to powder by any means whatever Few of its con stitutents can be recognized by the naked eye The microscope alone can detect the nature of many and especially especi-ally those of the greatest Importance All the Year Bound I I |