| Show ZEN OF THE H Y D 1 I jo cad of the foothills Footh ilU by ROBERT STEAD author of the coto run punched buncher cher the homesteader va coln e ad abo hbo r to e rc ir c caffa b H ROBERT HOBERT STEAD MAD CHAPTER XIII 16 sitting on his veranda that evening while the sun un dropped low over the mount mountain and the sound of horses munching contentedly came up from t om the stables grant tor for the twentieth time turned over in his hl mind the events of a i day that was to stand out as an epochal one in his career the meeting with the little boy and the quick friend ship and confidence which had been formed between them the mishap and the trip to the house by the river these were logical and easily followed but why of all the houses in the world should it have been zen house why of 0 all the little boys in the world should this have been the son of his rival ard and the only girl he hall had ever the girl he had loved most in nit nil his life ike surely events are ordered to some colue purpose surely everything Is not mere haphazard chancel chance the fatalism of the trenches tren dies forbade any other conclusion clu cl slon and if this was so why had lie been thrown into the orbit of zen lie he had not sought her ile he had bad not dreamed of tier her once in all that morning while her child was winding innocent tendril si of affection about his heart and yet ret how the boy had gripped ripped 5 him I 1 could it be that in some way tray he be was a small incarnation of the zen of the YD with all tier her clamorous passion expressed now in calill childish u love and hero bero worship had some intelligence above his own guided him into this environment deliberately inviting him to defy conventions and blaze a path of broader freedom for himself and for her these were questions he wrestled with as tile the shadows crept down the mountain slopes and along the valley at his feet for neither zen nor himself had connived at the situation which had made them of all the people in the world near neighbors in this silent valley talley her surprise on meeting him at the door had been as genuine as Ms his when she had made sure that the boy was not seriously hurt she had turned to him and instinctively he had known that there are some things which all the weight of passing years tin can never crush entirely dead he loved to rehearse her words her gestures the quick play of sympathetic emotions as one by one he be rev reviewed wed them youl toul I 1 am surprised I 1 had not known r she had become confused cont used in her greeting and a color that she would have given worlds to suppress crept slowly through her cheeks 1 I am surprised too toly and delighted he had returned the little boy came to me in the field boasting of his braces then they had both laughed and she hail bar asked him to come in and tell about himself the living room as he recalled it was marked by the simplicity appropriate to the summer home with just a dash of elegance in the furnishings to suggest that simplicity was a mat ter of choice and not of necessity after soothing wilsons Wll Wil sons sobs sob which had broken out afresh in his mothers arms she had turned him over to a maid and drawn a chair convenient to grants you see I 1 am a farmer now he be said mid apologetically regarding his overalls what changes have corae come I 1 but I 1 dont understand I 1 thought you were rich very rich and that you were promoting some rome kind hind of settlement scheme frank lias has spoken of it all of which Is true you see I 1 am a man of whims I 1 choose to live joyously jo youly 1 I know and it was then that I 1 i their eyes had met and they had fallen into a momentary silence but hy by ere are you farming she kid had exclaimed brightly for several reaf reasons ons rut but most of 1 because I 1 loe the prairies rles and the pell open life its ray whim and I 1 follow it i you are very wonderful she had and then with startling directness are you happy 1 As lappy as I 1 have any right to he be i happler happier than rhan I 1 have been since child i kool hood she bhe had bad risen and walked to the mantelpiece then with an apparent hanec change of impulse she had turned and i faced him ile he had bad noted that her v i eligur was rounder than in girlhood 1 her coLip lexion paler but the sunlight still danced in her half hair and her reckless itsu force had bad given way to a poise that suggested infinite resources of 1 character i frank has done well too the had bad y eald ald it t so go I 1 have heard beard I 1 tm am told that he blis done very well indeed V ile he line has made money and he Is busy and nd excited over his pursuit of suc beell ce what he be calls success lie he has given it his life ile he thinks of noth R frig elte else jf she had bad st stopped suddenly as though thoi ili t her tongue bonime had trapped her into say lat more than lhnn she had intended what do you think of my summer home borne she ghe had exclaimed abruptly and admire the sweet pens peas slid and with a gay little flourish she lind had A led him into the garden they tell t watern bertern flowers etive 14 ve a 0 brilliance VA A i whim which the enst east with nil all its advantages cannot duplicate Is ii that true 1 I believe it Is I 1 the east has greater profusion more varieties but the individual qualities do not seem to be so well developed 1 I see aee you know something of eastern flowers she had said ald and lie he fancied he had caught a note of banter or was it inquiry in her voice then with nith another abrupt change of 0 subject she had made him describe his house on the hill but lie he had said nothing of the whim room 1 I must go he be had exclaimed at length 1 I left the horses tied in the field so you duct I 1 shall let wilson visit you frequently it if he la Is not a trouble then she had bad chosen a couple of blooms and planed pinned thoc on his coat laughingly overriding idol hid protest that they consorted poorly with alth his costume and she had shaken hands and said goodby good by in the manner of good friends parting the more grant thought of it the more was he convinced that in tier her case as in his hi own the years had failed to extinguish the spark kindled in the foothills that night so long ago he reminded himself continually that she was Tran wife and even while granting the irrevocability of that fact lie he was demanding to know why rate fate had created for them both an atmosphere charged with unspoken possibilities he had turned her words over again and again reflecting upon the abrupt angles her speech had bad taken in their few minutes conversa 1 I must go he had exclaimed at length thin three times she had had to make a sudden tack of safer subjects what had she meant by that reference to eastern and western flowers ills answer reminded him how well lie knew and the confession about nebout her husband the worshiper of 0 success what he calls success Buc ceRS how much tragedy lay under those thoe light words the valley was filled with shadow and the level rays of the setting getting sun fell on the young mans face and splashed the hilltops hlll tops with gold find saffron bultron as within his heart raged tile alie age ace old battle but as yet he felt none of tta its wounds ile he was conscious only of a wholly irrational delight As the next forenoon passed grant found glancing with increasing frequency toward the end of the field where the little boy might he expected to appear but the day wore on without sign of his young friend and tile the furrows which he had turned so joyously at nine were dragging leadenly at eleven lie he had not thought it possible that a child coull so quickly have won a way to his affections lie fell to wondering as to the cause of the boys absence had find zen after a nights reflection decided that it was wiser not to allow the acquaintance to de ve top had Trans lcy returning bome iome placed ills its veto upon it or and his heart paused at this prospect hod had the foot been more seriously hurt burt than they had supposed grant told himself that he must go over that night might and make inquiry that would be the neighborly thing to do but early that afternoon his heart was delighted by the sight of a little figure skipping joyously over over the furrows toward him he had his hl hat bat crumpled in one hand and his teddy bear in the other and his face was alive with excitement he was putting puffing profusely when he be pulled up beside the plow and grant stopped the team ablie he got his breath my I 1 clyl my what Is the hurry I 1 see the foot is 1 all better we tot got a pie I 1 the led lad gasped when he could speak A pie A live one toot tool hes lie awful big A man an brought h him fin in it a wagon that Is why I 1 come this morning morn lne grant treated himself t to 0 it a humble reflection upon the wisdom of childish pre ferments what are you yon solas going to do with him lilet eat him up op I 1 guess daddy said laid there was enough wasted about our house to keep a pig so BO we got one arent you going to take me up of course but first we must put teddy in ills his place im to go home of at five the boy said when lie he had got properly settled the hours slipped by all too quickly and if the lads presence did not contribute to good plowing it at least made a cheerful plowman it was plain that zen had sufficient confidence in her farmer neighbor to trust tier her boy in tits his care and tits ills frequent references to his mother and an interest for grant which he could not have analyzed or explained during the afternoon the merits of the pig were sung and re sung and at last wilson after kissing his friend on the cheek and whispering 1 I like you uncle manon the hill nill took his teddy bear under ills firm arm and plodded homeward the next morning he came again but mournfully and slow there were tear stains on the little round cheeks why son what has happened said grant his abundant sympathies instantly responding teddye Ted dys spoiled the child sobbed 1 I set him on the side of the pig pen and he feild in and the big pig et him ate him bim up ile he fact ly eat him up either just kind of chewed him like well that certainly Is too bad but then youre going to eat the pig some day so that will square it wont it 1 I guess it will said the boy brightening 1 I never thought of that cut but we must have a teddy for prince see he Is looting looking around waiting for it grant folded his coat into the shape ot of a dummy and set it upon the hames and all went merrily again that afternoon which was saturday the boy came thoughtfully and with alth an air of 0 much importance delving into a pocket he produced an envelope somewhat crumpled in transit it was wa addressed the man on the hlll hill grant tore it open eagerly and read this note dear miln man on the hlll hill that Is the name wilson calls you so perhaps you will let me use it too frank Is to be home tomorrow and will you come and have dinner with us rt ft six my father and mother will be here and possibly one or two others you had a clash with my men folk once but you will find them ready enough to make allowance for even it if they fall fail to understand your point of view do come ZEN PS it just occurs to me that your associates in your colonization scheme may want to claim your time on sunday if any of them come out bring them along our table Is an extension one and its capacity has never yet been exhausted although grants decision iwas made nt at once lie took some time for or reflection before writing an acceptance lie ile was to enter zens house on her invitation but under the auspices so to speak of husband and parents that was eminently proper zen was a sensible girl then there was a reference to that ancient squabble in the hay meadow it was evidently tier her plan to see the hatchet buried and friendly relations established all round eminently proper and sensible lie ile turned the sheet over and wrote on the back dear zen delighted Delish ted to come may have a couple of friends with me one of whom you have seen before lie fore prepare tor for an appetite long denied the joys of home cooking cook lne D G it was not until after the child hod hall kone gone home that grant remembered remember fd lie he had addressed Tran wife by her christian name that was the way any he always thought of her and it slipped on to paper quite naturally well it be helped now grant ched early and hurried flurried to his house and the te lepione rione in a few minutes he had under linder on the line hello linder I 1 want you to RO go to a store for me and buy a teddy bear the chuckle nt at the other end of the line ernnt linder hud had a strange tense sense of humor hilmor 1 I mean it A big tel with electric eyes and a deep has growl it they make ero em that way the best you yon can get fetch it out tomorrow afternoon and come dece decently rilly dressed for once bring brine At murdoch along if you can pry him loose grant hung bung up the receiver stupid chap raap linder some ways he be muttered why I 1 buy a teddy bear it if I 1 want tov to sunday afternoon saw aw the arrival of under linder and murdoch with tile the far largest teddy the town ton afforded what Is the big iden idea lander demanded as a he dell delivered vered it into grants hands bands it Is tor for a little boy I 1 know who has hai been bereaved of tits ills first teddy by the activities of the family pig you will renew some borne pleasant ne nc you her and his hi wife zeo zen ot of the YD yda you dont bayl thanks for that tip HP about dressing up I 1 may explain linder continued turning to murdoch there was a time when I 1 might have been an also ran in the race for YD g daughter only beat me on tile the getaway you grant exclaimed incredulously ulous ly you yon tool linder returned a great light dawning promptly at six linder drew his out automobile up in front of the summer home with grant and rap doch on board wilson had been watching and rushed down upon them but before he could clamber up on grant a great teddy bear was wa thrust into his arms and sent him wild with delight tu to his bis mother look mother 1 look what the man on the brought brough tf seel see I 1 lie he has fire in his eyes I 1 and YD met the guests at the gate how do da grant glad to see you old man said shaking his hand cordially the wife hat has had so many gold words for you I 1 am almost jealous what ht he linder landerl I 1 by all wonderful you old prairie dog why did you never look me up I 1 was beginning to think the boche bache had got you grant introduced murdoch and YD received them as cordially as had glad to see sea you fellows back he exclaimed 01 1 I alus said the western men ud put a crimp in the kaiser spite 0 ha an higi water I 1 one thing the war has taught us said ald grant modestly Is that men are pretty much alike whether they come from wet west or east or north or south no race has a monopoly ot of heroism well come on in beckoned leading the way dinner will be ready sharp on time twenty minutes late not being a married man grant you will not understand that reckoning have to excuse mrs a few minutes ashes holding down the accelerator in the kitchen come in I 1 want you to meet proved to be a round man with huge round tortoiseshell tortoise shell glasses and round red face to match he shook hands with a manner that suggested that in doing so he be was making mailing rather a good fellow of himself we must have a little lubrication for YD s sake bake said producing a bottle and glasses 1 I suppose it was the dust on the plains that gave these old cow punchers a thirst which never can be slaked these be evil days for the old timers grant not any thanks no nol well theres no accounting for tastes Squi ggs im a lawyer said Squi ggs and as booze Is now ultra vires I 1 do my best to keep it down and mr beamed genially upon Us 11 pleasantry and the full glass in hl hla hand 1 I take a snort |
