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Show W ttjt I TEPHEN THURBER liad no notion of falling 4 B in wlLn a grcat soc,oIg'c movement when lie 1 $ i I decided to sell Ins farm in Wet Coolly and move 3 MKJ' into J3hifr Siding: he merely yielded to the nn-Iq nn-Iq of i portunitics of his wife and daughter, who looked jvHgi iawy to tHC Prim 1,t,Ic vHngc down the Vallcv as a hlsfy 5 chining land of leisure and of possible social triumph TtJ f It teas a lonely place for ihc women that Stephen C!KU S generously admitted. A long ridge, some five hundred mK! 'l 's'1' Cltt U,cm 0,r. lron1 tl,c railwayi and all the piciot l howg Pcop'c frcrc 'caving' by twos and threes, as fast iort g gasllicyrcw Pj ad the roads were very bad, and visi-' visi-' ftors few frfi So at last he sighed and said. "AH right, mother, we'll ?J?M$ W but I'll declare T hate to give up the farm I don't nv' ?taow what in lime 111 do with myself." 'icKl&f Stephen, now thai he was about to lose his trca- S jiur rcCtllIcd Manilas delight as she watched tlie work-? work-? -rracn set the old oaken slab in its place. lie rc-livcd the onl,5 S party flic gave when the first fire was laid, and thrilled J10' ;to remember how pretty she looked as she touched a VwBi f match to the shavings and recited a little verse from m tt? rae Hanging of the Crane." She was cheerful and, ot$l fStephen believed, happy; but when she went away he ida Morgan to realize that she had never really taken root in oi iihe West, and now that he was growing old, he him- byl i'selt began to dwell more and more in the land of his 'P1" S vouth, his thoughts returned often to his rockv New onb) THampshirc intervale. 'But ;" Ycs" t was hardcst of aH to Ioosc ihc tendrils of it&fii -I"5 heart from ll,c hearth for though Scrilla had rc- arranged and redecorated after her own heart, Manila's . 'Hon.-' fr(P'acc remained unchanged. ion - lct -vo" linvc - our way m ,nost tl'ings. Scrilly, Itttlk fal 1 wallfc t,1's roorn t0 ook as 11 docs Just as she )fiu8ii i l'lc llinc for tuC migration drew near, Stephen- ork. J; Sslolc away from the disordered kitchen to muse sadly fHH'fc ibeforc the fire. Tie had consented to a "vanduc," and ion-8? 1 wilIing Scrilla should sell all the furniture thov ' hl ',ixi cxcept a fc;v P,cccs lnat: ''ad been Martha's, and an a ,Ilcrc was 110 demand for the irons and brasses rf Juoand the fireplace, he expected to box Ihem up as 'tali Itepsafccs. mtntx) ' The cottage in town seemed to grow smaller after "-coal jjihej moved into it; but Scrilla and Cariss were dc- &w -lighted with its snugncss, 'and went about extolling its fan! ra3rjnt;!SCS " wtl1 ,ll3cnt tonScs. "Tt's small, of "diii jerarse., but what do we want witJi a big house? Tt's a'ttlu 5iDt at much less work to take care of. besides, here ( ht have a pump right in the kitchen, and a furnace, stake Sri i bathroom, and everything is as neat as a pin ndei h jco cracks or dark corners." ipaori i By June he was settled into a certain daily groove. Ln5. P'ou want 10 j"st lay back aiuI rcst" said Hiram Fox, nhVdU laothcr veteran of the plow: "that's what all the rcst comm ",J5arc do111'' and we're doin it conscientiouslv. The ajijnji twis full of Mired farmers' like us." ,apiii $ Sometimes at night, when his wife thought him doz- poulii ae,hewas really back in the old Coolly house watch- 4 Sthc blazing logs, his mind filled with a delicious sad- Sajij stu, his eyes wet with tears. What was it that had iPK outof his life? 'Here he sat in a pcrfcctlv com- ijn ffottablc room, possessing a horse ajid a carriage, with nSi 'F?h!&acc..t0 cat aiul 1,0 cares and yet the p.ast, If J a l h!s (011, so ra51:d 10 him that his throat ached at ion, a Je thouglit of iL Oh, if he could onlv re-live it all ! d.oM F,Jn,"0!C d(:ar da"s t'lc wind was fierce, the woods of Of jWuiler desolate: but Martha's face shone like a star, mit m 2d the old heart rendered each night with his children P541"-Work was hard in those days: but rcst was ImtZ ,Iwt- ."unBcr was kecu; but eating brought no ill di!i5 CS ln lls train co fJu"3? ,oyal t0 ScriJIa. the mother of his children; i?21'1. thc wife of his youth, the one chosen mtial i'.IJ' 01 1115 heart and her fireplace came to tvpify A - ?t,n.2t'as sweetest and most poetic in his life and in iteeju ..tte lives or his children.' It was an altar. Around it SSHS "ft hid Bothered when the corn was cribbed and the oftkJ hel for the night. In its light thev had iioiu d J whcn thc torcshms was over and at Than'ksgiv- Isnwli I awokewith a start. f i ft ' . 1 .li'l1 wc do 011 Thanksgiving Dav and at nutt &3r'V, h,c asIced- onc n'8hl- " w ca"'t all get ChicIJ go this httk box of a place. There ain't a room in the rij .Hose wc can all sit down in, and if we could, we'd ; -enoHing but a hole in thc floor to look at. T de- J.P ?lc! .cIcan disheartens mc." ifii WaS 3 liUle dashcd,'but replied, comforlablv, 1 l; "ifiiagc somehow. T guess. Wc can't have but notces J ot the cluldren at a lime, that's all. Wc can bid i 2 thanksgiving and my folks for Christ- , J L&rank!ed, " Stephen's mind, and thereafter he dc-i dc-i iJjii 'ijw , ".usc- II was a good enough tenement -J ip Jf rClU IOr a while 1)lIt as a lw'c in wl,ich to to,! c i " 'as rcvltito i spite of its shining paint oJa- Mn rSv iSprin "cw ""'"iturc. jarrt,ct icus-it J" 0111 1,0 cllarn1' "O poctrv, no associa- Mri koafl'J.i Vas as rcc,angular as a drv-goods box, and as ESS' 2t; Pr0iai as ;1 "golden oa'lc" wash-stand. A te rf dim ? such a ,,0l,se is dieted of its birthright MjOV!!c roon,s liL UP b-v the dancing firelight; fcisS. ;IC $;iR5S tllc Srcat fees chant as they roar X Kin? thcC wil(1 wind-deprived of all shadow, all nd ffl t S(?1,,clh'"S of this flitted through Stephen's trfii 'V?0'L,nu8'' he could not give it voice. InS J oi b2 ' ? saicl onc da-v- " 1 wish wc had onc n-hisS ire nB y'Sh to turn round in, and a rag carpet and ifi -n;r;fashl0ncd chairs and a fireplace " :D ,i h if i ,g, aSail1 about that fireplace," exclaimed or feii . ll,iy- "Nobodv has fireplaces now, and ilV i4I1l':?4 BOl"P t0 have a big room in this house?" btftf '5 wld one, if vou ;ay so " ltl?y ft for T . Can.ss ,,kc,y to S off anv minute. And a,r 4 sold . s,,YmE aild Christmas, wc can go to the t 4 fy llncr' or taku 'cm 5,1 S(iuads hcrc at J T it j? 1t?,1,,dI"'t d" he protested. "It xvouldn't do ?,C 'klonc,0 i ',lt smn "atural or right for us to go to , dniiftyl lih0n" such days- We'd ought 'o have all such meals it Wfy ii fe"iu wolln!t build a big house just to use for Sr, iW W.but 1 vm,ld" 1'c answered, sturdily. "I 't'V Ksdonr . wo,,,d bi: Jllst al,0t as good a wav lo f0fe Lei'i ?ncy as an-v otIlC1-- I'm sick o this little ace a j ""V1"1 Icrri" place and -have room to cf'nd W n, v.:nli . don'L kclc" ic livin' on the edge of i fe of 0 s,dca- 1 want lo be right in the eJ?S? HshlsSailrC WC Ca" haVC 0m" tclcpllonc' Wi'l'i1!1 '"'tl'V telephone paiolhi rar 0 't. Steve. T came awav from thc at I in m- town, and I don't want no half-way busi- P 1$ It1 d V''U "KldC " fUrthCr itS."1Cir Thal'-siving dinner at thc hotcl-!5ieP hotcl-!5ieP r liv ry 0mc Scrilla said- " There! For once i !n"r dishes" C dn,t havc t0 think f Tluinks" tfj r?JWtlfiVan,swc.rcd C:,l'iss "a vcl !t doesn't A 5fi i Ji3 1 ',!an,!S8",in!, docs it. pa?"" trlraapi&fj 0f . not answer, for he was far awav in the fc Ulc past. !f Biftta5iCe!h,i,itr 10 Kro' od in 'daily labor, but t w gTOT'' OW W'lh "oU,ing l J and homeless. Among all-his fellows Stephen alone began to perceive that to seek comfort for thc body m new hmgs lett thc mind filled with longing for old things left it comfortless and unhoused. So, while outwardly he remained tlie same, inwardly lie was tilled with recollections which made him tremble with their power. He greeted his neighbors with a smile winch grew each month a little more absent-minded a little more wistful and when he wrote to his son in Uiicago, he said : " Our house is about as big as your nat, and its nice and neat, but wc can't have any Christmas Christ-mas tins year no place to set a table for morc'n six. J m trying hard to pass the time"; and as he wrote his glasses grew misty with his tears. But one day while he was sitting ajonc bv his window win-dow at sunset, when the blue-jays were in flight and the butternut leaves were failing, Stephen permitted him-selr him-selr a most heroic dream. Tn imagination he said to a contractor, 'I want my old house across the hill. I don t care what it costs. 1 am worth thirty thousand dollars, and if it takes half of it T want my home. My women folks will never go back to the Coolly with me. and I can't live there alone, so you must bring thc old house fireplace and all across the. ridge and put it up under the trees somewhere. I want it just as it was can you do this?" in this imagined conversation lie was able to express himself easily; so he went on to say, " 1 ain't got but a little while to slay here and 1 want lo spend my days in peace 1 want to be comfortable in my mind and my mind ain't easy in this little box; 1 want a rodnvy room with shadows in the corners and a fire to watch when I . don't want lo read or talk I want the old room " And when his wife broke in on this magical revcry he looked up with eyes so scared and pleading that she wondered and sharply cried out, " What's the matter, Stephen? You look as if you'd seen a ghost." There, mother there ! mebbc I havc," he answered, and turned away to hide the quiver of his lips. Onc day he came in from his usual trip up town, visibly excited, and after he had taken' off his coat and hung up his hat he began : " Well, somebody has bought the Merrill place." Scrilla looked up from her sewing. " Who?" " Hiram said he heard that a man from Tyre, a contractor, con-tractor, had bought it and was going to build on speculation." specu-lation." The Merrill place, as it was called, was the remnant of a line farm which had once been thc pride ofild Abncr Merrill. The house, standing among magnificent elms, commanded leu acres of land all thc rcst had been sold away by thc heirs. Thc outbuildings were in decay and the yard was littered with rusty machinery, but it was a beautiful site, aiul Stephen had long admired ad-mired it. Tie never passed it without planning what he would do if he owned it. Now he said: "Well, I'm glad somebody is going to improve it, but I wish you had let me buy it." To this Scrilla made no answer. Stephen had bqcn "kind o' dauncy" all through the hot weather, but the work going forward on the Merrill Mer-rill place seemed to interest him. l ie fell into the habit of walking down there of a morning, and Scrilla was gkd of it, though she took her fling at him and his cronies. "Tt's a wonder to nic that 3-011 and Tliram ami old man Pilcher don't gel a tent, and camp out in thc Merrill Mer-rill yard. Seems to me if T was that builder I'd order 3011 off thc premises." " l ie considers our advice valuable, mother." "Til bet he docs!" she scornfully replied. A few days later old Tliram reported to "tlie Committee Com-mittee on the Universe," that Mr. Hill, the builder, was putting in a big chimney and fireplace. ".He says all the eitv people havc 'em lliesc flays.'' "Well, now, Steve," said Pilcher, "you better go right down and give him a little help you bein' an authority au-thority on fireplaces. Wc all hung our stockings m chimney comers back Hast, but I'll be dinged if 1 can remember just how you put 'cm in," "It's a funny thing to mc," said ' Hiram. -"In the days when wc all had fireplaces wc were crazy for stoves, and now when wc arc all pervided with furnaces some people want fireplaces. You'd think a familv that had nigh about froze lo death in front of a hole in the Avail would fight shy of 'cm thereafter." "But they havc their good p'mts," said Stephen, eagerly. eag-erly. " Recollect thc mug o' cider on thc hob, and thc chestnuts in thc ashes, and thc apple parin's and tlie dances T tell you there's nothin' takes thc place of a good old " " Weil, you can havc hot cider and apple bees without a hole in the wall you can sling a yearling through. Achat's thc matter with a base-burner :" Stephen was stubborn. " Won't do. A -base-burner is such a sullen sort 0' thing. No. sir. You've got to have the flames a-lcapin' and a-crackin'. I'll admit you need other heat" he added, "when the weather's loo cold; but I just believe we'd all be healthier if wc went back to thc-drafty old fireplaces. It did keep thc room ventilated thc bad air was all swept up the chininev." "Yes, 'long with the cat and the almanac and the weekly newspaper" remarked Tliram. "My stars! but the draft in our old 'chimney would draw nails out of oak planks. Wc.had to put a stun on the Bible." " But wc didn't have consumption in those days " " Wc had somctiiin' worse,", piped Pilcher. 1 " What's that?'.' " Chilblains, by. cracky !" And then they all cackled together, and thc Committee Com-mittee broke up. " "What's this 1 hear?" inquired Scrilla,- sharplv, a few days later. "Has the owner of thc Merrill place asked Jane Kittredgc to go into that house?" " J guess dial's right, mother," Scrilla snorted, "Well, that's a fool thing to 'do-how 'do-how come it? Did you advise it?" "Well, no Mr. Hill was sort o' inquiring 'round for someone, and as Amos was sick and Jane " 1 knew it! 1 knew you had a "hand in that " " Well, why not? Amos is my brother-in-law I've a right to help him and Jane's a good housekeeper; you can't deny that!" Scrilla turned away. She and Jane were a little "aidgewise " toward each other partly because Amos was Stephen's first wife's brother and partly because Jane herself was quite as sharp-tongucd as any one. Scrilla had grazed her husband s larger secret, but had not really touched it and he went out to thc bar.n to think thc situation over. Thc truth was that all this buying, planning and building were stanzas in a poem of Stephen Thurbcr's imagining. He was the "owner," Mr. Hill was merely his confederate, his blind. To the sympathetic young fellow he had gone (while on a visit to Tyre) and to him had explained his needs. " Now. I can't move the old house over from thc Coolly, that's out of thc question, but I want you to go and look it over and build mc another exactly like it. Make it just as it was when 1 went Uo it for the first time, so that when I sit down by (he lire 1 can jest imagine I'm home again." He paused there, for his voice failed him. This was his secret pain a bcnsc of houiclessness. All thc subtle charm of his life, all the poetry of the pa?t, was associated with the home bevond the ridge, and thc sense of loss grew in power 01. appeal driy by day as his palms softened with idleness ami his cheeks lost their coat of tan. He was bitterly unhappv in his present., and in consequence his face "turned more and more fully toward the lovelit days of his youth. Thc thought of growing old on a fifty-foot lot in a cramped, high-colored little- house appalled liim j and .so, after COPVKIGIIT, 1508 weeks of burning desire and irresolution, he had broken ground. No onc suspected his connection with the building his plan was too audacious, loo far removed from thc practical, everyday life of Bluff Siding to be imagined by anyone ; and yet he was tormented with dread of the storm of shrill astonishment and protest which would encircle him when his secret should be disclosed. His hope and comfort lay in the belief that a visit to the new house all complete and ready to move into would subdue and win his wife. Of Cariss he had no icar. J-Ic also, covertly, depended upon thc svmpathy and support of his "Chicago Boy," as he called John; but Albert, who was a hard-working dentist in Tyre, with a large and annually increasing family (and who was casting forward very definitely to his share of the estate) Albert would look with "disfavor on the expenditure ex-penditure of so much money in so foolish a fashion. As for Pilcher and old Hiram and the rest of thc boys ..... . ,. !-s&Alcfct:. T1IH WINTERS or THAT FAR TIME WERE MADE AS CHEERY AS SUMMERS IiY THE BLAZE OF THE HEARTH. he was prepared to weather their laughter, for it would be good-natured and. besides, thc joke would be partly on them, for could he not say, " T fooled ye, though, every man jack of ye!" But thc strain of his dup'licity wore upon him. and Scrilla grew so concerned about his silence, his abstraction, abstrac-tion, that she wrote lo John to come up and sec what was the matter, with his . father. John rame, and in answer to his questions. Stephen said :'" There's nothin' thc matter with mc, mv son, only.I.riin'i got nothin' to do. 1 miss thc old place." "Well, you ere- in snug quarters," John admitted, as he looked about the little house. ''It's all verv nice, ; mother, but it isn't a bit like home." Seriila was 'defiant. "Did you s'posc T was goin' to end my days in Wet Coolly, twelve miles from the railroad? I' was just as sorry to leave the old house as he was. But. my stars ! I couldn't stand thc strain. Its all right for you to talk; yon can come and go, but I had to stay there Winter and Summer " John was generous enough to acknowledge that it was a lonesome place for a woman in Winter. " Lonesome ! You might as well be buried." " I s'pose you're right, mother. It's all a part of a sorrowful exodus"; and leaving a prescription for his father he went back to the cily, quite uninstructed in thc real cause of his father's loss of health. The point toward which Stephen was definitely working was a grand house-warming on Xcw Year's Day: and he wished to surprise John especially, for he would certainly understand. It was a tunc of anxiety, but it was a time of grcat joy. liach day as thc house took shape he rode bv or sat in ihc yard to feast upon it. I'rom thc porch in front to the little garden fence on its roof it was exactly like ilie old house the windows were the same, the chimney chim-ney rose through the shingles at the same point. Sometimes Some-times he went inside, but the litter there troubled him, and. besides, he wanted to wait until all was completed, com-pleted, in order that thc impression might come to him in fulness of power. His notion in gelling Jane and her husband in was at first due to his desire to have some one lo put the place to rights pending his confession to Seriila a confession con-fession which became each day more difficult for as thc days slipped by and thc house ncared completion he became absorbed in the idea of restoring the furnishing fur-nishing of the house as it was when Martha was alive. ' an idea which came lo him as he sat with Amos and his wife among their furniture. He was surprised lo find a number of pieces of Martha's-furniture which he had gl.en them after her death, and he asked Jane to see if r.he could find the armchair he had let her sister havc. As thc day for warming the hearth drew near Stephen fairly trembled with joyous excitement. The builder was paid up and gone.; the yard was "slick as a whistle." and the big new house stood cold and white and grand under the bare branches of the elms. The andirons and fMrotK??gn"1 IIIIIIILLMMUJJIBJI til H I the mantel were in place, but Stephen had not vet ocr- !!Sllf 3 I nu ted himself the luxury of s.tting down before Pthc ifd.to Ya,t tiU lhc rooni was fhI and M 1 iMartiias rugs in place. Ullw 1 He was up early that day in order "to help Amos 1IH 1 I move nv' he explained to his wife jftij ' md x(n?JrV?W dY-cl?Ild'. whh a strong north wind ( J tr. $ rC?Vl yc.air-and when the night be- 1 1 fT-ino fcrcMf iJaUCSi funlurc, was sparsely distributed (Jane herself being busy m thc kitchen), Stephen lit I i$ I IhHn'ofatfacSr11 d il 1 1 f,iiH g,azcd lfe Si)rcU of that which he had wrought II IP' I IT" I1"1, TC flTnSt slanza of his Poem was befog lli Mk 3L V roa"ngf flames. On the white walls the III Lll-B SJfc l e l VS fi'ckcrLns-and along the ceiling thc I fl IP S shadows of the tall andirons danced grotesquely, fa- Ml it 5 miliary, as of old. The mantel with its carvn figures If fill and its candles and vases seemed unchanged The ME(H H song 01 the elms outside was the same MIW M Tears dimmed his eyes, a big lump filled his throat 111 f II1 For a moment he had the exaltation of the artis He HI i seemed to have triumphed over time's decrees as thc flflilft poet docs. It appeared that he had actually restored s i' I U home, reconstructed the past, so that Martha might at J! ' S I any moment steal into the room, light of step as of ffi jli I old, to sit on the arm of his chair and to ask with that I1 1 U tenderness of sympathy which always melted his-heart. if 111 mSh l0Vfdi J hc 1,onorcd ad cared for her as thc I f :- fit I mother of his children ; but Martha was thc wife of his !l ! ! " JiSIi l he radonna of his dreams. She was associated flJfrl L I with the mystery of his life, thc dew of his morning. ffiM'! I lhc whole earth was young that marvellous May when III i H I they two adventured into this suave and fertile land. I I ! J The perfume of wild honey, the song of larks in flowery fflfl' ' meadows lay m her name, and around her fireplace still M J'( lingered such heartiness of cheer, such neighboring as . M,i 4 the world no longer knew. Oh, those glorious pioneer J lf H He sat so long m dreams that the red sky and fire I V grew gray and thc good people in thc kitchen became if i ? uneasy, arid Amos came and brought a lamp, and then fl W f - I with an . absent-minded smile the dreamer rose, stiff with fftSl't !IMl the chill 01 age. and went back to his acknowledged !lir M home, to the wife of his present. ?ififi i! H Hc came again thc next day, and thc next, and thc I r'M M next, rc-pcrusing with inarticulate pain and pleasure his ifiltf W story m stone and steel, his epic in pungent pine, basking- m' W m the glow of Jus fire, forgetting his gray hair and HHii1 nerveless hniDS in the magic of thc flame. From these Ofi'MlNl secret delicious excursions into thc past, these com- 1 Jij'PSji' munions with tlie dead, he returned to his wife and IWl't'Pr- I daughter with, reluctance, with a certain guilty fear. ' Ifltt Without meaning to be disloyal, he began to find Wti Scrilla s brusque ways intolerable, and had moments i ' j, :w when he resolved to keep his secret. He shrank from flUf H her sharp voice, her prosaic and harsh comment. He m) ?r H Jwc a bndcSroom, jealous of the very name or his jj j p B Amos had guessed Stephen's proprietorship of thc iliilll house, but being a man of perception, he had cautioned M 1 ins wife to yield no hint of their secret knowledge: and ' flW liCf Jane was not merely discreet; she was sympathetic. .hMPI I She added in many little ways to Stephen's enjovment illPlhvB ot his home. Thc fire was always blazing on thc hearth Hft i ft when he came in, and he was left alone for the most RUM ft' part; only upon invitation did she enter the room to sit mil) ll , H with him. before his shrine. " jSfrTlll S 1 I This understanding was mutual. Stephen knew that i!SI'vi8' I they were 111 possession of his secret, but he gave no ilfTrEy'' H outward sign; indeed, hc kept up the fiction bv greetin- I W'H I'm them as his hosts, and even went so far a3 to discuss the 1 Mi d I M H coming of "the owner" in the spring. He always ex- MlpfM T H pressed gratitude for a chance to sit against thc fire. "I I i If I U ! dont know what I'll do when vou move out," he said ',U' H once "Well, I'll havc onc comfortable winter, anv- iin Hi'H way," he ended. Il' ll ' k I Scrilla deeply resented his truancv. which she as- i f !vf ii H II cribed to the influence of Jane Kittredge, and a barrier Ell: ! 1 It ot distrust and defense had risen between them. Caries ! Mfi ft, involved with the young life of thc village, gave verv lit- j Ijtfi- lb,' tie thought to the matter, though she "occasionally de- Mi i k H fended her father. "If he gets anv fun out of "Aunt ,1,1s Jane, let him.' she rather flippantly remarked; and the ft mV V I tone of her plea did not incline Stephen to confide in 13; ' h . her. John would understand, but he hesitated about . Mml h H writing. "Ill wait till he comes up a-Christtnas," he 1M 1 decided. , Wi W '' U His old cronies found him distinctly less companion- fSI'i ? able, more remote. A settled sadness, a grow;ag reserve ff ,I ft' difficult of analysis, had come into his daily greeting. iff lli ft Hc told fewer stories, he was less often at the grocery ' Ifm 1 . store, and his laugh was seldom heard. ' !' TO)., it All this cliangc they referred to ill-health, and their Kfl;.! comment was gentle and commiserating. If j' ' ,- "Stephen is-fadin fast," remarked Pilcher, one dav. Jl 'ilii' I he cold weather seems to grio him. It wouldn't r i H K surprise me to hear any day that he was taken flat down. j f IJj j It' I doubt if he stands many more of these winters." IgU: jjij Hiram looked up with a smile which was at once 'fiwlv'ifc defiant and wistful. "We're all in thc same boat and ' UT U'l driftm the same way," hc said: and then thev spoke lira;.,, with resolute cheer of thc weather and the price of fire- ffsVl lit wood. : F(:f' . Mr November passed without any change of plan on tlti. "' W Stephen's part, and December was half-way gone before : ffhi 'J he broke silence. I3cin moved by a letter from John, 1 VMi j? he suddenly said one night, quite in his old, hearty wav, ,' U "I tell you what you do, Amos. You and Jane send ! filty ill , out invitations to John and Albert's folks and to all of ilSn J l Scnlla's kin, bidding 'cm all to a Christmas dinner. Say f to thc boys that, seeiivs their mother hain't got room ! 1 ' enough, I'm kind o' goin' in with you here. You can 1 ' say I'm hclpin' out on the itykcv and things, and the Ii 1' children's stockin's, and that thev can stav hcrc part of t O'f j J 'em at least. We can all get together licre in this big 1 1 Mj.. jj j room' A lump came into his throat and hc did not :f f, 1 finish. l m,-. I t Jane and Amos fell m with thc suggestion quite as if jfjjtlii H it were a command, and withdrew lo write out the let- ! 'ffly , vH tcrs of invitation. leaving Stephen alone in the glow of 1 ffjfl '(III H the lire, tor the walk that day had been a stern battle t IW' t with both wind and snow, and hc seemed older and ! fl 'tHf1'' 'H lccblcr. ' ii'1 'R A couple of hours later, as thev went downstairs lo ' itl ill lock thc doors and put out thc lights, Jane said. "Look j Kftp .(IT, m and see how thc fire in the big room is, while I sec IWl ' M lo lhc furnace. My, hear lhat wind!" W4 I 1 iH Amos opened the door, but paused on the threshold W$ I Htf I ami beckoned with a smile. " Come here, Jane," he WtP it H whispered. " 1 ihought I didn't hear him go out." Jane iM' Mil looked over his shoulder with a word of surprise. IMOS'i 'i i H Ihc fire had burned low. In a deep bed of ashes a mm t 1 1' If H big oaken gnarl still smoldered, sending up now and jJlJffl!! fill ft H again a single leaping jet of (lame, and by its fitful light lipil'l fP f H Stephen was intcrniittentlv revealed, deep-sunk in his , fllM I fl R armchair, his gray head turned laxly aside, his gaunt ill JHf llrH hands hanging emptily by his side. '41H 'SB J'R "Better wake him," said Jane. " He'll take a chill. lE4 I'B FR He'd better sleep here to-night." UwliJil llli'l Amos went over- and touched thc sleeper on the 1M ' K HF fnil shoulder. Hc did not respond. Amos laid his hand 4rTMl H BB against the grilled check, and turned with a start 'IJin ilHi i ll rB toward his wife, a look of awe on lus face a look, a a$$ilr fl gesture which told his story instantly and with com- tiffin I' 1 Stephen was with Martha, and thc past and the ''jilfi! present were to him as thc morning and the evening of, 1 |
