| Show FREDAS FRE DAs nan FICTION X by GRACE X miss markham scarcely tasted the dainty supper freda served but she drank every drop of the black cot foe kreda gave her mistress many an all anxious side glance as she re moved the dishes she set the tray down on the kitchen table and shook nor her hoad head slowly ali ah some something things a wrong she ehe mused she aint ain t been like herself since she ahe come home from the mountains III just wager there a a man back of all these blue spells well I 1 wish ho he d turn out to be the right man for she ought to bo be married and took care of rieda pieda kept miss Mar markham khame a bungalow immaculate and served wholesome meals but felt that she ought to give additional service in lesson lessen lug ing tier her mistress a indifference toward matil mony she felt Ju justified stifled in us ing strategy it if it led to her mistress happiness she walked rather noisily to the door of the living room which wan lighted only by the blaze from the fireplace miss markham if im too bottler bother some just say so but this drizzly november day has kept me all shut in till I 1 vo ve got to thinking again about something so methin I 1 thought id forgot why freda ts is it anything I 1 can help you to Fint battle tle miss alias Mark markham hams B tone was sympathetic oh I 1 knew you d be ready to help oure cure always doing things tor for everybody but yourself 1 I I 1 well that Is the right way freda I 1 m less lesa important than a great many people I 1 the short silence which fol lowed this remark was bluntly broken by freda I 1 N hat I 1 wanted to talk to you about I 1 she ahe said I 1 was a man I 1 couldn coulden t seem beom to forget I 1 IN hat I 1 you too freda I 1 exclaimed atlas markham quite unconscious of all that tier her words implied yes yearn m you see it was vas this way lie was gardener and I 1 was cook for the same family he was a good lookin irishman and a whole year younger than me ile lied d melt hla his blue eyes and tell me bed ho d never liked any other girl as he did me but when I 1 wasn gasn t a bit sure about my feelings for him how could I 1 be sure about his tor for me moa freda gazed straight into the fire as she concluded part one of the plan and miss alias markham was leaning out from the big chair looking hard at her low how strange preda freda that you should have told me all this tonight then catching cat ebing herself miss markham added that la is I 1 mean it is strange you novel mentioned it before I 1 well ovi ou see BOO freda answered still belll looking at the tire fire I 1 used to think I 1 did right but sometimes now I 1 wonder it I 1 did hat did ou do freda 1 I just came away without saying goodby good by or letting him know where id gone I 1 felt mighty smart about it till I 1 got good and lonesome and Rome sometimes times I 1 thought he might be lone some too more than once I 1 i A e thought and here vreda freda introduced a heavy sigh that having my own way Is not so good for me as learning to live for other folks and taking care of a husband and babies would have been markham laid a sympathetic hand on freda a shoulder the other hand carried her handkerchief to her eyes having finished her story freda hurried out but she did not go too far to hear every sound from the living room miss markham turned on the light and opened tier her desk there was a a rustle of paper a scratching of a pen another rustle of paper and immediately miss markham in her water proof and her collie by her side took a walk in the drizzly darkness down toward the mall mail box NN lien hen they camo came hick bick they had an old time romp on the veranda the next lay day alias markham sang aang about the house and brought a cheerful face and good appetite to tier her meals tho the morning following was a beau indian summer day and she went for a ride mewing tier her khaki suit tan boots and soft brown hat alle she was gone a tall distinguished looking stranger came walking up the hill from the railway station and asked for her preda who thought he had some relation to that hurriedly written note determined dokei mined to keep him waiting malting until her mistress returned ile iio showed no disposition to bo be manip by freda but questioned her about miss alias markham a usual riding route and announced that he be would malk alk in the direction that lady was expected to return As he walked away freda decided that she approved of him froni from his dark well melt shaped head to his bis well shod feit with their determined way of 0 setting themselves down especially she ap proved of the fashionable out of life his close fitting clothes lie he met miss alias markham a short die tance away and in plain view ot the dining room window where freda had stationed herself tier her keen eyes sparkled as she saw the stranger take alias Mark markham hams s tight light hand in both of his bis miss alles markham said little but smiled much presently he lifted her from the horse and arm in arm they started toward the house I 1 never had a gardener for a lover lir jur my life chuckled fieda as a she hurried into the kitchen I 1 but I 1 raked up tip the right kind of a story to make miss bliss markham a love affair grow copyright by the mcclure news new 0 ftc |
