Show I 1 Cor flani of 1 square are i 7 janet A ss ur Fair fairbank beam or 0 marri LL CO I 1 CHAPTER I 1 new A attle girl of ten ton yeara years wits clear tag ft the snow from a path leada na t to 0 the tho side de door of ot a farmhouse farm house a 0 thatis that it barely emerged from its setting its walls a soiled yellow white poked out of the drifts jhb aa an air of innocent disreputability aad and its lour lout roof dipped deep into the olid solid snow the not pause saul she reached the gate then eho she straightened her slim back experimentally aad and breathed deep of the frosty air with a wide sweep of her mit toned hand she cleared the top rail rall of its incumbrance of enow snow and swung herself up to perch there she eat sat a taw hunched little figuro als uro in a tight jacket and a full and too short skirt which betrayed to a censorious world extraordinarily knobby long leg she was a red id haired child with an eairon wedge of a face fact that took no color hem wind off oft the tho new turk tork hills hille against the pallor of her chooks her ups tips showed brilliantly red ond and her bar etee globed deep and cleremont van above aa an tm impudent nose on the whole she looked rather a difficult little HUM girl i the old gate creaked pro tetla ely A A leaa joan little boy whose red stock tugs ings aad and cap made a brilliant splash at color la in the white landscape came dewa down the road the little girt gw paid so attention to him and chies he be reached the gate ho he paused with elaborate ca casual malness nees to scoop up a handful of snow madr be inquired ciyou you had alt ought to bet you wanted me to kiss they are an always doing it in books I X wanted to see what it was like 1 11 it wasat my fault I 1 want te to such toe you doutt need to again the te bey boy colored resentfully A girl gw with red hair he scoffed there was a pause paus while the old gate te wriggled la in if its bed of snow year aether mother coming home today TP boull 11 catch it for going through be aw 1 I erect so I 1 had on my bert bat ceet the ice tee la to always thin over th 9 biag you know that the girl wl laughed what ayou think I 1 was doing there silly its no fun kattef ling where IV ifs thick 1 the boy looked at her with reluctant admiration youre a it queer un he rec Barked as an he kicked up a cloud clond of soft sett white now snow there seemed to be sojung to detain him yet he lingered aad and turned on a sudden im poise 18 say he be said ls it true that year your bother mother la to going coln to marry the mint minister ter abe abisi girl calm eyes kindled who says sor she demanded ma well peter you can tell her that she he know not noth lag that minister hes so ugly aad and cay my mother I 1 the no boy hesitated no longer but went trent on an bis his way with an air of brag cart relief he had made a hard ball of his handful of snow and now he hung flung it he ile took up his whistle again and his frosted breath rose rou la in a series of gay clouds above his red cap MA while behind him ann drooped oa on her hw gate sate she bated hated the sanctimonious minister and his dreary black clothes she 09 wondered what she might do if her mother decided an this un de deel rable atop stop and dimly she per cleaved that she do nothing the fearful impotence euce of childhood weighed her dowa down aad her queer little face clouded after afdera while the donad of sleigh belto bells floated across the frozen fields k to her aad and she brightened they box heralded her mothers return from new york city a good seventy miles away aad and ahe she flared eager eyes on an the turn la in the road read la in a moment old general aad the tm catter rounded the big bare da dm which or erhun the schoot schoolhouse howie at OW U COW eadom p and lp frons cron nio peran u dy excitement cit ement ain ix 1 coming I 1 she screamed wd over her ali shoulder mn ma Is corning coming t abe house lor door opened and a tall pare spare woman appeared mas here mr alien allen look mrs biro alien allen emerged and cama came down at anna ins path u rapped like a mummy la in a dull colored shawl it ie Is high time she came eho she mid sold and shell be cold driving nil nit the way over from township on a day like this i ann silently reviewed tho past fortnight and gloo gloomily nilly reflected that it cold her mother would probably be cross the little girl shot a soft i glance at her companion ingratiation in every line of her ehe she hoped an account of her tier misdeeds would not immediately be offered it w wae as ex how many things could go wrong in two weeks but she had mall mail expectation ot of anything so de siri ihle and then suddenly she realized zeo that the anian in the tn g sleigh had foreign about ben her her tier pr otty face with its cheeks checks whipped a bright red by the cold N wind ind was the same but there was a sort of flowing opulence in tri her appointments which made her seem alien ann thought that her herl mother had neiter looked so beautiful her pale hair shone richly gold against a coat of black fur before she could spring to covet her mrs alien allen grasped her tier sh shoulder ulder so hard that it hurt as ann w wriggled giggled free tree she caught an aghast murmur my land laud a sealskin sack 1 suddenly affection for the pretty creature in the sleigh overcame ann and she plunged eagerly out into the t deep enow snow of the road calling unexpectedly to herself mal never marry that old minister 1 say ma would your her mother laughed a gay guy thrill that brought two dimples into play and showed A flash of white teeth no ann never 1 ehe she called back vack withdrawing her hand from a ony muff she lie carried in order to wave it gayly the cutter drew up before the cleared path and anns mother stepped lightly out upon the firm I 1 snow that creaked under her feet feel she you look homelier Ha Aeller than ever leaned forward over her bur flowing dowing skirts and kissed her daughter daintily suddenly her radiant face clouded my ann 1 she exclaimed you look homelier than evera ever and she sighed fretfully as she stood looking at tier airs mrs alien allen intervened minnie B ru e 19 she began at sternly ernly where did you at wt those clothes clothe sr and catching sight eight of a necklace of oed geed pearls that hung lustrously in tho the opening of the sealskin sack she paused speechless its all right the newcomer declared breathlessly you dont know vent nax wo to me mp SS S S alleq alien continued to gaze at her with III n a which ann suddenly I 1 fala f al 11 A is 11 fright that you went to the cit lo 10 x cov about investing the enit tun mo thou thousand nand dollars you had in the world und hao como coine back jack here all tricked out like thin I 1 should ru pit that you had lut lost our wite wits fictile fin tile byrne well I 1 lin vent ivo ive spent a good part of the two thousand though 1 I thought an as much mr mrs alien allen absom and that all the newcomer hurried on ori ive dono done lhnn that ive been married I 1 title declaration was roe received elved in silence lonce Bl ann an emotion that was half halt terror and half affection yet wholly protective clung citing to her tier mother mothers nervous hand while title mr mrs alien allen stared at her faced feeling the disapproval of her au dir stence tice the brido flung up p a spirited head hend you are all ready to blame me arent you ehe she demanded well volt aou u wait until you fiedar whom ive 1 I hope aou a hav hae married sor someone who can care for you minnie in a worldly way any as well ae as ive married hudson cortlandt Cort londt she he suld and laughed dpn ann knew this was uns a name to conjure alth ith and stored stared wide eyed at her mother mrs alien looped leaped at a A explanation someone hoe has been imposing Impo ning on you youl I 1 she site cried no it la Is true why ho he marry mer they went ent into the farmhouse farm house kitchen frigid in spite of tho the tropical heat of the wood fire that leaped in the stove and the cross examination continued flow did you ret get to know hierl him cortlandt blushed well she site eald said the farst afternoon I 1 was I 1 in ne new york I 1 was walking in union square and I 1 saw n fine gentleman ahead of roe me drop a wallet of course I 1 picked it up tip and there was hie his name hlson cortlandt I 1 T had just read in the that president pierce hod had appointed him minister to switzerland and I 1 wanted to see how he looked I 1 was clod glad I 1 was the 10 ono to find it I 1 ran after him and that was the beginning what did he think of you so free as that mrs cortlandt dimpled sweetly sue etly well he thought I 1 was pretty she site said daringly and after lie had thanked roe me he walked on with me and asked me my name and if my husband were in new york and I 1 told him that michael was dead and then be took me back to the st st nicholas hotel he ile stayed to talk with roe me for a while in the parlor when ho he went ment away he asked me to go driving with him the next afternoon and almost every day after that he took me somewhere romeu hem and ten days later we were married it 1 it will be a change for you min ale nieland and for ann suddenly mrs round blue 03 eles es filled with miserable tears that la Is the worst of it Y she declared he know about ann what do you mean lie know well I 1 happen to mention her at first and after when I 1 saw he fancied me I 1 thought I 1 tell him just then and it was aa always like that thal I 1 was afraid 11 she ended in a miserable whisper alil sper and what do you intend to do now bowl 1 I shall take ann back with me and antl hell see lier tier hell lue liue to we are sailing for eur curole 0 pe next week ann leaped to lier tier feet transfigured trans figured but her mother looked at her resent fully dont jump about ann she aid said and added turning writing I 1 to mrs alien allen if only she site were pretty I 1 and so it happened alint the ducking of anns best coat in the millpond mill pond became an unimportant event and it was uns not nece neco usury sury for her to explain to an uncomprehending parent the allurement of lightly over the surface of thin ice CHAPTER II 11 transplanted a che delight of her art ride in a train speedily crowded the sorrow borrow ot 0 parting from anns mind she sot sat straight and taut on the hard bot bent he be eldo aide her mother her lips compressed her eyes blazing mrs sirs cortlandt left her alone except that now and then she tried the effect of poking tier unfortunate fortunate hair this way ay or that or I 1 tIt twitched ched her clothes in a fretful effort i to change the look of the childs eager staring face to ann used only to the tranquillity of a sleepy village ahr confusion cop fusion at the terminal was as amazing the haste with which people left the car gave her a sense of calamity the keener because it was unexplained A ferryboat ferry boat t occasional copies of harpers illustrated weekly hid had reached milton billion center and ann was nas prep prepared fred for the extraordinary look of these maritime monsters but no woodcut could have prepared her for the sickening land delightful feeling of uncertainty under her feet she site seized her tier mothers arm in an ecstasy of excitement and ant the pallid lady said sold absently yea yes horrid it ann abandoned her and wormed through the group of people at the bow ahead of them the shore sloped back from the waterfront water front and in the foreground th high steeple e of a church she shepherded p he crded a huddled hud di ed col co I 1 lection IT nm nn anet never known alint n city could be like that milt nf it ni t and in gricin tri cin nil ovil 1 ma aist ferr lit i 1 I 1 01 i 1 un tin ann shrank back from the ho jarring grind nf of the land landing itic convinced ed that no tat mere to bout bont could stand suph uch the crowd welled foru forward ard and her mother reclaimed her tier outside the ferry bouso they paused against not w lidil lulling ng to break tho the new news of ann anns existence to tier husband on the ferry dock lock mrs cortlandt landt had not notI notified fled him of the hour of her arrival and for all her fashionable clothes she was almost ne as dazed by the con furlon 1 ne ns ann ubo ho frankly gaped and adored it the knickerbocker bingo was wait ing as they ame mme from tle dle narrow tunnel of the ferry house the four bg horses that drew it pranced in the trodden enow snow and the bell bells on their nocks necks glistened in the sunlight mrs cortlandt and ann climbed in n and w atal vv on the long bench that ran ron down don the sido side of the conch couch beside hor her her mother gat ant trembling I 1 visibly it was evident to the root most casual hohn hoh lder nIder that mrs bludson cortlandt was badly frightened at length they started with a jingling of belle bells and a plunging of horses that mado made the people on the street turn to watch them glide past ann pressed her faco face to the window now end and then impatiently wiping n awny ny the CIO cloud ud of her breath on the class ginas everything ahe she saw enchanted her even tho the bare al alvantus allon trees seemed a better thing in their novelty than tho the towering elms she had known lV washington ashington I 1 square was as her moth i cra ces destination for here on the fringe of tho the town the and a few other leading families lind recent recently lyl 1 built themselves new houses the place was with a high iron fence which gave the little park an air of gentility ann looked with darkening eyes nt at the ample dignified house homi rose pink against the snow does my new father live here herer she demanded A lonell feeling made her voice break suddenly ehe she realized for the farst time the iffie threat of n strange 1 relationship her tier mother nodded ills brother docs does she said sir mr Il endricks cortlandt your my mr hudson cortlandt lives with him it was the largest of the houses that eho she timidly approached and clin clinging tremulous tremulously aly to ann summoned courage to climb the wido wide steps and pull a silver bell handle mysteriously set beside the glass door A bluck roan man came to admit them and ann looked at him gapingly unable in her surprise to return his glent gleaming nIng smile 1 he lie was the first negro negra she had seen I mrs mm kortlandt landt paused Is rs mr hendricks cortlandt at home she asked and her voice trembled yarm Ya sra he ile Is in de library with n dexterous turn tho the man shut th front door behind them and opened one on the right hind kand side aide of the wide hall ball ann had a quick impression of a lofty room all lined with books she had never dreamed that there could be so many and of the late inte afternoon sun coming through the windows in long yellow ellow streaks so that a fire under a narrow marble mantel i glowed red then she saw a tall old ish man rise from his chair an and C om e forward immediately she liked like d him h I 1 m 1 in th spite of her breathless nervousness well my dear ann heard him any back again and then his eyes foil fell on her he looked at her in kindly perplexity A and who Is tills this young lady he asked the little girl glanced expectantly at her mother but no sound came from her white lips so she said as cheerfully as she could 1 I am ann and catching no gleam of intelligence in his attentive eyes ewa she added ann byrne you know mr cortlandt continued to look nt at her blankly slowly a realization of who she might be dawned on him and he turned his steady gaze on his sister in enlaw law as she trembled before him your childr he inquired coldly mrs mm cortlandt andt sank into a chair sho she was manifestly struggling with tears team yes she admitted briefly 1 A child I 1 but my brother said vou had no family does lie kno know madam As AB her mother was now frankl crying ann tool up the burden of 1 their sorry tale she tell him slie she confided 1 |