Show j MM by vo r SYNOPSIS the crowning desire in lie allta of old baumgartner Is to obtain possession ot a beautiful meadow the property proper tr was inherited by barah lery pretty and athletic young girl to J realize that lila only hope 0 the property would be through the mai arlage of his son to sarah r pressel in a mock auction heffy as P baumgartner jr la barly known la raffled off by his father ai to harah for 1 sarah biessel Is quite the opposite of baumgartner gives heffy come lessons in courtship baumgartner has caused himself to bo ap pointed guardian of sally she promised eB heffy that she hlll never kiss any man i t but him sam I 1 altz a drunken grocery clerk calls on sally and interrupts the kissing softy goes to sleep and begins snoring sally leaves the room in a huff r i baying good night gentlemen belty tells his father of his humiliation ot how sain arltz had pinned to his bosom while he slept a pasteboard tombstone heffy and sally meet at the poison spring she urges him to do something to redeem v t himself the father advises heffy to take sally home from church this would be t the crucial aist according to the custom of the times it wag the rule in euch a test that the one whose arm the girl ac cepter when leaving the church would be the favored suitor then sam takes g sally a arm she sal s X am satisfied f s and Is left in disgrace sam con his drinking and bally begina to acquire the habit baumgartner curses son and strikes him powerful blow with alst full in the face alien the repentant fa ther gathers the south in his arms HI i cries attract sally and sam I 1 ralz sally A rushes up to a room and finds him unconscious in the morning has disappeared it Is a sad and lonesome ya winter for old baumgartner he thinks y his son Is dead somewhere from the et na facts ot alie cruel mow when old baum sy y gartner goes to sally s home to sur B r render to her his papers as guardian t he finds her haggard and worn with sor row she agrees to quit drinking it he i affo ko the papers back and continue as sn aft her guardian XIII ft one blow for that to heffy he took the papers homo again and 1 l was very gentle with her afterward for tho things which the world blamed la her his was the only real kindness she knew her canting world had no pity for her but to her daunte en husband in spite of all she was a loyal wife and the old man liked her the better for it so it canoe to pass that they two the bent old man and the girlish y ot the drunkard separated more and more from the world and came more and more together and often they were seen in the fields together and walking along the roads arm in arm with sallys little fortune at corn mand sam had gone rapidly to the bad and bally came to know what sy tears were and tatt dreadful kind of waiting which falls to the lot of such f women the waiting for the fall of a footstep which makes one shudder yet rejoice ra they told her to get rid ot him but she shook her head and thought of the inscription in her wedding ring after a while it was the gentle old r man who helped to make these vigils less intolerable goloff away stealthily by the back door when sam s unsteady step was heard at the front an angel of light it ever there was one in plowman s jacket it fell grimly to big lot too to pro A i vide tor sam by diminishing the little farm he had longed and hoped for y acre by acre there was no coffen h 1 alon between them as to this the RV young altes wishes were his law y he married me tor that said sall vy T the first time and I 1 let him marry me f tor that just for spite only no one was spited but roe but me well he shall have atall all her voice broke a little all but the pasture field that no one shall have but you or heffy when I 1 die only once he interfered sam raised hla hind to strike her and he laid the drunkard at his feet with a blow such ia he had struck but once before in his life I 1 am her he cried as he struck by the lord I 1 m her guar deen for a moment 4 gloated over the prostrate brute then he stood up trembling before sally forgit me he begged but I 1 coulden couldn t help it it done itself bebby god a mighty only knows it was a chance to eten up for the other one and yit it aia a righteous blow yas it was righteous blow yes she said you are the first that ever saw y it was too late to atop and before 4 it wag done he knew that this waa not T a new experience to hw and that she buffered iland was almost glad of it for penance by the lord cried the old man I 1 if he etea strikes you ain kill mal no said sally softly yaa he insisted with rome ot tl ate ow violence no he repeated sadly b it la ail my fault all the shame the ahme because I 1 dearve and abou cebalt not hill you know we bt tempers and we have both fk he shuddered and thought of tb plowed flem with agy lying boere fa good night I 1 ho said with averted face I 1 dlan t mean that pappy I 1 dlan t mean that you killed him lies not dead kiss me good night and borgh 0 me but this also made her dearer to him and so by little they closer and closer until a certain happiness was hla and a certain con tent hers occasionally the laughed dut this was not often they were well satisfied to sit before the winter fire she with an elbow on hi knee he with his rugged hands in her hair and after a while she would ask him no more to alsa her good night he did 4 as of right and very beautifully on her hair so much like defty that arst dear kiss that it made her sob always just like she said the first time and cried pushing him out of the door when he would ao asked a question dut he asked his question one day it was whether she had loved heffy not till heffy comes she cried 1 I wont answer sally he said solemnly 1 I killed my little boy lie Is dead I 1 hurt him 1 I made him of me he dragged himself away to die like wild animals that air hurt by men so you will have to tell me no no she begged lie Is not dead and some day he will come back to us you sally you said us yes forgive me I 1 meant you did you mean me cs oh yes cross your breasts bre astl she made this adjuration a smile dut when he had gone she groveled on the floor and cried Us XIV for sake and so three nearly four years passed and sam was dead pappy she said afterward you have been very good to me and you to me its efen say more you have kept me from going crazy I 1 think you hat kep my ol 01 heart from breaking I 1 expect yas I 1 know now jus JUT that there Is such a sing as hearts he averred what asked he I 1 don t know what I 1 m going to do now I 1 got to work for my living I 1 expect there Is not enough left you 11 nefer work tor you keep while I 1 fe got a dollar said the old man 1 I owe you that much for for sho liked that she was sitting on a low stool at his feet her elbow on his knee her favorite attitude she crowded a little closer pappy she said presently let me come and keep your house do you mean that asked the old man joyously yes she said dut why hard work tor a gal not used to it oh maybe I 1 want to be where sef fy was for some day some day hell come back and I 1 want to be thereto ask his pardon they were silent for a while and then the old man said huskily you shall you shall sleep in heffy s bed you shall look in his little cracked looking glass you shall set in bis place at the table you shall be my heffy and well wait for him to gether and well boe ast his pardon when he comes when he comes may I 1 ride bis mare and plow with her you you you he questioned in his ecstasy ken you say do you sink you ken yes she said very softly if you will let me I 1 will be all and everything heffy was to you I 1 took him from let me do m best to replace him it Is for thatchat that that only that I 1 have cared ve shall rent this ahouee and that will help for I 1 know you have been getting poor too and and it you will take it I 1 I 1 want to give you the pasture field for oh for bettys sake will you take it for he had demurred for sef ays fys sake juet as you would take tt from dimand as he would give it to you t he were all nere I 1 want to be both son and daughter to you let me be heffy and myself too it la much but let me try but be bad caught that little blip of the tongue and wag dumb they wt by the fire tor a long atme then presently alte old man rose ana lifting her lie td with a untie i afefa aa be had never seen on chiai fane yaa tor heffy ak cobie newl it was night but he led her from her own house to his and that night she slept la softy a bed one ot sally a duties was tha nightly reading of aho farm journal and just now this paper edited by a gen who knew nothing about farm ing and by him edited well waff full ot the great meeting 0 tho rational farmers league of the united states of america which ft as in session at omaha by far the most intelligent and interesting paper of the session thu tar sally read one night was thai on the proper succession ot crops in maryland by the youthful of the kansas state league mr sally rose suddenly and vanished tc the kitchen where there was a light what was it asked the old man when she returned 11 II I I choked said sally quite truthfully and went for a yas dont read no more well find out about the succession tomor row night but what was the smart feller s name she pretended to look for it and when she pretended to have found it mr S P brown she read A kansas man about maryland huh but that night after father bed sally wrote a pitiful letter perhaps the farst sho had ever writ ten dear heffy it ran please come home come as soon as you get this wr pappy wants you haf Is old and sorry so please come right away P baumgartner senior but the envelope was addressed to mr S P baumgartner jr president kas state league kansas the post mistress smiled indulgently as sally handed in abo letter the next day A long way off she said yes said sally fidgeting with her bonnet how soon do you think it will get there the postmistress reflected about a week she said then bolong So long but as a matter of tact she had thought it would take iunger kansas was a vague place in those days and i vast distance away well said the bost mistress corn bebby not quite so long but better not count on its getting there sooner 1 II 11 give it a good start put it in the mall bag now thank you said sally TO BE |