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Show 5 The HILL of HOPE ! BY MARTHA McCULLOCH-WILLIAMS U'opriitflil. luu, by Atanriatad IMmmty Pratt.) Alaater'a heart had mined It lh hill of h"ie a bare rise, looking east ard over great bre.iiltha of farmlunn and down miles of turnpike. Thai way, said her heart, the fairy prim would come riding, some day, to take I her out of the gray ataguntlon ol tilings. Alaster waa fanciful A girl Is apl to he when she litis never known ought save the fufRy ch rlshlra of an elderly household Her mother had died when she was born Of bet father, the two gre t air ts, spins err both, would never speak Tin y had niorey emniKh - a spare competence S in- diy It would all route to tlx child She would have no need t ' ilx In the world as lo marriage. that was to b' shunned ns deadly 10 Hud It brought anything hut heart break to her mother, the first Alas !! ter SI e had been wild an I wilful I 11 beauty, fiercely roun'geiius, alsr Pccely loving, and haling S ie had rl o:a 1, util widil-d whether tr no n to con a back In a year, alone, ami "j crushed, to welcome death. even though baby tuggel at her heart. lb r heiirt must be aim d I nun such shipwreck Thm the good aunta Tl ey kept her close She never hail a playfellow, and waa not seal ti school. Aunt Kunan taught her the rt three Ha. Aunt llebby music and etiibroldery for the rest, ilvre wen 10 hooks, a whole roomful, old bin good leather bound mostly, and smelling ol ' i cedar shelving Alaster browsing hajv " plly among them, learned of life ai Hough she aaw It Inverted In a mlr " ror She had a sense of not belong In In the household The aunta were fa'r, dumpy, placid even their small tempera had not brought wrlnklea, ) though they were pnsl altty Master was tall, and thin, rangy J In motion, full of delight in freedom, 'r vividly alive throughout file pined for action, for atlr and change r When the pluli.g hnd grown so wild " I' was pain. Mallows came Not ro ' mnnllcally, If she did ipy him flrsl " from the hill of hope Mallows by hll There Were Books, a Whole Roomful. very look put romance out of court, lie waa stoutlsh, red of hair, freckled aa to face, with snapping blue eyes, shrewdly set. Notwithstanding be was neither common nor common placethere waa too pntent an air or efficiency for that. He was hopping mad, and very busy 1 w ben tie met Alaater'a gaa There was need of rush work. In running a transit line and the men he was de l-endiPK on to help him had not shown 1 up Worse ailll, he could not go hunt ; lug them he had promised to meet a j high pcrsonr:e exutly at 10 o'clock there at the loot of the hill. Spying j Masters straw hat upon top of the rise, he ni'stook her for a curious 1 1 country lad. and shouted: "Say. there! Want lo earn a quar-; quar-; ter' You can -If your legs are long ond light ' c : "Make It a half rod I II talk In i you'" Alaster called back. She sensed ' Instantly his mi-take and spoke aa gruffly aa she could In answer Mallows awore at her for a g'eedy clodhopper, but ended by ; pr mising the half. If she would but j run 10 the village, a mile off. Mid 1 ' hurry up those men Idling there ' 1 WUh u delicious thrill of adventure. ! Aliis'et curiic out of hiding, ran past ! him. nodding g.ivly aa lic did mi. and I -d oil to the g'ial And thus she ' mme plump under the eyes of the high persoiisge the financier who wis hack ot the new railway enter prit'e He stared at her he bad aeeo no'ding anywhere to match the deer-lit' deer-lit' of her tbrea.l the parii herlne g. of tier easy uride She would not have check) d for him, but that he tallied In alliioal In front of her, ' asking Is this Iha neaieft way to t)ra eti'a-the spring tbete. I niein?" ' Keep on' Yuu mn t nilsa it unless 1 you abut both eyes," Alasier said. the last word over her shoulder a ahe 1 t'.iot paat 1 The nigh -raonsga wblRin-rrd soft ly When he came upoti Mallowa be had an odd smile hovering in til eyia Mallows also was a bit off key 1 1 After a second the two. they were moat etieliert rburtn. understood, and both laughed I "lilt jou. too. squr between the yts. Mallows aaid The other nodded After a breath, ,- j he said Irrelevantly; "It'a not ao much i, 'her gisid looks -I ran find a doen t prettier girls In a day'a ride but a something something catches you In a the hrcalh, when you see her What f Is It?" "Itemctiiher the llryads? We read t about them In our Creek days." Mai-1 Mai-1 Iowa srJd, lifting his eyes to the sky-1 sky-1 line. Then suddenly : "Could you poa-i poa-i siblr Imagine her fashionable w It h a r corset on body or soul?" a l-everlng, the financier, shook hia il head Mallows turned from Mm ' men were coming, almost 011 the run, a urged by some Invisible monitor He 9 smiled. She need not hope thus to '. escape him he would see that she got ' her pay, also the best apology he could frame for his blundering. Then he was suddenly aware that ahe preseil I. liy -thal she smiled at him, that aha 1 moved with the fool of Atlanta Aa J she climbed the hill, one of the vtl-- vtl-- luge fellows t-nld, shaking hia head; 1 He dinged If it didn't plum skeer 1 me ti r see Ijissv llrewett alnmpln' her foot at the bunch o' us and fa rly drlvln' us to work Why. I i- don't hardly believe she was ever off I t Iih place before not by her lone u self." p lcverlng smiled as he listened, Mallows looked glum. Here waa no ' dryad, rather an enchanted princess. 1 guarded by ancient dragonahe waa ' already aware rf the Mint They " might. If they chose, make a lot of trouble tor the new ror! Ha right of way must cross a corner of their land, not very big, but atraleglcally nioal 9 Important. The countryside had bld-' bld-' den the road builders beware of the ' sisters They wre prone to suspicion - of strangers because they didn't f know them, of friends because they did. levering might handle them I Mallows rested hia hope unn the pay- ment of his debt lie ovprheard fur-1 fur-1 ther gossip Ihivl (sissessed tl I 111 yet more clearly of the sltuutlon. 1 Presently leverlng went toward the w ide weather gray house, whistling, evidently thoughtful, yet alert Mallows made s feint of distort tent with hia survey. "Walt! I want to look over the country from that hilltop," hill-top," he aald, off handedly to hie helper. As they sat down at ease, he half rri up the hilt. There was a clump of trees at top elsewhere li lay bar . . . . He had a notion that be should find the clump tennnted. So he was not In the least taken aback, when Alasier aald airily; "I don't want my money but you have to pay It to Mra. Drnn. at the IKistoflVe. she baa nothing but a mean dog. and a big fat no account buaband. The money la for her, and the dog-- , to buy It a bone,-and her some-well, some stockings! saw shetiad oa) raga." "You must tike the money youraelf I never wenld date undertake a com-mission com-mission so delicate," Mallows laughed. Master screwed up her face "A man who can swear so ahotildn't be . afraid of anything." she murmured. Then aa though suddenly enlightened, "iHm't you be afraid of Mr. I)ann he can't possibly be Jealous. It would be different If I had aaked the baud-some baud-some man." "Mighty different!" Mallowa giowled. "I-everlng has cheek enough lor anything." "I wonder would he dare ask them to let him stay at dinner?" Alaater cried, nodding toward the house, "O! I hoM so! It la three yeara alnc we had company except preachers and peddlera -td they don't count." "Would I count If I came?" Mallowa Mal-lowa demanded. She smiled at him "How could I tell, untesa you tried It?' she aald She waa not forward, only human anu feminine, repressed past endurance "I am going to try depend on It," Mallows said, looking full In her eyes. A month after he asked the aunta for Alasier leveling, not wlthatMid Ing his looks had found himself out f the running tA the beginning of the game. A good friend he ahowed himself him-self The Siatera Hrewett might never have consented 'o the Mallowa match. If levering had not admonished them "Suppose Alaster'a lather turned up. only a hushar.J would have author Ity agiJnat Mini' At .that they gave In Joyously II must be confessed They were not ao old. but the flavor of life delighted them And they felt like fairy prln rrssea ihemselvea when, a year after the wedding. Alaster'a father did turn up, not a ntr do well, but a man sorely repenting the haste and heat of hia youth He had not know (here wre a Uvlng child be bad thought It died with Hie mother. Sinew he ha, a lortuas to bestow usn ble grandson, he quickly made bia peace. Alaater climbed often in the hill ot hope she loved It, mire It bad become also a hill ol happiness, A Valuable Right. American I came to aak for a cot cession. President of a Foutn American Re publli An' what la ie concession monsieur wants? American I want the sole rights ot taking the moving pictures of worn ' a it revolution. Judge |
