NORTH PLATTE SEMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE.
CI 'TP' l O KATHLEEN
J1 1 eWlVV NORRIS
OopyrliM by gthlgn Morris
SOMETHING NEW.
Synopsis. Doctor Strickland, re
tired, ! UvItiK in Milt Valley, near
San Francisco. Ills family consists
of hlii daughter!), Allx, 21, and
Cherry, 18, and Anne, his nleco, 24.
Their closest friend Is I'eter Joyce,
a lovable sort of recluse, Martin
Lloyd, n visiting mining enKlneer,
wins Cherry, married hor and car
ries her oft to Kl Nldo, a mine
town. I'eter realize that he lovea
Cherry. Justin Uttle woon Anne.
Cherry cornea homo for Anne's
wedding. Cherry realizes her mar
riage Is a failure. Peter tells Cher
ry of his "grand passion," without
naming the girl. Martin comes for
Cherry, Martin and Cherry drift
apart. Dr. Strickland dies. I'eter
returns from a long absence. I'otcr
and Allx marry. Cherry comes to
visit them,
CHAPTER XI Continued.
10
It wns here that I'eter fminil Cher
ry. She enme up to him, and he took
hoth her hnnds and, after n second of
M-xltntlnii, kissed her. She freed one
Iwnd to put it on his shoulder nnd,
Ktnudlng so, she seriously returned
ills kiss. For n moment his arm en
circled her wnlst; he hnd forgotten
"'Cherry This Is the Nicest Thing
That Hw Happened for a Long
While!" He Said.
liow blue her eyes wore, with Just n
itllin of corn-colored hnlr loosened
aibove thorn, nnd whnt husky, cxquls-
lie, childish notes were In her voice.
"Cherry thin Is the nlcent thing
that hns hnppened for n long, long
vvlhllol" he snld.
"you nnd Allx nro angels to let
we cornel' Cherry answered, ns they
turned, nnd with laughter and eager,
Interrupted talking wont back to the
hunsc,
Cherry, Peter saw nt onco, wns dif
ferent In every way. Cherry was full
of ot'tness, of rendy response to nny
jippcnl, ,of sympathy and comprchen-
sdaii. She hnd been misunderstood,
ninlmppy, neglected; sho hud devol
oped through suffering n certain timid
Hy that was almost a shrinking, n
certain shy clinging to what was kind
aind good.
Her happiness hero wns an hourly
delight to both Allx nnd himself. Sho
seemed to flower softly; every dny
of the slmplo forest llfo brought her
now Interest, now energy, now bloom.
She and Allx washed tholr hnlr agnlu,
dammed the creek again, tramped and
sang duets again. Sometimes they
cooked, often they went Into tho old
senseless spasms of laughter at noth
Jng, or almost nothing.
. One evening, when In tho sitting
room there was no other light than
that of tho flro that a damp July eve
Jilng made pleasant, about a week
:after her arrival, Cherry spoko for
tho first time of Martin, She hud
lutd a long letter from him that day,
tea pages written In n flowing hand
on ten pages of the lined paper of a
cilienp hotel, with a little cut of the
puildlng standing boldly against
mackerel sky at tho top of each page.
Ho was well, he had some of his din
Tiers at the hotel, but lived at home;
Jue had been playing n little poker and
was luckier than over. Ho wus look
Ing Into a proposition In Durango
Moxlco, and would let her know how
it panned out.
Peter had been playing the piano
lazily when the letter was tossed to
Cherry by Allx, who usually drove
Into the vlllago every morning after
breakfast for marketing and the mall
lie had seen Cherry glnnce through
It, seen the little distasteful move
ment of the muscles about her nose.
nnd seen her put It carelessly under
n candlestick on the mantel for later
consideration. At luncheon she had
referred to ltand now it evidently
tind caused her to be thoughtful and
a little troubled,
"Mart may go to Mexico!" sho said
presently, with n sigh.
"To stay?" Peter asked, quickly.
Owrry shrugged.
"As much ns he stays anywhere I" I
she answered, drily.
"H'm I Docs that mean you?" Allx
asked.
"I suppose Hint's the plan," Cherry
said, lifelessly. "He says he'll wunt
me to Join him ubout the middle of
August."
"Oh, help!" Allx said, disgustedly.
Cherry wns silent n few minutes,
nnd Peter smoked with his eyes on the
lire.
"If "Cherry snld presently, "If
I get my money I'll have enough to
live on, won't I, Peter?"
"You'll have about forty thousand
dollars yes, nt live per cent you could
live on that. Especially If you lived
here In the valley," Peter unswered,
after some thought.
Then I want you to know," Cherry
went on quietly, with sudden scarlet
In her cheeks, "that I'm going to tell
Martin I think we have tried It long
enough I"
Pel or looked gravely at her, sober
ly nodded, and resumed" his Htudy of
the fire. 11 nt Allx spoke In brisk pro
test. "Tried ltt You mean tried mar
riage ! Hut one doesn't try marriage!
It's n fact. It's like the color of your
eyes."
"Allx," the little sister pleaded eager
ly, "you don't know whnt It Is you
don't know what It Is I Always meeting
peoplo I don't like; always living In
plnceH I hater nlwnys feeling that my
own self Is being smothered nnd lost
nnd shrunk; nlwnys listening to Mnrt
complaining and criticizing people "
Peter Interrupted seriously:
"I'll go this far, Cherry. Lloyd mur-
rled you too young."
"Oh, far too young 1" she agreed
quickly. "The thing 1 I can't think
of," she said, "Is how young I wus
only a HttJe glri. I knew, nothing;
I wnsn't rendy to bo anybody's, wife I"
Something In tho poignant sorrow of
her tdhe went straight to their hearts,
and for tho first time Peter hud an
Idea of the real suffering she hud
norm.
"If I had n child, even, or If Martin
needed me," Cherry snld, "then It
might, be different! Hut I'm only a
burden to him "
"Ills letter doesn't sound ns If he
thought of you as a burden," Allx sug
gested mildly.
"Ah, well, the minute I lenve him
he hns n different tone," Cherry ex
plained, nnd Peter snld, with n glnnce
almost of surprlso nt his wife:
"It's un awfully dlfllcult position for
n woman of nny pride, dearl"
Allx, kneeling to ndjust the fire, as
she wus constantly tempted to do, met
his look nnd laid n soot-streaked hnnd
on his knee.
"Pete, denrest, of course It Is!
But " nnd Allx looked doubtfully from
one to tho other "but divorce Is a
hnteful thing I" she ndded, slinking her
head. "It It never seems to me Jus
tifiable!" "Dlvorco Is nn Institution," Peter
snld. "You mny not like It nny more
thnn you like prisons .or madhouses ;
It Iiub Its uses."
"Peoplo get divorces overy dny!"
Cherry nddefl. "Isn't divorce better
thnn living nlong In marriage without
love?"
"Oh, lovo!" Allx snld scornfully.
Lovo Is Just another name for pas
sion and selfishness and laziness, half
the time I"
"You enn sny that, becauso yours
Is one of the happy mnrrlnges," Cher
ry snld. "It might be very different
If Peter weren't Peter 1"
As sho snld, his namo she sent him
her trusting smile ; her blue eyes shone
with affection, and the cxqulslto curve
of her mouth deepened. Peter smiled
back, and looked away In n little con
fusion,
"I can't lmnglne tho circumstances
under which I shouldn't love you and
Peter I" Allx summarized It, triumph
nntly.
"And Martin?" Peter asked.
"Ah, well; I didn't marry Mnrtln!"
his wife reminded him quickly, "I
didn't promise to lovo and honor Mar
tin In sickness and health; for richer.
for poorer; for better, for worse by
fleorge!" Allx Interrupted herself, In
her boyish wny, "those ure terrific
words, you know. And a promise Is
a promise 1"
"And even for Infidelity you don't
believe people ought to seperate?"
Cherry nsked.
"Nonsense!" Peter snld,
"But you said that Mnrtln never "
"No, I'm not speaking of Mnrtln
now I"
"Well, wouldn't that come under
worser'7 ' Allx asked.
"But, my child," Peter expostulated
kindly, "My dear benighted wife
there Is such a thing as a soul a mind
a personality! To be tied to a
well, to a coarsening Intluenco dny after
day Is living death ! It Is worse than
any bodily discomfort"
"I don't see Itl" Allx persisted. "
think there's n lot of nonsense talked
about the fnmmy oucompreczy but It
seems to me that If you huve a home
nnd meals and books and friends and
the country to walk In, you"
"Oh, heavens, Allx; you don't know
whnt you're Miking nbout!" Cherry
Interrupted her Impatiently. "Some
times I thing your marriage is as
as queer ns my own."
Nothing more wns said for severul
lays upon the subject of a possible
divorce. One afternoon Peter crossed
tho porch, tired and hot, and found
everything apparently deserted. He
dropped Into a chair, and was still
breathless from the rapid climb up
hill, when stray notes from the piano
reached his cars; n chord, a carefully
ployed bit of bass ; then a chord again.
Then slowly, but with dulnty accuracy
nnd even feeling, Cherry began to play
strnngc little study of Schumann.
Peter knew It was Cherry, because
Allx's touch wns nlwnys firm nnd sure;
more thnn that, he himself hnd played
this same bit no longer ago thnn lust
night, and he remembered now that
Cherry hnd nsked him Just what It
was. '
He experienced n sudden nnd plens-
Ing emotion; he did not stop to analyze
It. But he hnd been ruffled In spirit
a moment before; Allx hnd known ho
wns to come on this train and hnd not
met him with the car; and while he
renlly did not mind the walk up, he
disliked the feeling that they had en
tirely forgotten him.
Presently there wns silence; then
Cherry tried another little study and
finished It, nnd the hot summer still
ness reigned ngnln.
With a sense thnt he hnd been doz
ing, If only for n few minutes, Peter
opened his eyes. Framed In the cnbln"
doorway, poised like n butterfly against
the dark background of the room,
stood Cherry. He knew that she had
been standing so for some time, for n
full minute; perhaps more.
They looked nt ench other In a si
lence thnt grew more nnd more nwk-
wnrd by grent plunges. Peter hnd
time to wish thnt bo hnd kept his eyes
shut ; to wish thnt he hud smiled when
he first 8nw her he could not have
forced himself to smile now to won
der how they were ever to spenk
where they were rushing rushing
rushing before she turned noiselessly
nnd vnnlshed Into the dim room.
Peter lay there, and Ids heart
pounded, A moment ago he had been
a tired mnn, fretted because his wife
forgot to meet him; now there was
something new In the world. And rap-
Idly all the world become only a back
ground, only n setting, for this extrn
ordlnnry sensutlon. The hills beyond
still swnm In the hot sunlight, the
mountain rose Into the blue, but the
light that changes nil life lay over
them for Peter.
Ho said to himself that It was awk
ward he did not know how he could
enter thnt door and talk to Cherry.
And yet ho knew timt that meeting
of Cherry, thnt the common exchange
of words nnd glances, that the dally
trifling encounters with Cherry were
nil poignantly significant now.
He felt no Impulse toward hurry.
He might sit on his porch another
hour, might saunter off townrd the
creek. It mattered nothing; the hour
wns steadily approaching when she
must renppenr.
Allx drove In, full of animated apol
ogies. She managed the cur fnr bet
ter thnn he, nnd no thought of an ac
cident hnd troubled him.
The evening wns warm, one of the
two or three wnrm evenings that
marked the height of summer even
In the high valley. There wns not
a breath of air In tho garden; roses
They Looked at Each Other In
Sllenco.
nnd wallflowers stood erect In n sort
of luminous enchantment. Moonlight
sank through the low twisted branches
of the near-by onks and fell tangled
with black and lacy shado through
the porch rose vino.
Allx fat on the porch rail, every
line of crisp skirt and brulded head
revealed as If by daylight, but Cher
ry's pale striped gown was only a
glimmer In the deepest shade of the
vine. Peter, smoking, sat where w
could not but see her; they had hard
ly looked nt each other directly, since
the long, strange look, of this after
noon; they had exchanged hardly a
word.
"Town tomorrow, Pete?" Allx said,
ufter a silence during which she had
locked her arms behind her head,
stured straight ubove her at the path
the moon wus making through faint
stars, and yawned. "I've got to go in
to a meeting of the hospital board.
Good night, beloveds. I'm dead. Don't
sit out here mooning with Pete all
night, Cerise I" '
Peter said to himself that now Cher
ry would go, too, but as the screen
door banged lightly after Allx, and the
dull glimmer of Cherry's striped gown
did not move in the soft shudow, a
sudden reluctance and distaste seized
him. Ho had, been subconsciously
aware of her all afternoon; he had
known a delicious wurmth and stir
ut his heart that he hud not nnulyzed,
If indeed It could be unnlyzed. Now
suddenly he did not want the beauty
und gloom nnd clmrm of thut feeling
touched. His heart began to beat
heavily again, and he knew that he
must stop the unavailing gume now.
But he hud not reckoned on Cherry.
She twisted In her chair, and he heurd
u child's long, happy sigh.
"Oh, so am 1 tired, too!" she
breathed, reluctantly. "I hate to
leave It but I've been almost asleep
for half an hour! You can huve all
the moonlight there Is, Peter." Her
white llgure fluttered toward the door.
'Good night!" she said, drooping her
little head to choke u yawn. A mo
ment iuter he lieurd her laughing with
Allx.
'You fool you fool you fool!" Pe
ter said to himself, and he felt an
emotion like shame, a little real com
punction thut he could so utterly mis
read her Innocence. He felt It not
only wrong In him, but somehow stain
ing und hurtful to her.
CHAPTER XII.
Again Peter reckoned without Cher
ry. It wus only the next day, when
he was entering the- Palace court for
his lunch, that he experienced a sud
den und violent emotion. His thoughts
were, nt the moment, far from Cher
ry, and he fancied himself in u hurry.
But every other feeling but excite
ment wns obliterated at the sight of
a slender, girlishly made woman, In
u pongee gown, and u limp brown hat
covered with popples, waiting In the
lounge.
Peter went toward her, and the col
or rushed Into Cherry's face. It was
the first time tlvey had accidentally
encountered each other, and It hud
a special place of Its own In the his
tory of their lives.
The surprise of It kept them laugh
ing, hands clasped, for a minute; then
Cherry said:
"I was to lunch here with Mary
Cumcron. But she's full twenty min
utes late! You hate her, don't you?"
she added, looking up from under the
popples nt Peter.
"I don't like her," he admitted, with
a boy's grimace.
"Then suppose we don't lunch here?"
Cherry suggested, Innocently. Peter
touched Joyously, nnd tucklnir her lit
tle gloved huud under his arm, led
her away. They went to Solarl's, and
had a window table, and nodded, as
they discussed their lunch, at half a
dozen friends who chanced to be
lunching there, too.
She. had said that she wanted to tell
him "all nbout It," nnd Peter, with
quick knowledge thnt sho meant the
unhapplness of her marriage, nodded
u grave permission.
"I've mado a failure at it!" Cher
ry snld, sadly. "I know I ought to
struggle on, but I can't. I huve no
Individuality, Peter, I have no per
sonullty! As for my dignity iqy prlv
ncy "
Her face wns scarlet, and for a mo-
mont she stopped speaking.
"Just tell me un alternative!" she
said, after a while. "It can't be that
thero Is no other life for mo than
going back. Peter, I'm only twenty
four!"
"I know you are," he said, with a
brief nod.
"Why, every one has some alterno
tlve," Cherry pleaded. "It can't be
that marriage Is the only the only
Irrevocable thing ! If you had u part
nor thnt you couldn't go on with, you
could come to some agreement I"
"You don't love him!" Peter said
"I tnuit go home I must go
back to Mart tomorrow I"
(TO UE CONTINUED.1)
That Word "Strike."
The first use of tho word "strike,"
as applied to labor troubles, occurred
In a London newspaper In 1705. In
September of thut year were numerous
references to a great stoppage of labor
In the coal fields, and the workers are
said to have "struck out" for higher
wuges. Indianapolis Newa.
Tribute to Agriculturist.
The agricultural population pro
duces the bravest men, valiant sol
diers. and a elans of citizens the least
I given to evil designs. Cato,
DRY SNAKE GETS
JAG ON HOOTCH
Follows Trickle Into Bottle,
Crawls Out and Dies, Point
ing Temperance Moral
Orcen Lake, N. Y. Donald Dwlg
gins, the six-year-old son of Claire V.
Dwlgglns, the artist, who draws tho
Schooldays" and "Ophelia" cartoons,
has a thriving grocery store at his
father's summer enmp across Canada
Lake from here, from which he Indus
triously peddles to Imaginary cus
tomers such groceries as from time to
time he can wheedle from the Dwlg
glns cook.
Two or three days ago Donald ac
quired n half bottle of potent but dis
carded home brew nnd ho put it on
sale at once, his young soul untrou
bled with the prospect of being a
Juvenile bootlegger. But he put It In
the sun, and the sun was hot Soon the
cork popped out, the home brew
"hootch" fizzled up over the bottle and
Crawled Out Again.
a thin stream of It ran down the plank
which ,1s the counter of the grocery
store.
A little while after the popping of
the cork and the fizzing of the brew a
foot and n half garter snake came
along, having come down from the
mountain to see what he could see. He
sniffed the home brew, he gulped a bit
of It, and he quickly drank his wny
nlong the thin strenm until he reached
the bottle. Then he crawled up and
Into the bottle, and drank his way to
the bottom. After that he crawled out
again, fell off the plank when he tried
to retrace his steps (or wiggles) and
finally he. made a very zigzag course to
the dock.
It was perfectly obvious that the
snake was frazzled, ns the snylng Is.
to the eyeballs. He crawled foolishly
around the dock for n few moments,
apparently with a very discouraged
outlook upon life. FJnnlly he tried
crawl along the edge of the dock, but
wabbled so thnt he slipped nnd fell
Into the lake. Be was seen no more.
ROUTS COW; SAVES FRIEND
Girl Fights Infuriated Animal With
Pitchfork When It Would
Goro Chum.
Cenrfoss, Md. Miss Corn Hnrbnugh,
with a pitchfork, saved tho life of
Miss Kate Splckler, a friend, when
the latter, wns nttneked by nn Infu
rlated cow near this place. Miss Spick'
lcr und Miss Lulu Kendle had gone
Into a field to drive the cow und her
calf Into the bnrn, when the animal
turned and attacked Miss Splckler,
knocking her down.
Miss Hnrbnugh, seeing the peril of
her friend, seized n pitchfork nnd ran
to her rescue Just as the cow was
rendy to gore Its helpless und uncon
sclous victim.
Miss Hurbuugh sunk the prongs of
the pitchfork Into the cow's side sev.
cral times nnd heat the animal over
the bend and body with her weapon
until the cow turned nnd tied.
Picked Up His Foot
After It Was Cut Off
When the mowing machine
which he wns driving cut off
his left feet, James Shnrpe, fif
teen years old, of Defiance. 0
picked It up nnd drove his horses
to tho house before he fainted
from loss of blood. The boy
said he stepped out on the
tongue of the machine to whip
the horses with the reins when
he fell.
"Lost" Baby Found Behind Bed
Miami, Okla. Exhausted and hys
ferlcal after a fruitless search for her
missing daughter, thought to have been
taken by a band of gypsies. Mrs. Cam
Lanknrd of Minml threw herself weep
ing across her bed, and thereby dis
covered the Infant asleep on the floor
behind the bed.
Revenue Officers Shot In Ambush
Lexington, Ky. Two men were
killed and one seriously wounded, near
here, when assassins lured a posse of
revenue men Into an ambush and
poured a rain of bullets -upon them
Friends of the dead and wounded de
clare that the nmbush was prepared
by political enemies of the men.
CAP
AMD
BELL
FIRST AID TO JOURNALS.
"That's a rather heavy paperweight
you have on your desk," remarked
the visitor.
"So It Is." snld the editor of the
Toadvlne Clarion. "That's what I call
my 'molllfler.'"
"Yes?"
"Sometimes nn Infuriated citizen
comes Into my sanctum seeing red nnd
vowing to skin mo alive. I toy with
this paperweight a little and It Isn't
forty seconds boforo his temperature
Is normal again."
Quite Evident
"Do nnlmnls go to heaven when they
die?" a small boy asked his mother.
"Why, no, dear."
"Well, where do elcfants, hippo-
potosses, snakes und Hons go when
they die?"
"They go to tho museums, of
course," piped his little brother, who
had been listening to the conversa
tion. Valuable By-Product.
Editor Have you cut out a lot ol
the phrases as I suggested?
Author Yes, and found a good mar
ket for them.
Editor What do you mean?
Author I tied tho discarded phrases
up Into dozen lots und sold them ns
vers Ilbre.
YESSIR
He: I hone to make vou a aaaA
husband.
She: More likely I'll have to
make you a good one.
The Important Item.
He wanted to win.
But he wanted to shirk,
And he couldn't break In
Till ho wanted to work.
Lobbying.
"Whnt does that lobbyist want to
see you about?"
"I fancy," replied Senator Sorghum,
that he wants to find out which wny.
I intend to vote. Then if my inten
tions nre favorable to his Interests he
will represent to his employers thnt
he has exercised the greatest Influ
ence." A Short Trip to the Beyond.
"The medium is about to go Into a
trance."
"But sho'a a practical person."
"How so?"
"I overheard her whisper to her as
sistant that ten minutes In, Spooklnnd
would bo long enough, ns there Is a
crowd of pikers present."
The Society Whirl.
Mrs. Casey (at Revere Beach)
Well, will yez look at Mrs. Do Sthyle
end her darter gettln' on the merry-go-
round.
Mrs. Rnfferty Shure; let us get on,
too, nnd thin we'll be able to say that
we wance moved In the same circle
as Mrs. De Style.
I ' r0.6i.
A LITERARY MAN.
"Didn't Peggy marry a literary
man?"
"Dear me, no; he's a magazine
writer."
Queer,
Her name was Short, his name waa
Long-,
They married; now you see
She's always Long, and he's always
can such queer things bo 7
More to Come.
Mother James I Do you see thnt
child pounding on the bnsebourd? And
he hns the hatchet!
Harassed Father Yes, better take
It from him. He'll need It after
awhile for the piano legs.
The Last Straw.
It was a cruel shaft that a Philadel
phia girl shot at a persistent suitor of
here. "They say," he observed, "that
peoplo who live together get to look
alike."
"Then," said tho girl firmly, "yon
must consider my refusal us absolutely
final."
Strong Cards.
Alice Which of his letters did yon
save for your breach-of-promlse suit.
Kato The ones ho told mo to burn.
Boston Transcript.
lilllKII!