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HENRY WALLACE PHILLIPS
COPYRIGHT 1902 BY McCLURE PHILLIPS Zy COMPANY
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CHAPTER IV
ISS MATTIE sat on her little
front porch facing the settinjr
sun Across the road now an
kle deep in June dust was the
wreck of the Peters place had
broken roof crumbling chimneys shut
ters haiiKnij down like broken winirs
the old house had the pathetic appeal
of shipwrecked gentility A house
without people in It even when it is
In repair is as forlorn as a dog who
lias lost his master
Up the road were more houses of the
nondescript village pattern made nei
ther for comfort nor looks God
knows why they built such houses
Perhaps it was in accordance with the
old Puritan idea that any kind of
physical perfection is blasphemy Some
of there were kept in paint and win
dow glass but there were enough poor
relations to spoil the effect
Down the road between the arches of
the weeping willows came lirst the
brook with the stone bridge this
broken as to coping and threadbare
In general then on the hither side of
the way some three or four neigh
bors houses and opposite the black
smiths shop and postolllce the latter
of course In u store where you could
buy anything from stale groceries to
shingles
I AII OlIWI l J kill 111111 It IO 111 LUOlUlll
Tillage whose cause had departed a
community drained of the male prin
ciple leaving only a few queer men
the blacksmith and some halfling boys
to give tone to the background of doz
ens of old maids
An unsympathetic stranger would
have felt that nothing was left to the
Fairtieldians but memory and tho
sooner they lost that the better
Take a wineglassful of raspberry
vinegar two tablespoonfuls of sugar
half a cup each of boneset and rhu
bard a good full cup of the milk of
human kindness dilute in a gallon of
water and you have the flavor of
Fairfield There was just enough of
each ingredient to spoil the taste of
all the rest
Miss Mattio rested her elbow on the
railing her chin in her hand and
gazed thoughtfully about her As a
matter of fact she was the most In
spiring thing In view At a distance
of fifty yards she was still a tall slen
der girl Her body retained the habit
as well as the lines of youth a trick
of gliding into unexpected pleasing at
titudes which would have been awk
ward but for the suppleness of limb
to which they testified and the uncon
sciousness and ease of their irregular
ity
Her face was a childs face in the
ennobling sense of the word The rec
ord of the yea re written upon it seem
ed a masquerade the face of a clear
eyed girl of fourteen made up to rep
resent her own aunt at a fancy dress
party a face drawn a trifle fine a lit
tle ascetic but balanced by the hu
mor of the large shapely mouth and
really beautiful in bone and contour
the beauty of mignonette and doves
and gentle things
You could see that she was thirty five
in the blatant candor of noon but now
blushed with the pink of the setting
sun she was still in the days of the
fairy prince
Miss Matties reverie idled over the
year upon year of respectable stupidity
that represented life in Fairfield while
her eyes and soul were in the boiling
gold of the sky glory She sighed
A panorama of life minced before
Miss Matties mind about as vivid and
full of red corpuscles as a Greek
frieze Her affectionate nature was
starved They visited each other the
ladies of Fairfield these women who
had rolled on the floor together as
babies in their best black or green or
whatever it might be and gloves
this though the summer sun might be
hammering down with all his might
And then they sat in a closed room
and talked in a reserved fashion which
was entirely the property of the call
Of course one could have a moments
real talk by chance meeting and there
were the natural griefs of life to break
the corsets of this etiquette although
in general the griefs seemed to be
long drawn out and conventional af
fairs as if nature herself at last yield
ed to the system conquered by the
invincible conventionality and stub
bornness of the ladies of Fairfield It
was the unspoken but firm belief of
each of these women that a person
of their circle who had no more idea
of respectability than to drop dead on
the public road would never go to
heaven
Poor Mis Mattie Small wonder
she dropped her hands sat back and
wondered with another sigh if it were
for this she was born She did not
rebel there was no violence in her
but she regretted exceedingly In spite
of her slenderness it was a wide
mother lap in which her hands rested
an obvious cradle for little children
And instinctively it would come to you
as you looked at her that there could
be no more comfortable place for a
tired man to come home to than a
household presided over by this slow
moving gentle woman
There was nothing old maidish about
Miss Mattie but the talo of her years
Slie una liaa oTTers sucli as Fairlieid
and vicinity could boast and declined
them with tact and the utmost grati
tude to the suitor for the compliment
but her no though mild was firm
for there lay within her a certain quiet
valiant spirit which would rather en
dure the fatigue and loneliness of old
age in her little house than to take a
larger life from any but the man who
was all a commonplace in fiction In
real life sometimes quite a strain
Tho sun distorted himself into a Rug
by football and hurried down as though
to be through with Fairfield as soon
as possible It was a most magnificent
sunset flaming gorgeous wild be
yond tho management of the women of
Fairfield and Miss Mattie stared Into
the heart of it with a longing for some
thing to happen Then the thought
came What could happen She
sighed again and with eyes blinded
by heaven shine glanced down the vil
lage street
She thought she saw she rubbed her
eyes and looked again she did see and
surely never a stranger sight was be
held on Fairfields street ITad a Roy
al Bengal tiger come slouching through
the dn t it fould not have been more
nnusnnl The spectacle was a man a
very large and mighty shouldered man
who looked about him with a bold im
perious keep the change regard There
was something in the swing of him
that sugge ted the Bengal tiger He
wore high heeled boots outside of his
trousers a flannel shirt with a yellow
silk kerchief around his neck and on
his head sat a white hat which seemed
to Miss Mattie to be at least a yard in
diameter Under the hat was a re
markable head of hair It hung below
the mans shoulders in a silky mass of
dark scarvt flecked with brown gold
Miss Mattie had seen red hair but she
remembered no such color as this uer
could she recall ever having seen hair
a foot and a half long on a man That
hair would have made a fortune on tho
head of an actress but Miss Mattiu
was ignorant of the possibilities of the
profession
The face of the man was a fine tan
against which eyes teeth and mus
tache came out in brisk relief The
mustache avoided the tropical tint of
the upper hair and was content with
a modest brown The owner came
right along walking with a stiff
strong straddling gait like a man
not used to that way of traveling
Miss Mattie eyed him in some fear
lie would be by her house directly
and It was hardly modest to sit ag
gressively on ones front porch while
a strange man went by particularly
such a very strange man as this Yet
a thrill of curiosity held her for the
moment and then It was too late for
the man stopped and asked little Ed
die Newell who was playing placidly
in the dust all the children played
placidly in Fairfield asked Eddie in
a voice which reached Miss Mattie
plainly although the owner evidently
made no attempt to raise it If he knew
where Miss Mattie Saunders lived
Eddie had not noticed the large
mans approach and nearly fell over
in a fright but seeing with a childs
intuition that there was no danger
in this fierce looking person he piped
up instantly
I kin tell yer where she
lives yessir She lives right down
there in that little house I kin go
down with you jes swell s not Why
there she is now on tho stoop
Thankee sonny said the big voice
Heres for miggles and Miss Mattie
caught the sparkle of a coin as it
flew into the grimy fists of Eddie
Much obliged yelled Eddie and
vanished up the street
Miss Mattie sat transfixed Her
breath came in swallows and her
heart beat irregularly Here was nov
elty with a vengeance The big man
turned and fastened his eyes upon
her There was no retreat She no
ticed with some reassurance that his
eyes were grave and kindly
As he advanced Miss Mattie rose in
agitation unconsciously putting her
hand on her throat What could it
mean
The gate was opened and the stran
ger strode up the cinder walk to the
porch He stopped a whole minute
and looked at her At last
Well Mattie ho said dont you
know me
A flood of the wildest hypotheses
flashed through Miss Matties mind
without enlightening her Who was
this picturesque giant who stepped
out of the past with so familiar a sal
utation Although the porch was a
foot high and Miss Mattie a fairly
tall woman their eyes were almost on
a level as she looked at him in won
der
Then he laughed and showed his
white teeth No use to bother and
worry you Mattie said he Yon
couldnt call it in ten years Well Im
your half uncle Freds boy Bill and I
hope youre a quarter as glad to see
me as I am to see you
What she cried Not little Willy
who ran away
The same little Willy he replied
in a tone that made Miss Mattie laugh
a little nervously and what I want
to know is are you glad to see me
Why of course But Will I sup
pose I should call you Will I am so
flustered not expecting youand jf
tkftn so tvnrmrocry iconryou come
In and take a chair wound up Miss
Mattie In desperation and fury at her
self for saying things so different from
what she meant o say
There was a twinkle In the mans
eyes as he replied in an injured tone
Why good Lord Mattie Ive come
2000 miles or more to see 3ou and
you ask me to take a chair just as ir
Id stepped In from across the way
Cant you give a man a little wanner
welcome than thai
What shall I do asked poor Miss
Mattie
Well you might kiss me for a
start said lie
Miss Mattie was all abroad SlIM
ones half cousin who lias come such
a distance and been received so vcr
addly is entitled to consideration She
raised her agitated face and for the
first time In her life realized the pleas
ure of wearing a mustache
Then Red Saunders late of the
Chauta Seechee ranch North Dakota
sat him down
Im obliged to you Mattie lie said
In all seriousness To tell you tin
truth I felt in need of a little comfort
ing here Ive come all this distance
and of course I heard about father
mid mother but I couldnt believe it
was true Seemed as if they must be
waiting at the old place for me to
come back and when I saw it all gone
to ruin Well then I set out to find
somebody and do you know of all the
family theres only you and me left
Thats all Mattie just us two While
1 was growing up out west I kind of
expected things to be standing still
back here and be just the same as I
left them hum Well how are you
anyhow
Im well Will and laying her
hand upon his dont think Im not
glad to see you please dont Im so
glad Will I cant tell you but Im all
confused so little happens here
I shouldnt guess it was the liveliest
place in the world by the look of it
said Red And as far as thats con
cerned I kinder dont know what to
say myself Theres such a heap to
talk about its hard to tell where to
begin But weve got to be friends
though Mattie weve just got to be
friends Good Lord Were ail theres
left Funny I never thought of such
a thing Well blast It Thi ts enough
of such talk Ive brought you a pres
ent Mattie He stretched out a leg
that reached byond the limits of the
front porch and dove into his trousers
pocket bringing out a buckskin sack
He fumbled at the knot a minute and
then passed it over saying You un
tie it your fingers are sooplier than
mine Miss Matties fingers were
shaking but the knots finally came un
done and from the sack she brought
forth a chain of rich dull yellow lumps
fashioned into a necklace It weighed
a pound She spread it out and looked
at it astounded Gracious Will Is
that gold she asked
Thats what he replied The real
article just as it came out of the
ground I dug it myself Thats the
EEJJcKTR J
Hes my own cousin she ichispcrcd to
herself
reason Im here Id never got money
enough to go anywhere farther tiian
a horse could carry me if I hadnt
taken a fly at placer mining and hit
her to beat h er the very mischief
Miss Mattie looked first at the bar
baric splendid necklace and then at
the barbaric splendid man Things
grew confused before her in trying to
realize that it was real What two
planets so separated in their orbits as
her world and his She had the im
agination that is usually lacking in
small communities and the feeling of
a fairy story come true possessed her
And now Mattie said he I dont
know whats manners in this part of
the country but Ill make free enough
on the cousin part of it to tell you
that I could look at some supper with
out flinching Ive walked a heap to
day and I aint used to walking
Miss Mattie sprang up herself again
at the chance tb offer hospitality
Why you poor man said she Of
course youre starved It must be
nearly S oclock I almost forget about
eating living here alone You shall
have supper directly Will you come
in or sit a spell outside
Reckon Ill come in said Red
Dont want to lose sight of you now
that Ive found you
It was some time since Miss Mattie
had felt that any one had cared enough
for her not to want to lose sight of
her and a delicate warm bloom went
over her cheeks She hurried into the
little kitchen
Mattie called Red
What is it Will she answered
coming to the door
Can I smoke in this little house
ICer tainJy Sit Eight down and make
-- m
yoursoir comrortnmc oont oir re
member what a smoker father wus
Red tried the different chairs with
his hand They were not n stalwart
lot Finally he spied the homemade
rocker in the corner Theres the lad
for me he said drawing It out Got
to be kinder careful how you throw
230 pounds around
Mercy cried Miss Mattie pan In
hand Do you weigh ns much as
that Will
I do returned Red with much sat-
I isfaction And there Isnt over two
pounds of it fat at that
I What a great man you have grown
up to be Will
Red took in a deep draft of tobacco
and s cnt the vapor clear across the
little room
On the hay scales yes he answer-
ed with a sort of joking earnestness J
but otherwise I dont know i
The return to the old home had
touched the big man deeply and as he
leaned back in his chair there was a
shade of melancholy on his face that
became it well i
Miss Mattie took in the mass of him
stretched out at ills ease his legs
crossed and the patrician cut of his
face to which the upturned mustache
gave a cavalier touch They were good
stock the Saunders and the breed
had not declined In the only two ex-
tant
Hes my own cousin she whisper
ed to herself in the safety of the
kitchen And such a splendid looking
man She 01t a pride of possession
she had never known before Nobody
in Fairfield or vicinity had such a
cousin as that And Miss Mattie went
on joyfully fulfilling an inherited in-
stinct to minister to the wants of
some man She said to herself there
was some satisfaction in cooking for
somebody else But alack-a-day Miss
Matties ideas of the wants of some
body ee suffered a Fairfield
change Nothing was done on a large
scale in Fairfield But she sat the lit
tle cakes lucky that she had made
them yesterday and the fried mush
and the small pitcher of milk and the
cold ham and the cold biscuit on the
table with a pride in the appearance
of the feast
Suppers ready Will she said
Red responded instanter He took a
look at the board and understood He
ate the little cakes and biscuit and
said they were the durned best he
ever tasted He also took some pot
cheese under a misapprehension swal
lowed it and said to himself that he
had been through worse things than
that Then when his appetite had
just begun to develop the inroads on
the provisions warned hiin that it was
time to stop Meanwhile they had
ranged the fields of old times at ran
dom and as Red took in Miss Mattie
pink with excitement and sparkling as
to eyes he thought Blast the supper
Its a square meal just to look at her
If she aint pretty good people I miss
my guess
It was a merry meal He had such
a way of telling things Miss Mattie
hadnt laughed so much for j ears and
Ehe felt that there was no one that
she had known so long and so well as
Cousin Will There was only one jar- j
ring note Red spoke of the vigorous
celebration that had been followed by
the finding of gold It was certainly
well told but Miss Mattie asked in
soft horror when he had finished
You didnt get intoxicated Will I
Did I said he lost in memory and
not noticing the tone Well I put
my hand down the throat of that
mans town and turned her inside out i
It was like as if Christmas and Fourth
of July had happened on the same i
day
Oh Will cried Miss Mattie I i
cant think of you like that rolling in i
the gutter Her voice shook and j
broke off Her knowledge of the j
feet of stimulants was limited to Fair- j
fields one drunkard old Tommy Mc-
Ivee a disreputable old Irishman but
drunkenness was the worst vice in her
world
Rolling in the gutter cried Red in
astonishment Why girl what for
would I roll in the gutter Whats the
fun in that Jiminy Christmas I
wanted to walk on the telegraph wires
There wasnt anything in that town
high enough for me What put gut
ters into your head
I I supposed people did that when
they were Kce that
I wouldnt waste my money on
whisky if thats all the inspiration I
got out of it replied Red
Well of course I dont know about
those things but I wish youd promise
me one thing
Done cried Red What is it
1 wish youd promise me not to
touch whisky again
Phew Thats a pretty big order
He stopped and thought a minute If
youll make that never touch it when
it aint needed leaving when its
noeded to whats my idea of the square
thing on a promise Ill go you Mattie
Theres my hand
Oh I shouldnt have said anything
at all Will I have no right but it
seemed such a pity such a splendid
man I mean I think You mustnt
promise me anything Will stammer
ed Miss Mattie shocked at her own
daring
Here he cried Im no little kid
When I promise I mean it As for
jour not having any right aint we all
there is Youve got to be mother and
sister and aunt and everything to me
I aint as young as I have been Mattie
and I miss she ways terrible at times
Now put out your fin like a good pard
ner and here goes for no more rhine
caboos for Chanta Seechee Red time
I quit drinking anyhow he slipped
a ring off his little finger Here hold
out your hand said he Ill put this
on for luck and the sake of the prom
ise by the same token Ive got a
noose on you now and youre my prop
erty
This of course was
Wills joking but Miss Mnttle noticed
with a sudden hot flush that he had
chosen the engagement finger in ail
Ignorance she felt sure The last
thing she could do would be to call
his attention to the fact or run the
risk of hurting his feelings by trans
ferring the ring besides it was a pret
ty ring a rough ruby In a plain gold
band and looked very well where It
was
1 Then they settled down for what
Red called a good medicine talk Miss
Mattie found herself boldly speaking
of little fancies and notions that had
remained in the Inner shrine of her
soul for years shrinking from the matter-of-fact
eye of Fairfield yet thi
big ferocious looking Cousin Will
seemed to find them both sane and in
i terestlng and as her self respect went
up in the arithmetical her admiration
for Cousin Will went up in the geo
metrical ratio He frankly admitted
weaknesses and fears that the males
of Fairfield would have rejected
scornfully
Miss Mattie spoke of sleeping up
stairs because she could not rid
herpelf of the fear of somebody com
ing In
I know just how you feel about
that said Red My hair used to be
on its feet most of the time when we
were in the hay camp at the lake beds
Gee whiz The rattlers We put hair
ropes around but them rattlers liked
to squirm over hair ropes for exercise
One morning I woke up and there was
a crawler on my chest For G oils
sake Pete says I to Antelope Pete
who was rolled up next me come take
my friend away and I didnt holler
very loud neither Pete was chain
lightning in pants and lie grabs Mr
Rattler by the tall and snaps his neck
but I felt lonesome In nry Inside til
dinner time You bet I know just
how you feel exactly I didnt have a
mans sized nights rest while we was
In that part of the country
It struck Miss Mattie that the cases
were hardly parallel A rattlesnake
on your chest Will she cried with
her hands clasped in terror
Oh it wasnt as bad as it sounds
He was asleep colled up there to get
warm sharpish nights on the prairie
In August but darn it Mattie wrin
kling up his nose In disgust I hate
the sight of the brutes
But you wouldnt ba afraid of a
man Will
Well no admitted he Ive nev
er been troubled much that way You
see everybody has a different fear to
throw a crimp in them Mines rattle
snakes and these little bugs with forty
million pairs of legs I pass right out
when I see one of them things They
give me a feeling as if my stummick
had melted
Werent the Indians terrible out
there too asked Miss Mattie Im
sure they must have been
Oh they aint bad people if you
use em right said Red Not that I
like em any better on the ground
than in it he added hastily fearful
of betraying the sentiment of Lis
country but I never had but one real
argument man to man Black Wolf
and I come together over a matter of
who owned my cayuse and from
words we backed off and got to shoot
ing He raked me from knee to hip as
I was kneeling down doing the best
I could by him and wasting ammuni
tion because I was in a hurry Still I
did bust his ankle In the middle of
the fuss a stray shot hit the cayuse in
the head and he croaked without a
remark so there we were a pair of
fools miles from home with nothing
left to quarrel about You could have
fried an ess on a rock that day and it
always makes you thirsty to get shot
anyways serious thinking of which I
hollered peace to old Black Wolf and
told him Id pull straws with him to
see who took my canteen down to the
creek and got some fresh water He
was agreeable and we hunched up to
each other It aint to my credit to
say it but I was worse hurt than that
Injun so I worked him He got the
short straw and had to crawl a mile
through cactus while I sat comforta
ble on the cause of the disagreement
and yelled to him that he looked like
a badger and other things that an In
jun wouldnt feel was a compliment
Red leaned back and roared I can
see him now putting his hands down
so careful and turning back every
once in awhile to cuss me Turned out
that it was his cayuse too Feller that
sold it to me had stole it from him I
oughtnt to laugh over it but I cant
help but snicker when I think how I
did that Injun
Generally speaking Miss Mattie had
a lively sense of humor but the joke
of this was lost on her Her educa
tion had been that getting shot was
far from funny
Why I should have thought you
would have died Will
What For a little crack in the
leg cried Red with some impatience
You people must quit easy in this
country Die nothin One of our
boys came along and took us to camp
and we was up and doing again in no
time Course Black Wolf has a game
leg for good but the worst thats
stuck to me is a yank or two of rheu
matism in the rainy season I paid
Wolf for his cayuse he finished
shamefacedly I had the laugh on
him anyhow
CONTINUED NEVT VKIKI
Senretary Wilhon of tho department
of agriculture snvs that the unbounded
prosperity of the agriculturist ii not due
to chance but is the result of intelli
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reader of The Weekly Inter Oct an has
jjaced before him each nk the prac
tical and approved methods to which
Secretary Wilson refer ft a good
investment Only SI 25 for The Weekly
Intor Ocean and this paper one ear
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