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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1887)
AHEAD 0' TIME. 819 crimsoned, faded and fell The wild cherries ripened and withered on the trees. Light frosts whitened the ground. "Winter comes late in the Grande Rondo valley. All through December the nights are cool, but the days soft and delightful. "We shall have no winter this year," Lida said, joyfully, on New Year's day. But when she looked out the following morning she found that winter was there. At the close of the third day snow lay six feet deep over the level ground. It was piled up over the win dows, and Lida did not dare to open the doors, so she sat all day, shivering, before the little fire place, with her hands idly clasped in her lap. Jack fan cied she was not quite so gay and joyous of late. His great heart ached for her lonely, uneventful life, and he longed for her dear sake for the opening of spring. She was sitting, as usual, one evening in her low rattan chair, idly rocking back and forth, when he came in, cold and tired. A violent, west wind was drifting the snow, and piling it to the tops of all the houses. She looked up with a little smile that only lingered a second on her sweet lips. As he stooped down to kiss her, the door opened and Jim entered. He cast one glance at the tableau in the rosy firelight, and passed through the room without a word He came back presently, and ate his supper in silence. "When they arose from the table, Jack walked to the hearth, and rested one muscular arm upon the rude shelf that his wife had hidden with pretty embroidery. "Jim," he said, while his eyes rested with deep tenderness upon the slight form of Lida. "I have to go to Telo caset tonight to meet the freight Will you stay with 'Lida? I cannot get back before morning, and I fear she is not well" As he spoke, the girl's eyes wide open now cast a quick glanco at her husband, and she shivered a litllo beneath that tender, trustful gaze. " No, no," she said, hurriedly, " I am quite well, dear." An exacting lover might have ques tioned the hesitation over the last word; but to J ack it was sweetest music. She had never before used an endearing ex pression to him. That one little word gave him courage to faco the terrible storm without, and ho went, stumbling and fighting his way, through the drifted, drifting snow. When ho reached the station ho found that his orders had been changed, and ho was not to take the snow plow out for an hour. " You can go back if you liko," said the dispatcher. "I will have tho firo man whistle for you five minutes before starting-time, and if you hurry, you can get hero. I 'spose," ho added, with truo railroad slang, "your wifo 'kicks' terri bly about your running the snow plow 1 They all do. It is dangerous work." Ho went into the office and closed tho door. Jack stood alono in tho storm. He shivered. Was the wind colder, sharper ? he asked himself. Or could it be that the man's careless words had sent that sudden, deep chill to his heart? Pshaw 1 how fanciful ho was getting about her, all because she was growing more deeply into his heart every day. Had she not called him "deart" Be cause she had not worried about the snow plow, was that any reason sho did not love him ? Besides, Lida was not one to borrow trouble. So be argued with himself as ho has tened home, caring nothing for tho ter rific storm, in his eager longing to have her call him by a tender name. When ho came in sight of tho houso ho was surprised to seo a gleam of ligjit across tho snow. But, upon approaching tear er, ho discovered that tho latter had