J
otMiss- limes- icyele jiq
" , A LL that was lc ft of the
A
beams,, shingles, , flooring window and door
casing, two the section of the summefhouje
olii Fannjng place-
.and the trunk of the nine great sentinel tlmi'hntdcrt'' Harder I . It'll fcike somebody with backbone
that had surrounded the gardenlay in a huge pile in ; io" get this cleaned. 'up before snow flies. , Somebody
Mr. Luther 'Sill's back yard. ' , Ith Wkboiie " V T : '.V .' V f r'';
Mr. Luther Sill could be depended on lo take any ; , .That night Mr. Sill enjoyed the wholesome, pleasant
thing that would burn; The news that a house, was. to weariness of the laborer who comes home at the day's
le'pulled down, or a tree cut, brought him at once to ;. end with hiVdinner-pail'IIe had earned not only his
the spot, with a'fair offer for the wood' Fuel of thi; bread, but the right to tit on the steps and watch the
fort frequently cost him' more than coal, buf,' 'if her- uti go down. They had made a good beginning on
knew, it did not trouble him,
Forty years before, Mr.' Sill had danced ih the, long
parlors' of the Fannirtg house and wandered about the,
l.l -1 l ...l.. .1.1. . ! . .i
box-edged paths of the garden. Once he had sat in the
Mimirier-house by moonlight, with pretty Folly Fan- .;
ning, and she had asked him why he did not marry
some nice girt . t '. . , ';; ; ' "K ; :-"';?;.' 1 ',,'.
lie did not know any, he had said, with a choke in.
his throat, for her small white hand lay in a ray of ,
I moonlight within an inch of his own that would take f
f him, was what he would have added the next moment, ,
tut she broke into a gurgle of laughter and ran off to
the house. ' , .. . ,' ". ;: "'.'"V .' :,V,;;':, ''' ;:' : ;'"'.'"
Folly married a naval officer not long after. But she
told the story to every girl in town, and he had never '
found the courage to look at a woman's eyes since.
It was a cool, bright morning, with a crisp breeze
coming from the west Just the day to saw wood, Mr,.
Luther, reflected, contentedly, as he got the rollers
' ' srady. ... ' '-. !-, ' ' v ' " - .'' .' ",.
"GuesS yell have enough stuff to carry ye through
the winter," said Dan,' surveying the pile. "Where
goin' to put it, Mr.' Sill. The aullar's full a'ready." 7
As master arid man, Mr. Luther Sill and Dan, had
cawed a great deal of wood together in the last thirty
years. "-';"'':' r ? .
The Sill family had been one of governor and ,
Judges, brilliarjt statesmen, lawyers' of renown and
skilled physicians) hut Luther Silt had either fallen be
hind in tht race or had not cared to run. Something :
of his inheritance appeared in hi voice, a rarely fait- '
ing indexf-for thought he-might lapse and frequently - -fljrlfrorr
grammatical rectitude;. hi Inflection were"-"
t.'iose associated only with culture and breeding. t . '
When his mother died, and his last brother and sister
married and went away from home, Luther was left
with the old place and Dan. Ever since, the two had
lived and worked together, had cooked their meals and
eaten them together, in intimate but never familiar re-
, lation. '. : ' ." ., ; - '
Dan's head and shoulder were bent as to a yoke, and
his respect for the' Sills had no limit lie labored v
steadily between suns, and yielded patienfnd unques
tioning obedience, like a dumb creature, r
When they were at work Luther Sill fretted at him
continually,, with a fussy irritability. It took the place
of conversation,' and both men would have', missed it.
Dan seldom replied, but as soon as he was left alone ;
could be heard singing gospel hymns in a loud, cheer- , ,
ful voice. ( , '
By eight o'clock the log was in position. Mr, Sill
tied a piece of old rope about his waist and seated him
self on the rhopping-block. . ' . -
" Bring the aw, Danny." .
"Yes, suh." - - - ,
Dan returned with the long, two-handled cross-cut
saw. Mr; Sill laid it in positron, and Dan took his
place on the other side of the log.
"Now. Ready?". .
"Yes, suh.,rr
" No, you ain't, neither. Stand backl Stand backt"
It was beginning. Dan moved awkwardly to the
right. r
" Not that way! ' A'f 'that way! Back! There!"
And Mr! Sill's voice sank to a satisfied level. i-
Seated on the chopping-block, he steadied the saw
with one hand, but it was clear that all the work was
deme at the other end.
For a few moments there was silence, except for the
singjng'of the steel In the wood. - Gradually Dan ap
proached the log, and little by little the Saw shortened
ju his side. Nearer, nearer,
Then Mr. Sill lifted his -
'
oke again. '
" Get back' 'Get back! Stand over yonder! " "
. Dan sought .the spot, growing confused, and stupid
as Mr. Sill grew louder and more impatient Moving
too far away, he was ordered nearer, and coming too
near, he was ordered back.
"The trouble with you, Dan, is you don't know
nothin'," he declared, as h,e seated himself after one of "
these trips. " Hold it higher! Higher! 'C . - Comstock had as persistently refused to sell. I he re
Only once" had Dan ever shown spirit and replied In suit was a formality between the two families. :, w ,'
litvl. That was a long time ago, and the result had "Carn't understand what Dan wants down there!"
btcn an instantaneous reversal . of ? their positions.
Meekness fdl upon Mr; Sill and, during the est of
lhM day, whenever he addressed Dan it was with some
(k'crciice in his tone. , ' . - " . ..
lie hfllf roJC once more, threateningly. -..-v " ,
" Higher! Higher!" I tell you higher! You're too
low! There!" And the sawing went on. . , y
"Reckon I'll have to find another man, and f ou'll
have to' look round for another place,- Dan," he said,
V after a while. "I sh'd think I'd told you that enough ,
timef hese last two-three year.' Why don't ye? . Tullf
those big sticks. lie had not expected to do so much,
lie leaned back in his chair and, clasping his Hands
behind hi head, gajed out npon the shaded road, on
.1.1 1 . . i ' . ... Jt. r. 4t. '
the long orchard,' generous in its promise (or the au
tumn, and on the garden, where not a weed was to be
'seen.:- . . ; ". ' :. ;', : : -
: " Best-looking garden anywheres around," lie re,
fleeted. Guess Dan must be out there before day--;
break." C'-' 7 ;' V ' :' j'7j
yTThe Sill house was large a;id square and very white.
Every three years it wa given a new coat 6f paint, be-
cause of the mildew from the shade of the buttonwood
and four great elms in the fro'nt yard. A flagstone
'.....'.::".- t : ; .,, ' v, a
v.:
'i
(y (
.
I
i
il:
ill
t
s
. V'-
.THEM IR. SILL
walk between two talfT even rows of boxwood led to
the front door., Luther's grcaf-grandfather, the Judge
of the Supreme Court, planted the boxwood, and it
had blossomed. . " '
-No one used the dignified boxwood walk now, how
ever, or lifted the knocker on the, front door. Even,
strangers came. to the side porch, where Lifther Sill
hadjiis chair. ; v ' : , ; . ,
Suddenly Mr. Sill bent forward and stared over the
long shadows of his yard at the house of his next
door neighbor. - . ' ' ,
" Wliat in time is Dan going in there for?" he ex
claimed. . . ,;. v
The Comstock house stood close to the street. It
was much smaller than Mr. Sill's, but quite as care
fully kept. There was a latticework porch at, the front
door with honeysuckle over it. Borders of phlox and
geraniums and heliotropes and lemon-verbenas edged
the walks. Nasturtiums and Madeira-vines and morn-t
ing - glories grew on strings to the tops of the windows,
half , concealing the crisp white curtains with their
fluted ruffles. -Back of the house was a stretch of or- 4
chard and garden, and back of these, reaching round
to the street again and embracing the kingdom of Miss '
Tillie like a protecting arm, lay Sill land. ,' ' ,
Three generations- f Sills had ' endeavored to buy
back the two-acre square that one of their progenitors
sold out of Jhe estate, and three ' generation of '
mused Mr. Sill, leaving his chair and taking a seat on :
. the steps in order to get a better view under the trees. -
When, at last Miss Comstock's gate clicked, . and a '
pair of bent shoulders appeared above the front fence, :
he got up and went back to his chain . ' . ' '
. He was reading the Agriculturist when Dan sat down .
on the extreme edge of the lowest step, and he did nof
turn.' ' " ' , -
Champion
eisei;
Dan coughed. , . s I :
Tlfr .Sill'
. Fpund place I
,, M "Yes, uh." ' .. . ' '
; ', " Found a placet": This time Mr. Sill put down his
' :, VaP'r' " f ' ' "'V " . . i .''
"Yes, suh. ,Goin' to work for' Miss Comstock to
morrer morninV'V'Dan twisted. his hat in his, hands.
"She says sfie wants a man." : r
.""What'i she want a man for? Wr. Sill -stared u
credulously at the Comstock house. . " You carn't go
Aau,n fW- fw.iSfViw. We've rot "toe? 'much' to do.
uv rlr An that .woo A' What'shV. want
: 1 , . . ......
-fyou4o do (to-morrrf
A ' U t!..l i.n ira ar
fick up green appier nrst tmng.: ane says sue
. . . . - . ..... . .
j j ti .a. r.A .
don t wan't 'em decayin all over the grass ground. ;.
" Don't wank 'era whatt " ' ! ; y,r: :- f
"Decayin, she says." ..V ' ' . S:: -
. " Oh! Well, I carn't spare my man to go out pickin'
up green appfes just at present." .. ; V- '
- " But I'll be hcr .man to-morrer," Dan reminded.
" You said- -" - .
V" " I .'didn't ay anything. , You just go down and tell
her you carn't come." , , '
"4 y-
(
t A f A h
jy
m
if
LIFTED HIS VOICI AGAIN, " GET BACK I CXI BACK if STAND
Dan rose. Habit wa: strong. j V.
" Yes, suh." And he went obediently down the road
' again, ' ' " , ' ' , - ,
He was back in five minutes, and soberly resumed
. his seat - Mr. Sill waited, but Dan did not 'speak..
" Well, what did sheay?" he inquired at last
"She says a bargain's a bargain, and she's hired me
reg'lar." '
Mr. Sill rose and scraped his chair violently to the
other end of the porch. ,
" Did you tell her about all the work' we've got over
here? " he asked. . 1 -
"Yes, suh. - She says she. knows it. he don't want
,to be onneighborly,-she says, an' if you want to hire
;me for a couple of hours or so afternoons when I ain't
to work for her, you can pay her-fifteen cents an hour."
; "Couple of hours! " cried Mr. Sill in scorn. , Then,
with an accession , of curiosity, " What's she going, to
pay you, Dan?" ' 1
" Same's I be'n a-gittin'."
"How long 've you hired for?"
" Till nex' spring." ' '
" Well, for all dum foolishness! You' plumb crazy."
"I dun know," replied Dan, with humble uncer
tainty. " I jest done' as you" ' '
- - "Wclh know," interrupted Mr. SilFwith spirit.,' ; ' ,
The next morning Luther Sill built the kitchen fire
for the ffst timen thirty years. . True to the agree
ient, T)n cariie over in the afternoon and worked at
..the trees with him.' But what could be done In two
hours? ,t ' . ' , "
Day by day the grass grew yellower under the heap
of timbers from the Fanning place. 4 : , V -
-".Well, Dan she treat you well? ". asked Mr, Siir
one afternoon.
" Yes,' suh," said Dan. with the old cheerfulness. '
After two weeks of neglect a flourishing crop of
weeds took possession of the7 garden. r-.n, in distress,
urged the hiring of a man to hoe it "
" Yes, yes; I'm going- to 'tend to it," Mr. Sill de
clared impatiently.' But he did not. He spent hia
mornings close to the fence, where he could watch Dan
at work on the other side and order him about in the
old way, which was a, comfort to both, Now and then
he would draw a timber from the pile and saw it into
fihort lengths, but the heap did not lessen rapidly.
' One morning-pDan had been in Miss Comstock's
employ for a month Mr. Sill locked up suddenly from -a'piecj
of the old Fanning summer-hbuse that he was
splitting ap.) Ilis. eye had caught a strange glitter, and
- turnedaxe itf hand, to see his neighbor, Mis Tillie,
' riding, around her strawberry bed on a shimmering
"new bicycle.
. . Hvn i M trftt, irinrf Ham I- ,hl -, .mnrlr, I l.n
. '";. " ' . 'T 1 '
wno paa aiso straignienea up to waicm . one s oe n
, .t. . t i .
u na Illicit ha. , 4-UUg ufc V WIj IgviU ITVU nvvt)
'aroM "'"K-' 'V'"-' - V .
. Mr. Sill stepped behind a'' young ;qoince. tree arid
viewed the ' absorbing ' spectacle through "the top
brandies. - Now and then the front wheel would make
a sudden, wajward twerve to rjght or left, at which he
would, exclaim under his breath; but'it always came
back to the path again. i '
Miss -Tillie's bonnet was well on the hack of her head.
'She always wore either a sunbonnet or a bonnet and
i '
it
t ii !
i I
i .-
l VI-:
rt(y-Mfl -
I
A
0V VONDER.'.'
. vcilT - The veil this morning Was a brown spotted one.
After several turn about the strawberry bed, she
, chose the straight walk to the garden. - It stopped a
little. Miss Tillie was exulting in the joy of rapid mo
tion without effort, when suddenly she spied Dan
( standing beside the path. ' . '
.- Promptly the bicycle veered in his direction with
vicious accuracy. Dan dodged to a point of safety
ten feet away and saw Miss Tillie run over the spot he
had just left, plunge through a bed of marigolds, which
filled the air with their pungent fragrance", and knock-
ing down two lengths of fence and a post, ride triumph--
antly over them into the Sill lot' and straight for the
'woodpile. 1 . , .
' Luther 'Sill started, from behind the qulncetree" in
quiqk pursuit, his heart in his throat "at the expectation
of seeing his neighbor the riext instamy thrpwn violently
against the bristling timbers.
At a safe distance irom the pile,, however, the bicycle?
came to a stand..' Miss Tillie's foot touched the ground
and she dismounted.' . - rx-
' t Her bonnet, which had been hanging down her back
by its strings, had fallen to the ground,.-and her veil
,'hung limply about her heck. But she was not con
scious of this. , '
Aa Mr. Sill came running tip'shc bade him good
. morning so calmly that he became quite embarrassed.
It appeared as if his woodpile had been her chosen des
tination. 1 , ,
" Er ahem ffood-morninir! he saidscanninar one'-
half of the horizon intently. Then he regarded the,
other half and coughed again. " Beautiful morning! "
Another pause, with another cough to relieve it. She ,
had not replied. He wanted 10 be courteous. " Won't
you
come in? " he asked. .
iss Comstock gave her new short skirt a pull and :
Mis
moved behind her bicycle. ' '''-'
'Thank you. '.No; it is yes, I. think "I must be "
going," she said, and led the bicycle back over the
prostrate fenct and up the path to her woodshed door. ' '
'." She had no clear cohsciousness of what had hap
pened, but as soon as she went in she sought the look-
ing-glass. '- , .
" How I look! " she . exclaimed, regarding iier
dropped veil and blushing, i " How I must of looked! " .
And she turned to get the side view; ;.. .
- After this Miss Comstock avoided the lower end of '
the garden. Mr. Sill and Dan propped up the piece of
fence, but in the first high wind it went' down again, .
carrying several more lengths with it. The posts were
worthless, and it was clear that a new fence wa needed
between the two houses. ' " ; s ' "' '" ".V ;" I, '
-, Mr, Sill spent two oiIome evenings in composing a
note to his neighbor. After three weeks, during which '
no reply came, and the fence Jay flat on the ground,.Jie
spoke to Dan one morning: ; ",
"Miss Comstock ever say anything about a' little-si-''
erbusiness letter I sent her? I must V mailed .it ' : ,
three weeks ago." ' ' , "-!' .' -
"Mailed itF'aid Dan. . ' " "
x -h "Yes,
.."At the post-oflice?w
V "Yes.'
'Guess it's there yet then; Mr. Sill. ' We don't
.
,!, neither of us ever set to the cost-office."
. . , , , n . .
' - Well, you tell her there's a letter there fof her, will
..- fp , . ' ,
f : you. ' '. - ' - ; '. ' ' , r
"Yes, suh," assented Dan cheerfully. :'v : .
enrougn one oi
hit; 4ljTj lice), SUUUCIUjr lilDSCU MRU 1UOKCU Up. ,
' ' She won't let ma get it out," he said. f
VU,t'. i,,i ' ."
., ,nH,t ,.V
v ii vm w tu, 6 vu v yvav
' , ".Why hot? ". ':"; "'r:l i- - :
"Dun know." Dan pushed the saw again. TV !
" , Only two persons,- or possibly three, understood why
the foot of Miss Tillie Comstock never ' crossed the
. threshold of the post-office. ' ; , i
Thirty year before,' coming home one Friday nlght
-: 'from prayer meeting, Elmer Dagget he Wa not post- LjT
4 . master thenhad queezed her hand in the moonlight,
and asked if he might pay attention to her. -'And he
- in the moonlight had told him that he might. The
next Friday night .he walked home With Amelia Bacon,
- -: and they had never spoken to each -other since, - --7 1 -.
t The possible third person was Amelia Bacon, whom
he had married. ; If Miss Tillie could only have been
sure that he had never known. ' , . . . ' ,
On the morning after hi conversation with Dan Mr.
Sill walked over the fallen fence and, knocking at Miss
Comstock's kitchen door, gave her the first news that
their joint property wasJn disrepair.' V v -4-
Mis Tillie put on her pink lunbonnft and accont
. panied him down the gardeft walk., As she surveyed
' the gap and prostrate lengths, her face t6ok the color
of the sunbonnet. , . I
"It looks as if we should haf to hsve a hull new
. . fence" Mr. Sill said. . v ,v
. v ' " Can't can't it be fixed? ' his neighbor stammered.
. .Twouldn't really pay, Tou can see for yourself
the posts all along are pretty er decayed." Mfvill
gave one of them t kick with, his heavy-soled shoe.
J ," The 'question is now, what kind of a one we'd better
put up." ' - ' : -
J Mr. Sill politely deferred to his' neighbor,' and Miss
Tillie could not : decide. . She did not' want wire so
near the house in a thunder storm, Slats were so con
- venient for boy. Board were ugly, and shut off your
; view up the treet. -Pickets made the best-looking
fence, if you had the front of it youf way, but they were
.. expensive. - - ...'.. '"'-'"
"Reckon we'll have to. build ye a stun wall," said
- v . Dan,, who had drawn near, with his wheelbarrow and
rak'e. 4 ' . . ' : :
After several visits' at the back door of mornings,
: .Mr. Sill went one evening tosay,that, whatever fencer
.she might choose, he would be pleased to" have all the
posts on his side. , a i .i'
Miss Tillie treated hiin to a glass of home-made wine
-rand a plate of seed cakes, and the next time Mr. Sill
went over he wore cuffs. - "
. That was the following evening. . Miss Tillie had
but she could Uot be so selfish and unneighborly as to
" accept it. . . . " ,
" Not every post, Mr. Sill," she said But I, have
a plan. , Why can't we each have every oilier post? "
She put the question to the carpenter, when he came
the --next morning to make an estimate. ;;.!, ?,r
" If you want a Virginia snake, nia'ani,": he said. ,
It was while thejrs were discussing flat pickets.' or
square that Luther Sill went down town' and bought
a new hat and three neckties with glints of red in them
The days grew short, and the. sunsets took their au
tumn colorings.-. .The spice of drying leaves was in;,
the air. , There came a t morning when Mr. Sill told
Dan tha he might tear down the old fence and begin
cutting it up. . , " " ; ' "
"Fin'ly decided what she wants," has she?' asked ;
Dan. , '
5: Mr.' Sill vigorously pulled off a loose ribbon, .v , '
"We ain't "going to have any fence at all," he said.
"Going to throw it all into one big lot" He Jerked
off several pickets and sent them after the Strip 'of
ribbon. ."And, Dan, jrou an,cr me've got to work lively
on that heap of .timber over there. It's right in the
way. Going to put an ell on our house. The place
will look good with an ell." ,
- Dan's gaze rested for, a while on the pile of timbers, '.
then travelled slowly to the Sill house. :. t ,
"lit,.. ... .: t-n " -i
, IT u v 41 J e gum uwiu v.,,. ..t . i'l -
. "Ain't going to build on. Going to move On."; He
pointed across the marigolds and sage to the house.
" Going to pat that on rollers and move it-over and
join it on and 'put a sullar under it, before Ground - W
freezes. . ' i
,' .WiUi a 'dropped jaw, Dan regarded the Comstock I
house for another long period. At last be turned batk
. to Mr. Sill -
" What's 'goin' to. become o' her?" he asked slowly,
with a motion of his head over, his shoulder, There
was a chuckle in Mr; Sill's throat .y
;' "Oh, she's coming With the ell," he said. ":. . ,' ;
- Dan began slowly pulling off pickets. Gradually an
idea took form in his mind. ' A glimmer came in' his
eyes, and he wiped a smile off his lips with his sleeve.
Be you be you a-thinkin' of?" v ' '
; " I be," said Mr. SilL ' ; , '