Zelda Dameron
By
MEREDITH NICHOLSON
Coprrigkt, 1904, br Tk Bobb-Merrill Co.
CHAPTER II. (Continued.)
"Who's afraid?" she said, and laugh
ed again.
"I'll be back In a moment," he said,
and he went up stairs, returning pres
pntlv. carrying a small basket filled
with keys.
"These are yours, my daughter," he
saiii. and waved his hand with a little
touch of manner.
"Oh, so many!" She poured the keys
upon the table. There were half
hundred of them, of many kinds and
sizes; and they were all tagged with
little bits of ivory, on which their sev
eral uses were written clearly In ink.
"Your mother was very methodical
very painstaking "
He shook his head and turned o the
Are. as though to hide anw shor of
feeling.
Zelda was turning the keys over in
her hand, and she did not look at him,
A mist had come into her eyes. She
remembered the dark woman who had
been so gentle and patient with her
childhood. They used to walk togeth
en in the old pasture; and they carried
their books to a seat that had been
built under a great beech where her
mother read the quaint tales and old
ballads that were her delight. These
were the only happy memories she
had kept of her mother the times un
der the beech, with which her father
was not associated.
"I'm sure it's your time to go to bed,
father. You mustn't let me break in
on your ways." Zelda walked over to
him and put her hands on his shoul
ders. "I want to be very good to you
father; and I know we'll live here very
happily. You won't mind me much
when you get used to me!"
She touched his forehead with her
lips.
"Thank you, thank you" and there
was a helpless note in his voice.
She turned away from him quickly,
restored the keys to the basket and
ran with It to her room.
The next morning she was down to
his 7 o'clock breakfast in the cold, for
bidding dining-room. She was very
gay and made him talk a great deal to
her. He had been up for an hour at
work in the barn, where he cared for
his own horse. He carried the morn
ing newspaper to the table, as he had
done for years.
"This will never do, father! You
must talk to me and help me to learn
. the American breakfast habit I'll be
lonesome if you read at the table."
His thoughts seemed far away; he
had long been out of practice in the
amenities and graces, and the morning
had brought him once more face to
lace with this change in his life. The
place across the table had been empfy
for so many years that he resented the
appearance there of this slender dark
;girl, pouring his coffee with an ease :
kat puzzled and even touched him.
There had been another girl like her, ,
in the long ago, and this was her
child. The resemblance between moth
er and daughter was so marked that
he grew uneasy as he pondered it; he
made a pretense of holding up his
newspaper to shut out the girl, and
when he dropped it Zelda was waiting
for him, her elbows on the table, her
hands clasped under her chin.
"Oh, pardon me!" he exclaimed, ris
ing hastily.
As she helped him Into his overcoat
her hand touched a hammer he car
ried in his pocket with a miscellaneous
assortment of nails, for use in repair
ing the small properties he owned In
many parts of town, and she drew the
implement forth and Inspected it at
Mrm'n length.
wviv farher! What on earth Is
this?"
The nails jingled, and she made a
dive Into the pocket and drew forth a
handful.
"Whv. vou've forgotten to empty
vour Dockets! You mustn't go about
with this hardware in your clothes.'
n roarhefl for the things, a little
nVin mef -A cedl V.
"Vnn rlnn't understand. I need them
n make trifling repairs, you know.
He smiled, and she put the things back
into his pockets, still laughing at mm.
"I must go about with you. I can
r.rrv th hammer. Maybe you will let
me drive a nail once In a while, If I
an good."
He drew out a faded silk handker
chief and began twisting It about his
throat but Zelda took it from him and
oii.Qtofi it carefully under his coat
collar; and she brushed his old brown
riorhv hat with a whisk broom that
lav on the hall table.
He suffered her ministrations with
his Datient smile. Into which he tried
to throw something of a look of pride
and when she had set the hat square
ly on his head, she drew back and re
garded him critically and then kissed
him on the cheek.
"Vm., i,e sure to come home to
luncheon always. You didn't come
yesterday and it was lonely. I must
get Polly to show me the way to the
procery. I don't intend to let her be
the boss. I'm sure she's been abusing
you all these years."
"Oh, In time you will come to !t
Polly will do very well, and you
oughtn't to be bothered with such
things. I I usually buy the groceries
myself. One of my tenants is a gro
cer and and he does a little better
for me!"
"Oh, to be sure. You must do It In
your own way, father." There was a
note of disappointment In her voice,
und he would have liked to concede
something to her, but he did not know
how.
She roamed idly about the house,
poing finally to the kitchen, where the
colored woman told her that orders
for the remaining meals of the day
had been given by her father. Polly
viewed Zelda with admiration, but she
(id not ask advice, and Zenda contin
ued her wanderings, going finally to
the attic with the key-basket
The place was pitch dark when ahe
threw open the door, and is there wa
ve wa of lighting It. ah went down
and brought several old candlesticks
from the parlor. The attic was a great
!ow room extending over the whole
of the house. It was unplastered. Box
es and barrels abounded. Bunches of
herbs, long dried, and garden tools
hung here and there; In e. corner an
old saddle was suspended by one stir
rup. Pieces of furniture covered with
cloths were distributed under the
eaves, their draperies heavy with dust.
and the light of the candles gave them
a spectral appearance.
There were several trunks of her
mother's clothing and Zelda peered In
to these bravely. Her mother had ar
ranged them thus shortly before her
death. The girl was touched by their
nice order; they were folded many
times In tissue paper and were sweet
with lavender. One flat packet had
been crowded Into the top, and the lid
had crushed it, so that the paper
wrapping had fallen aside. It held a
small address book, bound in red leath
er; and Zelda ran the leaves through
her fingers, noting the names of per
sons who were her mother's friends.
"Margaret Dameron" was written on
one of the fly leaves. The book had
been Intended as a register of visits,
begun at the threshold of her married
life; but, from appearances, It had
been abandoned soon as an address
book. At the back, where the ink was
fresher and of a different kind, some
of the pages were filled. The girl car
ried the book close to the shrouded
table where her candles stood and
opened It
"This Is to you, Julia or Rodney.
They have told me to-day that I am
going to die; but I have known it for
long time. The end is nearer than
they think it is; and I am going to set
down here an appeal that I can not
bring myself to make to .either of you
directly. It Is about Zelda. I think
she will be like us. God grant it may
be so. I know what I hope her future
may be; but I dare not plan it. My
own you know tnat l planned my
own. Save her, as you tried
to save me from myself, if it should
be necessary. She Is very dear and
gentle; but she has our pride. I can
see It growing day by day. They say
that we Merriams are hard and proud;
but she will never be hard. Do for
er what you would have done for me.
Do not let him kill the sweetness and
gentleness in her. Keep her away
from him if you can; but do not let
her know what I have suffered from
him. I have arranged for him to cars
for the property I have to leave her,
so that she may never feel that I did
not trust him. He will surely guard
hat belongs to her safely.
Perhaps I was unjust to him; it may
have been my fault; but if she can re
spect or love him I wish it to be so."
Zelda read on. There were only a
few pages of this appeal, but the
words sank into her consciousness
with the weight of lead. She waa to
be saved from her father, if need be,
by her aunt and uncle; but she must
not know what this dead woman, her
mother, had suffered at his hands.
There was the heart ache of years in
the lines; they had not been written to
her, but fate had brought them under
her eyes. She closed the book, clasp
ing It in her hands, and stared into the
dark area beyond the candlelight. Her
mind was busily reconstructing the Ufa
of her mother, of whom she knew so
ittle. The book that she held, with
its ' pitiful plea for her own security
and happiness, opened a new world ro
her; her mother's words brought the
past before her vividly and sent her
thoughts Into the future with a fierce
haste of transition.
This was her home-coming and this
was home! She forgot for the moment
that she had friends anywhere; she
felt herself a stranger in her native
city, in the house where she was born.
Her heart went out to her mother.
across a distance that was vaster than
any gulf of time, for there was added
the greater void that sympathy and
love would have filled if mother and
child might have touched hands to
day. Her fingers came upon the broken
wrapper that had fallen from the lit
tle book. She lifted it to the light and
read: .
-"Private. For brother Rodney
sister Julia."
or
CHAPTER III.
The front door-bell rang it was sin
old-fashioned contrivance, on a wire,
and pealed censoriously and Zelda
thrust the book back Into the trunk
and ran to the second-floor landing to
listen. Polly, the colored maid-of-all-work,
admitted Mrs. Forrest warily.
"Good morning, Aunt Julia! Wel
come to your ancestral home! Come
on up! zelda called trom the top or
the stairs.
"What on earth are you doing. Zee?"
demanded Mrs. Forrest, gathering up
her skirts and beginning the ascent
"I'm cleaning house a little."
"My dear Zee, this will never do!"
And Mrs. Forrest, having reached the
second floor, surveyed her niece with
disapproval.
"Do you mean the clothes?" asked
Zelda, putting her hand to her turban.
"I flattered myself that I looked rath
er well. I'm exploring the garret I'm
not really doing anything but poKe
about; and it's great fun, raking In
the dust of the past a very remote
past too!"
"This la a horrible hole. Zee. You
must go right down. Mrs. Forrest
was staring about frownlngly.
A trunk stood within the arc of the
candle's flame. It was filled with old
papers and letters, and Zelda flung
up the lid to pique her aunt's curiosity.
"You must burn all these old things.
Your grandfather never destroyed any
thing, anj your mother kept all he left
Old letters ought never to be kept;
they're dangerous. I'm about settled
myself. X came In to see how you're
getting oo. Zee."
I'm going to see what I can do with
tbU old furniture.
"Tou'd better buy what you need
new. I never had any patience with
this Idea of gathering up, old rubbish
Just because it's old. And then there's
the microbe theory; It sounds reason
able and there's probably a good deal
in It"
"Hbrrors! The garret's probably
full. Perhaps there are some in those
love-letters." Zelda laughed; her
mirth whs seemingly spontaneous, and
bubbled up irrelevantly.
"If there's anything of mine up here,
for heaven's snke burn it right away.
And now clean yourself up and come
out with mo. You must show yourself
or people won't know you're In town.
And come home to luncheon with me"
afterward."
"I'd like to, Aunt Julia, but I really
mustn t. Father comes home to lunch
eon.
"Oh, he does, does he? Well, he has
had a good many meals alone and the
shock wouldn't kill him."
"He's perfectly splendid! He's just
as kind and thoughtful as can be. I
didn't know that anybody's father
could be so nice."
Mrs. Forrest rose and swept the gar
ret disapprovingly with her lorgnette;
and there may have been an excess of
disapproval that was meant for some
thing else. Julia Forrest was a worn
an wunuui sentiment, ror tnere are
such in the world. The lumber-room
did not Interest her, and she was anx
ious to get out Into the sunlight. She
was too Indolent by nature to have
much curiosity: she was not a woman
who spent all her rainy days porina
over lavender-scented trifles and weep
Ing over old letters. She was born in
this old house, and she had played as
a girl In the wooded pasture that once
lay east of It. Her father's fields were
now forty-foot lots, through which
streets had been cut, and the houses
that had been built up thickly all
about were of a formal urban type.
The Merriam homestead was. to Julia
Forrest merely an old, shabby and un
comfortable house, whose plumbing
was doubtless highly unsanitary. She
had been married there; her father
and mother had died there; but the
place meant nothing to her beyond the
fact that it was now her niece's home,
It occurred to her that she ought to
see Zelda's room, to be sure' the girl
was comfortable; but Zelda did not In
vite her in when they reached the sec
ond floor.
The letters were beautiful; thay
wrote lovely letters in those days,1
Zelda persisted ironically: "I wish I
could have some half as nice."
"Do get your things, Zee; It's fine
outdoors and the outing will do you
good."
"I'm very sorry, but I can't go this
morning. I have a lot to do. I'll be
freer after a little.
'You're foolish, very foolish. When
shall I see you, then?"
Til be along late in the afternoon
some time."
"And then stop to dinner "
"Very sorry; but father will expect
me. It doesn t seem quite kind to for
sake him when he's so nice to me."
"I suppose not, but bring him along.
We're all an unsociable lot They aay
the Marriams and their connections
are queer I don't like the word. Your
uncle and I want you to raise the fal
len reputation of the family. Do be
conventional, whatever you do."
Oh, I shall be that commonplace
even.
Don't come down in those clothes!
Mrs. Forrest was descending the stairs.
"All right, Aunt Julia. Good-by!"
When the front door had closed, Zel
da sat down on the stairs and laughed
oftly to herself.
"Oh, Polly," she called.
The black woman shuffled slowly in
to the hall and looked up gravely at
the girl.
"Polly, I wish to see the footman
the moment he returns to the house.
And the butler's work Is very unsatis
factory; I shall have to let him go.
And please say to the cook that thero
will be pie for dinner until further no
tice apple-pie with cheese. And the
peasants they will be received by My
Majesty on the lawn at 5 as usual, and
largess will be distributed. Will you
execute these commissions at once,
Polly? Stand not on the order of your
going " She laughed down at the
amazed colored woman and then ran
swiftly up stairs.
She did not pause uniil she reached
the candle-lighted table in the garret
and knelt before It, with her face
against her mother's little book, and
sobbed as though her heart would
break.
(To be continued.)
Loomta' Face AKnIn.
Hank Johnson had long enjoyed thb
distinction of being the homeliest
man in Canyonville, so it was some
what of a shock to him when Steve
Billings came Into the Tourist's Re
treat and announced: "Boys, there's
a homelier man than Hank over at the
depot. Feller by the name of Charles
Battel Loomis that gives lectures."
Without a word Hank started across
the road and wa3 gone some time.
"Waal," Steve said when Hank re
turned, "d'ye give up?"
"Heck!" Hank replied with supreme
disgust. "He's a professional." Suc
cess Magazine.
Knoiiith an Good ai a Fenat.
What real good does an addition to
a fortune already sufficient procure?
Not any. Could the great man by
having his fortune Increased increase
also his appetite, then precedence
n:ight be attended with real amuse
ment. Goldsmith.
An Honext Hore Trade.
"I'll have you arrested for making
false representations. I bought that
horse of you only because you told
me he had a record."
"Very true, but the record is a bad
one. You didn't ask me what kind
of a recerd he had."
George Reucker, who worked his
way to America as a coal shifter and
accumulated a large fortune In the ho
tel business in Brooklyn, died at his
beautiful villa, in his native place,
Bronkensen, Germany.
Every failure teaches a can aonv
thing. If he will learn. Charles. Dick-
Handy Pea-Sheller.
A little machine that will be highly
appreciated in the kitchen Is the pea
sheller invented by a Utah man. This
handy little de
vice will shell a
peck of peas In
the time It would
take the cook to
shell a dozen by
hand. It con
sists of a hop-ner-llkft
arrantre-
merit plnmnpH tfl
ik the table by an
savsb or time. iron upright
Above the hopper a pair of roller bear
ings studded with blunt, pyramldial
teeth are In close relation. A handle
turns these rollers, while the mouth
of the hopper opens over the table,
where a dish can be placed beneath It.
The pods are inserted between the
rollers end foremost As the rollers
are turned the teeth engage the differ
ent sheila of the pods and rip them
open, allowing the peas to roll down
Into the bowl. The shells are then
tossed out the other side of the
'wringer." Of course, the two rollers
are not close enough together to crush
the peas, but just close enough to en
gage the pods.
Adjustable step for Ladder.
House painting is very easily done
by painters having their own scaffolds.
but a person desiring to do his own
work will fcave only a ladder to take
place of a scaffold. To paint and stand
on the rungs of a ladder all day will
tire one's feet. As the writer had to
do some painting and a ladder was
the only thing obtainable to climb up
on, a flat detachable step was made to
put upon the rungs of the ladder to
stand on the same as a scaffold. The
step can be adjusted to any part of
the ladder for the painter to stand
upon and paint a surface within easy
reach. Two Irons are bent V-shaped,
THE ADJUSTABLE STEP.
as illustrated, each end having a half
circle to fit over the rungs of the lad
der. Two holes are drilled in the
top angle in which to put bolts for
fastening the step. The step can be
quickly changed from, one position to
another. A person will feel as safe
m the step as if he were on a stag
ng. Popular Mechanics.
SIllo Good for Dairy.
Mllo can take the place of corn in
feeding dairy cows, and 111 yield an
average of twice as much grain an
acre as corn in dry regions. In seasons
so dry that corn will be a total failure
mllo will usually yield fifteen bushels
of grain or more an acre.
The heads of milo "may be snapped
from the stalks and fed to cows giv
ing milk. This is an economical way
to feed this grain, as a cow has to
chew a head a considerable time be
fore she is satisfied to swallow it, and
the more she chews it the better li
will digest.
The whole heads may be ground
without threshing, and the small
stems that hold the seeds form, when
ground, a good, material for diluting
the meal and making It more easily
digested.
The threshed grain may be ground
before feeding. It does not pay to
feed unground threshed grain, as the
cow chews the whole grain But little
before swallowing It, and a large pro
portion passes Into the mauure undi
gested. Green Food for Cblcka.
Growing chicks demand green food,
and by all means give them plenty of
grass range If you have It; if not,
supply them with an equivalent, such
as lettuce, cabbage, weeds, clover, al
falfa; they relish it and will thrive
on It. Provide chicks with shade and
where a cool breeze can fan them In
warm weather. This should be sup
plied, even If- a temporary board roof
is the only thing that can be fur
nished. Til las of Peach.
No tree Is more sensitive to tillage
than Is the peach. Probably mora
failures In peach growing, are due to
neglect In tillage than to any other
one cause. The moat diverse views
are held by different growers. One
good grower will declare that the or
chard should be tilled early in the
season, and his neighbor will maintain
that early Ullage will andanger the
ro.
A Queatloa of Koonorar. ,
It Is natural for every man to want
to get the best possible when he goes
in to bring out some new farm ma
chine. This often brings a fellow to
grief, however, since the desire to
spend as little money as possible
sometimes causes the purchaser to
take the cheap machine. If confront
ed with a proposition to take a sulky
plow, for Instance, that will last Ave
years for $25, or. another that will
last ten years for $35, which one
would you take? Which one would it
pay you to take? This is about the
sum and substance of buying a cheap
farm implements It may not seem
that way In the warehouse when
each tool looks gaudy with paint, the
cheaper one looking even the more
gaudy but In actual work, in the
rough and tumble of the ranch, this
Is about the way It always, turns out.
Denver Field and Farm.
Deep Setting; of SIKk.
The best results In keeping milk
sweet and maintaining the highest
quality of cream are obtained by set
ting the cans in cold water. The box
as shown should be near to the pump
and ice house.
The Averuijre Farmer.
Farms in the United States pro
duced $8,760,000,000 in 1909. But did
the farmer get his share of It? We
read a whole lot about the American
farmer being king and we are told
of the farmers sporting automobiles
and sending their children "to college
or to Europe if they have been given
the college course, but it is the one
best bet that the average farmer Is
no plutocrat. The farmer Is consid
ered lucky if he can keep the interest
paid up on the mortgage, and If final
ly, after years of hard labor, he owns
his place clear of all indebtedness he
is considered well off. The American
farmer is a long way from being the
real ruler of the country. Field and
Farm.
What Becomes of the Corn.
People often wonder, particularly
those who have traveled for hundreds
of miles through the corn belt, what
becomes of corn which Is grown every
year. In the year 1908, when the to
tal crop was 2,666,000,000 bushels,
241,000,000 bushels were consumed In
flour and grist mill products, 8,000,000
bushels in the manufacture of starch,
9,000,000 bushels for malt liquors, 17,
000,000 bushels In the production of
distilled liquors, 40,000,000 bushels for
glucose, 190,000,000 bushels for export
and 13,000,000 bushels for seed, mak
ing a total of 518,000,000 bushels, or
19.3 per cent of the entire crop. The
remaining 80.7 per cent, or 2,118,
000,000 bushels, seems to have been
used almost entirely for feeding.
Death Amonff Chicks,
The trouble which causes the deatt
of many young chicks is commonly
known as white diarrhea. Different
breeders have different theories as to
the cause of this trouble, among them
being a lack of vitality of breeding
stock, improper feeding and poor ven
tilation. Lack of sunlight and Imper
fect sanitation cause the death of
many chicks. The diet should contain
a sufficient quantity of animal food
and the chicks fed often and not al
lowed to get so hungry that they will
devour large quantities at times and
then fast for long intervals. South
Dakota Farmer.
Stable Ventilator.
BEGULATES ITSELF.
This ventilator is always in work
ing order as the hinged doors are kept
closed on the windward side and at
the same time the connecting board
presses open the door on the opposite
side. The cord and pulley enable the
connecting board to be lifted to the
dotted line when both doors will re
main closed.
Number of ' Plara Per Sow.
The number of pigs a sow raises Is
something worth taking into account
if she is to be kept over for another
breeding season; it is equally Impor
tant to know something about her
motherly Instincts when young sows
are to be selected from her litter for
the breeding herd. For this reason
every man should keep some record
of the size of the litters his sows
raise. Farmers' Tribune.
New llarreatlnar Machine.
A new harvesting machine has boen
Introduced In Nebraska. The harvester
Is propelled by its own power and If
followed by a truck-carrying gasoline
engine, which operates the harvesting
mechanism of the machine. This is
need mainly in wet field, where the
power of the harvester Is not sufficient
to make headway
J ...Tr'--Ji
ATCHISOST GLOBE SIGHTS.
Tou can account for very few mar
riages. Every time any big bill Is presentod
to you, It looks like robbery.
If a woman can get her first man,
she needn't worry about her second,
or third.
"My duty," said an unhappy mar
ried woman to-day, "la anything HH
objects to."
There is plenty of cooking as good
as "mother's," but very few appetites
like a boy's.
We have observed that there la It
tie complaint about the high prices
of beer and cigars.
The women pick at men and at
goods offered at special sale, In tho
same Industrious way.
You are always at a disadvantage In
arguing with a man who doesn't know
what he la talking about
Have yon ever noticed how sudden
ly a useful man can die, and how long
worthless man holds out?
A book agent speaks as highly of
the book he sells as a reformer speaks
of the reform he represents.
Scrapping in families Is objection- ,
able, but It Is not so bad as when kin
praise each other too much.
When you hear a smart saying by
a child, it is a sign me cnuu u
smart mother, and that she made It
up
A man and woman going on a wed
ding trip try hard not to look happy,
and on their return try Just as hard
to look happy.
FASHION HINTS
Ecru linen combined with a d irk ti'ne
dotted linen, wtre verv effectively u id
;n this summery little dress. The lii.i rt
was of the handkerchief sort, a fW u n
terial being necessary for the gathered
skirt
p. BESTBAlmraa hawt.
Its Action Followed lr a Voice That
Warned.
"Patrick H. McCarren once told me
of a funny incident that happened in
Rome," said a Brooklyn lawyer. "Mc
Carren said that on his first visit to
Rome, after he had seen the Coliseum
and the Forum, be visited the Ara
Coe.ll Church, on the left of the Cap!
tollne Hill. He climbed the grand
stairway leading to the church, the
finest open air stairway in the world.
He pushed back 'the heavy leather cur
tain, and, entering, he found a service
In progress. So he put his hat on the
marble floor at his side and took a
seat
"After ten minutes or so he decided
he would go and reached down for his
hat. But a restraining hand was laid
on his, and he desisted. He knew, of
course, that some churches don't like
people to leave in the midst of a serv
ice. "Ten or fifteen minutes more passed.
The service still continued. Senator
McCarren got Impatient and again
reached for his hat. But again the
unseen hand restrained him from the
rear.
"A little later, however, the senator
quite lost patience. This was, he told
himself an important service, of
course. Nevertheless, he did not pro
pone to miss his luncheon, and It would
harm no one if he slipped out quietly.
"So a third time he reached for his
hat, and the Invisible hand a third
time detained him. He persevered,
however. Th silent hand pushed and
his silent hand pushed against It. But
Just as he was conquering In the strug
gle a voice said in good American:
"Cheese It, boss; that's my hat
you're taking."
Ample Proof. '
Lottie Is your young minister, 8
ery, very fascinating?
Hattie Fascinating! Why, lots of
girls in our church have married men
they hated, Just to get one kiss from
'he rector after the ceremony. Puck.
Postponed.
Dolly Why aren't you at the cook
log school?
Polly Teacher's laid np with dj
pepila. Cleveland Leader.