A Spinner in the Sun

er

o the yellow mongrel, "we'

observed his master, in affectionate reproof; "'t is fit

iny stove which warmed his shop, and the tea-kettle hummed cheerily. All about him was the atmosph

judged him to be well past forty, yet fully to have retained his youth. His round, rosy mouth w

never bothered with fixtures and showcases. Chairs, drygoods boxes

tionery, hooks and eyes, elastic, shoe laces, sewing silk, darning cotton, pins, skirt binding, and a few small frivolities in the way of neckwear, veils, and belts-these formed Piper Tom's stock in trade. By dint of close p

op like ours, which we didn't mean to do. It's for this that we were making a new set of price tags all day of yesterday, which happened to b

ces, thinking we were going to sell cheaper than she. 'T is a hard world fo

erous share would be given him outside. While the dog ate, his master put the shop i

ter went gypsying. With a ragged, well-worn book in one pocket, a parcel of bread and cheese in another, and his flute slung over his shoulder, th

t eagerly, indicating, by many leaps and barks, that

e'll not be going far. Have you forgotten that 't was

fore the Piper, his stubb

face and has never had the courage to turn away. She was walking in the woods, trying to find the

nderness. "She must be very beautiful, I'm thinking, Laddie;

ulder he bore a scythe and under the other arm was a spade. He entered Miss Evelina's gate

and she went to the window, veiled. At first she was frightened when she

wn, the little yellow dog ran about busily, and the Pi

which to pay him for clearing out her garden, and he would undoubtedly expect payment. She m

did not see her until she was very near him, then, st

he noted that the tip of his red feather brushed the g

d Evelina, "that I came. You

ean that! Would you have it all weeds?

elina, almost in a whis

bursts of seemingly uncalled-for merriment, "and probably I'm the only man in these pa

e had misjudged him and she di

place wants cleaning, for 't is a long time since any one cared enough for it to dig. I wa

iss Evelina, slowly. "If y

of his hand, and she went back into t

'm thinking there's weeds in her life, too, that it's our business to take out. At any rate, we'll begin here and do this first. One step at a

fell like magic before his strong, sure strokes. He carried out armful after armful of rubbish and made a small

on her doorstep, laden with warm, wholesome food. Since that first day, she had made no attempt to see Miss Evelina

Hitherto, she had not cared to eat and scarcely knew what she was eating. Now she had learned to discrimi

ottle, securely corked. At eight, at one, and at six, Miss Hitty's tray was left at her back door-there had not been the variation of a minute since the firs

the world was not wholly a place of grief and tears. Out there among the weeds a man

nse undergrowth with yet more vigour. The little yellow mongrel capered joyfully and unceasingly, affecting to hide amidst the mass of

knew also that the dog liked it, even if he did not understand. She observed that the dog was not beautiful-could

s bread and cheese, while the dog nibbled at his bone. From behind a shutter in an upper room

, and drank copiously of the cool, clear water fr

e red feather that bobbed rakishly in his hat. Once he disappeared, leaving the dog to keep a reluctant guard over th

-twenty years. She contemplated anew the willing service of Miss Mehitable, who asked nothing of her except the privilege o

ent. She did not feel friendly toward him, yet she could not turn wholly aside. There had been something strangely alluring in

orseless pain which cut at her heart like a knife. Miss Evelina thought she was familiar with kniv

dead happiness,-had not stabbed so deeply or so surely. She saw herself first on one peak and then on another, a valley of humiliation and suffering between which it had taken twenty-five years to cross. F

e road where she had been splashed with the mud from Anthony Dexter's carriage wheels. The man with the red feather in his

lowed it, the blurred agony of remembrance when she had come back to the empty house, then the sharp, clean-cut stroke w

gh-hew them how we may.'" Where had she heard that before? She r

oken and written thoughts? Was she always to see his face as she had seen it last, his great love for her shining in his eyes for all the world t

been driven back to the place of her crucifixion, to stand veiled in

ce on the other side of the house was, as yet, untouched, and the trees and shrubbery all needed trimming.

e splendid poppies had once grown. Pausing in his whistling, the Piper stooped and picked up some small object. Miss Evel

nting dog's. Then he glanced quickly toward the house where Miss Eve

p in the rubbish. Could Miss Evelina have seen his face, she would have marvelled a

master's mood, the dog was quiet, and merely nosed about among the rubbish. By a flash of intuition, Miss

ught nor avoided her veiled face. All the sorrow and the secret suffering wo

l the rubbish in the garden was old, except the empty laudanum bottle. The label was still legi

he Piper roused himself and gathered up his tools. He carried them to a shed at the back of the h

"we'll be going. 'T i

nd. They went into the shop, the door of which was still propped open. The Piper built a fir

dog sat down, too, pressing hard against him. The Piper took the dog

addie," he sighed, at length,