Clover

s uncomfortable to her. She feared he was feeling hurt or "huffy," and would show it in his manner; an

al. After all, she reflected, it has only been a boyish imp

tment and pain. His life had been a lonely one in Colorado; he could not afford to quarrel with his favorite cousin, and with him, as with other lovers, there may have been, besides, some lurking hope that she might yet change

ose. The cold begins early at that elevation, and light frosts

She had grown very fond of the place; but Phil was perfectly hi

roved to be in two small back rooms. An irruption of Eastern invalids had filled the house to overflowing, and new faces met them at every turn. Two or three of the last summer's inmates had di

I can't realize that they're still in the middle of peaches at home. Ellen always spices a great-They're better than preserves; and as for the canned ones, why, peaches and water is what I call them. Well-my dear-" (Distance lends enchantment, and Clover had become "My dear" again.) "I'm glad I

, and Clover kissed the old lady as she thanked her, and they parted good

say, so as not to puzzle and worry people when I grow old, by being vague and helpless and fussy," she reflected. "I suppos

disposed to consider the presence of so many strangers as a personal wrong. Clover felt that it was not a good atmosphere for him, and anxiously revolved in her mind what was best to do. The Shoshone

l on Alice Blanchard, when her attention was attracted to a small, shut-up house, on which was a sign: "No. 13. To Let,

or three steps led to a little piazza. She seated herself on the top

wl over her head came hastily down a narro

want the ke

ver, surprised; "of th

, and I could give it to anybody who wished to look at the place. You're the first th

it Mr. Beloit who has th

sn't took. Poor soul! she was anxious enough about it; and it all had to be done on a sudden, and

over, making room on the ste

l nice, too, and slicked up considerable. Mis Starkey said, said she, 'I don't want to spend no more money on it than I can help, but Mr. Starkey must be made comfortable,' says she, them was her very words. He used to set out on this

s wife with a young baby, and both was very low. And between one and the other she was pretty near out of her wits. We packed her up as quick as we could, and he was sent off by express; and she says to me, 'Mis Kenny, you see how 't is. I've got this house on my hands till May. There's no time to see to anything, and I've got n

e house?" said Clover, in whose mind a

he said she'd throw the furniture in for the

and live on the same sum, after deducting the rent, and perhaps get this good-natured-looking woman to come in for

g look at Mrs. Kenny, who was a faded, wiry, but withal kindly-looking person, shrewd and clean,-a Nort

t was all, save a little woodshed. Everything was bare and scanty and rather particularly ugly. The sitting-room had a frightful paper of mingled mustard and molasses tint, and a matted floor; but there was a good-sized open fireplace for the burning of wood, in which two bricks did duty for

opened various cupboards, and pointed admiringly to the glass and china, the kitchen t

for the clothes,-I never see a nicer. Mis Starkey had that heater in the dining-room set the very week before she went away.

the practical Clover; "and doe

,-as nice a brown as ever you'd want; and the chimney don't smoke a

ccasional assistance as Clover might require. She was a widow, it seemed, with one son, who, being employed on the railroad, only came home for the nights. She was glad of a regular engagement, and proved

sisted, however, that it was all fair, and that she got lots of fun out of it too, and didn't mind the trouble. The house was so absurdly small that it seemed to strike every one as a go

articles of clear necessity,-extra blankets, a bedside carpet for Phil's room, and a chafing-dish over which she could prepare little impromptu dishes, and so save fuel and fatigue. She allowed herself some cheap Madras curtains for the parlor, and a few yards of deep-red flannel to cover sundry shelves and corner brackets which Ge

shelf above the narrow mantel-shelf,-a pair of arms stole round her waist, and a cheek which had a sweet familiarity about it was pressed against hers. She turned,

g and sobbing all at once in her happy excitement. "

ee days' notice, and as soon as Ned sailed, Polly and I made haste to follow. There would have been

rprise! But when did you

we were in such a hurry to get to you. We went to Mrs. Marsh's and found Phil, who

e right! Dear, dear Katy, I feel as if home had just arrived by train. And Polly, too! You all look so

e overtures, and would gladly have turned her short visit into a continuous fête, she persisted in keeping the main part of her time free. She must see a little of St. Helen's, she

r to her own disgust, had been made to go with Polly and Amy to Denver while Katy stayed behind, lo! on her return, a trans

for a few months, and the other would have

eally and truly it hardly cost anything. It was a remnant reduced to ten cents a roll,-the whole thing was less than four dollars. You can call it your Christmas

It was so funny to hear K

st like you, and though I scold I am perfectly delighted. I did hate that paper wi

id striped Navajo blanket as a portière to keep off draughts from the entry. Katy had set herself up in California blankets while they were in San Francisco, and she now insisted on leaving a pair behind, and loaning Clover besides

lf-reliance which had grown upon her, by her bright ways and the capacity and judgment which all

People are quite cracked about her out here. I don't think you'll ever get her back at the East again,

do you

to say another word. Clover, when questioned, "could not imagine what Mrs. Hope meant;" and Katy had to go away

t it for Cecy," she explained. "But as you have none I'll give it to you

s not much to eat, and things were still a little unsettled; but Clover scrambled some eggs on her little blazer for them, the newly-lit fire burned cheerfully, and a good de

, teeny-weeny kitchen and a stove to boil things on. Mamma

red of playing with

know what to do. You oughtn't to say such things, Mamma; she might hear you, too, and have her feelings hurt. And please do

e into play now. The photographs were pinned on the wall, the few books and ornaments took their places on the extemporized shelves and on the table, which, thanks to Mrs. Hope, was no longer bare, but hidden by a big square of red canton flannel. There wa

angers. Everything tasted delicious; all the arrangements pleased him; n

he said one night rather suddenly,

le in Phil's line that

t made you say

t you're just as good as she is. [This Clover justly considered a tremendous co

ense of gladness at her heart. "How

eplied Phil. "There are no flies on you, he considers. I asked him once if he

ential. And what is that about flies? Phil

; but it's an awfully

t does i

ans,-that there's no nonsense sticking out all over

w. But Mr. Templestowe never

mitted Phil; "but t

oo few, and Clover roused with a shiver to think that presently it would be her duty to get up and start the fires so that Phil might find a warm house when he came downstairs. Then, before she knew it, fires would seem oppressive; first one window and then another would be thrown up, and Phil would be sitting on the piazza in the balmy su

he use of the chafing-dish. Dinners were more difficult, till she hit on the happy idea of having Mrs. Kenny roast a big piece of beef or mutton, or a pair of fowls every Monday. These pièces de résistance in their different stages of hot, cold, and warmed over, carried them well along through the week, and, supplemented with an occasional chop or steak, served very well. Fairly good soups could be bought in tins, w

r over them. There was no silver to care for, no delicate glass or valuable china; the very simplicity of apparatus made the house an easy one to keep. Clover was kept busy, for simplify as you will, providing for the daily needs of two persons does ta

ay was brightly kept,-from the home letters by the early mail to the grand merry-making and dance with which it wound up. Everybody had some little present for everybody else. Mrs. Wade sent Clover a tall india-rubber plan

It was a prosaic gift, being a wagon-load of pi?on wood for the fire; but the gnarled, oddly twisted sticks were heaped high with pine b

other people. He never says fine flourishing things like Thurber Wade, or abrupt, rather rude things like Clarence, or inconsiderate things like Phil, or satirical

anuary, the High Valley partners deserted their duties and came in for a visit to the Hopes. All sorts of s

ained, "it would be such fun to have you come. I can't give you anything to eat to speak of, because

ronounced each in its way to be absolute perfection. Clarence and Phil kindly volunteered to "shunt the dishes" into the kitchen after the repast was concluded; and they gathered round the fire to play "twenty questions" and "stage-coach," and all manner of what Clover called "lead-pencil games,"-"crambo" and "criticism" and "anagrams" and "consequences." There was immense laughter over some of these, as, for instance, when Dr. Hope was reported as having met Mrs. Watson in the North Cheyenne Cany

used these phenomena, though some people may have suspected. Later it was announced that he was in Chicago and very attentive to a pretty Miss Somebody whose father had made a great deal of money in Standard oil. Poppy arched her brows and made great amused eyes at C

, and every day the sun grew more warm and beautiful. Phil seemed perfectly well and sound now; their occupancy of No. 13 was drawing to a close; and Clover, as she ref