The Argosy, Vol. 61, No. 4 — page 90: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

648 THE ARGOSY. “Why, John, you aren’t going out without a shave, and without a collar, are you?” she cried. ‘You look per- fectly disreputable.” ‘“ Bertha, you surprise me!” he cried. “T’m going just as I am. There’s no time to be lost.” She seemed to understand, and there was a glad light in her eyes. Hicks dashed down-stairs and picked his way across the damaged lawn. Just past the ruined spite fence he met Pierce running toward him. ““T want to—” Hicks caught himself abruptly. He had had his mind so full of apol- ogy since learning of Pete’s part in the ax-handle incident that he had not real- ized how it would seem really to apol- ogize to Pierce. : Pierce stopped at the same moment, and the fire went out of both of their eyes. Hicks looked around in confusion. They stood only two feet apart, and neither had spoken the words on his mind. Suddenly MHicks noticed that Pierce’s dead pear-tree had been blown’ down by the storm. A sneaking smile crept into his face in spite of himself. He was really glad to see the pear-tree down. Looking up suddenly, he caught Pierce’s eye. ‘““T see your blamed tree is down at last,” he broke out, from sudden im- pulse, in a not unfriendly manner. — “Yes,” answered the other, rather too eagerly it seemed; “and I notice that the rain has washed the dirt from under the bricks I put under your blamed porch, and it has settled again.”’ Hicks turned to his porch and gasped in astonishment. He stood thinking—how was he ever . going to fix that thing again without Pierce’s help? Somehow, at the thought, he became even more forgiving and con- scientious. He hadn’t done the right thing to keep the quarrel inflamed. ‘‘T suppose you’ve heard about Pete’s breaking the—”’ “Yes,” answered Pierce with some hesitation ; “‘ I just started over to—” “ Apologize for any doubts or— So did I, Dick!” cried Hicks in a-decidedly happy mood. 7 They reached out and clasped hands. At that moment Mrs. Hicks called her husband to breakfast. ; ‘Going on the regular train?” asked Hicks, dropping his old friend’s hand and turning to the house. “Yep. I’ll meet you.’ “All right. So long.” They parted with a feeling of hap- piness that seemed to them strangely sat- isfying. “John, dear,’ said Hicks’s wife at breakfast, ‘“‘do you think Mrs. Pierce and I can give the party a week from to-day? You know, the card-party we intended having before—”’ “Why, of course, Bertha — why not?”’ queried Hicks in his usual sur- prised tone. The neighbors met on the lawn and walked together to the station. They resumed their old friendliness quite naturally as though nothing had hap- pened. | “Say, Dick!” said Hicks suddenly, as they reached the platform. “Say what?” ‘“Let’s come home early this after- noon and clean up that blooming mess of lumber on our lawns.” “IT would—” replied the other slow- ly, “only—only I’ve got to look up a tenant for the summer this afternoon. Now that the pear-tree’s down, I may stand a chance of renting the place to a good tenant.” Hicks’s mind suddenly cast up the case of his friend who wanted a place in Oak Forest; he had thought of it a dozen times through the dismal night before. “Tve got a tenant for you. I'll cinch the thing on the spot. He told me to. Called up just the other day, and wants your place. He'll be all right.” ‘““Good!” ejaculated Pierce. ‘ We'll come home early then and clean up those fool boards.” “Sure,” enthused MHicks;, “ they’ll come in handy. We can use them in re- pairing your sidewalk.” That night a man’s form stole out noiselessty from Hicks’s house. The form crept on tiptoe across the grass toward the other house. COmicloo (©