114 



Annie s New Home. 



out of the dirt and noise into the sweet 

 fields, starred with violets and bluettes, and 

 where the air was laden with the perfume of 

 lilacs and apple blossoms. Jim did all the 

 talking:, Annie said very little, but her eyes 

 were never still. They saw every minutest 

 detail, and the reality far exceeded her 

 dreams As they were driving slowly home- 

 ward, the old brown horse, who was stum- 

 bling along half asleep, suddenly swerved 

 to one side. Jim, leaning forward to find 

 out the cause, exclaimed : 



"Oh, its a bird, a baby robin. Do you 

 want it Annie ? You can keep it in that 

 old cage Mrs. Lynch has, and by and by it 

 will grow tame, and be a nice pet for you." 



Annie clapped her hands with delight at 

 the idea, and Jim carefully picked up the 

 bird, and they took it back wrapped up in 

 a handkerchief. 



The next night when Jim came home 

 from work, Annie thought he was more 

 quiet than usual, and finally he said : 



" Annie, how would you like to have a 

 little home in the country, just you and me 

 together?" 



"Oh! Jim!" said Annie, clasping her 

 hands and flushing with excitement, "What 

 do you mean ?" 



"Well, yesterday, when we were out 

 there in the fields, I suddenly thought that 

 if I got this promotion Mr. Jenks spoke of, 

 perhaps we could afford to have a little 

 home somewhere out there. Mrs. Lynch 

 would come with us to look out for the 

 house, you could raise chickens — that would 

 be something to keep you busy all day, and 

 I venture to say there wouldn't be any 

 chickens in the market as fat as yours — 

 only I don't suppose, with your tender heart, 

 you'd ever let any be killed." And Jim's 

 hearty laugh made the glasses on the shelf 

 dance and jingle. 



From that time Annie thought of nothing 

 else. She talked of it by day and dreamed 

 of it by night. She told her few friends of it, 

 and what she was going to do when they 



had a home in the country. And at last it 

 really seemed as if the dream might come 

 true. Jim got his promotion and his salary 

 was raised. They drove out together to 

 the country and finally found a little cot- 

 tage that seemed as if it had been made for 

 them. It had a pretty sloping roof, and a 

 little porch covered with rose vines, and a 

 nice chicken yard, and, best of all, it was not 

 too far away for Jim to walk in and out 

 every day. They were both delighted, and 

 decided to take the cottage at once. 



There was no lack of interest in Annie's 

 life now. She and Jim had so much to 

 talk about, and so many things to plan, that 

 finally Mrs. Lynch declared Annie talked in 

 her sleep about tables and chairs. She was 

 not strong enough to go out to the cottage 

 often, but every Sunday Jim went out, and 

 he made a little plan of each room, and 

 Annie wrote down just where she wanted 

 every piece of furniture. Her own chair was 

 to stand by the sunny kitchen window, and 

 above it should hang the robin's cage. He 

 had not been happy in his cage, nor become 

 tame. Perhaps, like Annie, he longed for 

 the fresh, breezy airs of the country, for the 

 rustle of the green leaves and the scent of 

 flowers. 



At last everything was ready, and they 

 were to move the next day. Annie was 

 sitting in her easy chair waiting for Jim to 

 come and pack the last few things. She 

 was so happy that she could not believe it 

 true. When she shut her eyes she could 

 see the little sunny kitchen, the table set 

 for supper, and herself sitting in the door- 

 way, watching for Jim to come. And then, 

 when Jim came, she knew just how he would 

 say, " Well, little sister, isn't this nice ? How- 

 are the chickens ?" And then he would run 



up-stairs, whistling at the top of his voice 



Hark! What was that? A dull, jarrini; 

 rumble, then a little silence, and then cries 

 and screams of women. 



Annie's heart stood still for a second ; 

 then went on again at double rate, and she 



