SISTERS
By KATHLEEN NORRIS
.    #    Copyright by Kathleen Norrla
+—
“I’M TIRED."
Synopsis— Doctor Strickland,
tired, >b living in Mill Valley, near
ban Francisco. Ilia family consists
of hlh daughters, Alix, 21, ana
Cherry, lh. and Anne, his niece. **
Their closest friend is i’eter Joyce,
a ImaWc sort of reduse. Martin
Lloyd, a visiting mining engineer,
v. ina Cherry, marries her and car-
ries her off to LI NUlo, a mine
Cown. Peter realizes that he loves
Cherry. Jus^n l.htlo wooa Anne.
Cherry comes home for Anne s
wedding. Cherry realises her mar-
riage Is a failure. Peter tells Cher-
ry of his • grand passion,” without
naming the girl. Martin cornea for
CHAPTER VIII.
Marlin’* work was In the Contra.
Coslii valley, anil he and Cherry hutl
a squill house in Ueil Creek, the only
towo of any size uear the mine, Red
Creek ,\vus In u fruit-farming and
dairy region and looked its prettiest
on the spring evening, when Cherry
saw "it first.
ller Tittle house was n cottage with
u porch running across the front,
where windows looked out from the
sitting room and the front bedroom.
Back gf these rooms were n dark lit-
tle bttllif&bin thut connected the front
bedroom with another smaller bed-
room. a mflfe* dining room and n
kitch'eYi. MlU’tin, mnn-fashion, had
merely crimped IN kitchen unit bedroom
while awaiting his wife; but Cherry
buttoned on tier crisp little apron on
the first morning after tier arrival; and
attacked the accumulated dishes In
the sink und the scattered shirts and
collars bravely.
For a few weeks the novelty lasted
and Cherry was enthusiastic about
everythlngi She looked out across her
dlshpft* at green tielils and the begin-
ning at the farms; slie saw tbe lilacs
burst -tnfo fragrant plumes on the
bare branches of her dooryard tree;
spring .flushed the whole world with
lovelUibss, ami she was young, and
healthy, and too busy to be home-
sick.
The days went on and on. each
bringing its round ot dishes, beds,
sweeping, marketing, folding and un-
folding tablecloths, going buck uml
forth between kitchen and dining
room. Martin’s breakfast was either
promptly served and well cooked. In
which.ease Martin was silently satis-
fied, of U was late and a failure, when
be was' very articulately disgusted; lit
either ease Cherry wits loft to clear
and \v;)ish and plan for another meal
in four hours more. She soaked fruit,
beat up cuke, chopped boxes Into
kindlings, heated a kettle of water
and another kettle of water, dragged
sheets' from the bed only to replace
them, filled dishes with food only to
lind th.em empty und ready to wash
ugaln.
“1 get sick of it I” she told Martin.
“WelT. T.ord !'\he exclaimed. “Don’t
you tlilult everybody does? Don't 1
get sick of my work? You might to
huve flu? responsibility of It all for
u while 1”
llis'Tone'was humorously reproving
rather thrfii unkind. But such a
speech wpjflTd fill Cherry’s eyes with
tears and cause her to go about the
house fill morning with a heavy
heart. ' ” * *
She —would find herself looking
thoughtfully at Martin In these days,
studying him as if he were an utter
stranger. It bewildered her to feel
that lie netunlly was no more than
that, after two years of marriage. She
not only- did not know Mm, but she
had a -bullied sense that the very
nearness Of tlielr union prevented her
from seeing him fairly. She knew that
she did him Injustice In her thoughts.
It must be Injustice, decided Cherry.
For Martin seemed to her less clever,
less Just, lees Intelligent, and less
generous than the uverage mini of her
acquaintance. And yet he did not
seem to impress other people In the
way he Impressed her.
lie was extraordinarily healthy, nml
lmd small sympathy for Illness, weak-
ness, for tho unfortunate, uml the
complaining. He whistled over his
dressing/ rend the paper nt breakfast,
und waft-gone. At noon he rushed In,
always lute, devoured his lunch ap-
preciatively, uiu| was gone again. At
night he whs usually tired. Inclined to
quarrel, about small matters, Inclined
to disapprove of the new positions of
the bedroom furniture, or the way
Cherry’S luilr was dressed.
He loved to play poker and \vns hos-
pitable to n certain extent He would
whistle and Joke over the prepara-
tions for a rarebit after a game, and
would willingly walk live blocks for
beer If Cherry hnd forgotten to get It.
On Sunday he liked to see her prettily
gowned i now and then they motored
with his friends from the mine; more
often walked, ate a hearty chicken
dinner, and went to a cold supper iu
the neighborhood, with “Five Hun-
dred" to fallow. At ten their hostess
would flutter Into her kitchen; there
would he lemonade and beer and rich
layer cake. Then the men would be-
gin to match poker hands, and the
women to discuss babies iu low tones.
Cherry never saw her husband so’
animated or so Interested us when
men he hnd known before chanced to
drift Into town, mining men from Ne-
vada or from El Nido, or men he had
known In college. They would dis-
cuss personalities, would shout over
recollected good times, would ship
each other on the back and laugh
tirelessly. *
She thought him nn extremely dlfll-
cult man to live? with, and was angered
when her hints to this effect led him
to remark that she was the “limit.”
They had a serious quarrel one dny,
when he told her that she was the
most selfish and spoiled woman he
hnd ever known. He cnlled her at-
tention to the other women of the
town, busy, contented women, sending
children oft to school, settling babies
down foi naps in sunny Uooryards,
cooking nnd laughing and hurrying to
and fro.    •
"Yes, and look at them!" Cherry
said with ready tears. **Shahby, thin,
tired all tlie time 1”    »
“The trouble with you Is," Mnrtln
said, departing, "you’ve been told that
you’re pretty nnd sweet nil your life—
nnd you’re spoiled! You are pretty,
yes—” he added, more mildly. “But,
by George, you sulk so much, lyid you
crab so much, that I’m darned If I
see It any more! All I see Is trouble!”
With this he left her. Left her to
n hurst of angry tears, nt first, when
“He Was in the Engine Room and He
Kinder—Fainted,”
she dropped her. lovely little head on
the blue gingham of her apron sleeve
and cried bitterly.
The kettle began to sing on the
stove, a bee came in nnd wandered
about tbe hot kitchen; the grocer
knocked, nnd Cherry let the big lout
of a boy stare at her red eyes un-
caring.
Then she went swiftly Into the bed-
room nnd began to pack and change.
She'd show Martin Lloyd—she’d show
Martin Lloyd! She was going straight
to Dml—she’d take the—take the—
She frowned. She had missed the
nine o'clock train; she must whit for
the trnlu* nt hnlf-pnst two. Wait
where? Well, she could only wait
here. Very well, she would wait here.
She would not get Martin nny lunch,
and when he raged she would explain.
She fiulshc 1 her packing and put the
house In order. Then, In unaccustomed
mid-morning leisure, she sank Into a
deep rocker nnd began to read. Quiet
und shade and order reigned Iu the
little house.
Steps came bounding up to Cherry’s
door; her heart began to beat; n knock
sounded. She got to her feet, puzzled;
Martin did not knock.
It was Joe Itobinson, his closest
friend nt the mine.
“Say, listen, Mrs. Lloyd; Mnrt enn’t
get home to dinner," snld Joe. "He
don’t feel extra well—he was In the
engine room nnd he kinder—he
kinder—”
"Fainted?" Cherry asked sharpJy,
turning a little pale.
“Well, kinder. Lawson mnde him
lay down,” Joe said. “And he's com-
ing home when the wagon comes down,
nt three o’clock. He says to tell you
lie’s fine!"    f
“Oh, thank you, Joe!” Cherry snld.
She shut the door, feeling weak nnd
frightened. She flew to unpack her
bug, hung up her hat nnd coat, dark-
ened the bedroom and turned down
the bed; waited anxiously for Mart's
return.
She was deeply concerned over the
news from Martin. Cherry met his
limp form at the front door, and
whisked him Into n cool bed and put
Chopped Ice on the aching forehead
and got him, grateful und penitent, off
to sleep.
For a day or two Martin stayed In
bed and Cherry spoiled and petted
him, and was pruiseu and thanked for
every step she took. After that they
took n little trip Into the mountains
near by, and Cherry sent Alix post-
cards that made her sister feel almost
a pang of envy.
But then the routine began again,
and the fearful heat of midsummer
came, too. Red Creek baked In a
smother of dusty heat, the trees In
the dry orehWds, beside the dry road,
dropped circles of hot shadow on the
clodded, rough enrth. Farms dozed
under shimmering lines of dazzling air
and in the village, from ten o’clock
until the afternoon began to wane,
there was no stir. Flies buzzed nnd
settled on screen doors, the creek
shrunk away betwen crumbling rocky
banks, the butcher’closed his shop and
milk soured In the bottles.
The Turners and some other fami-
lies always camped together In the
mountains durjng this’season, nnd they
were pff when school closed, in an
enviable state of ecstasy mid anticipa-
tion. Cherry had planned to Join them,
but an experimental week-end was
enough. The camp was in the cool
woods, truly, but it was disorderly,
swarming with children, the tents were
sninll nnd hot, the whole settlement
laughed and rlotml and surged to and
fro in a nianenr■ uftqrly foreign to her.
She returned, to tell Martin that it
was "horribly common” and weather
the rest of the summer in Red Creek.
Martin sympathized. He had never
cared particularly for the Turners;
was perfectly willing to .beep the
friendship within bounds.
He sympathized as little with an-
other friendship she made, some
months later, with the wife of a young
engineer who had recently come to the
mine. Pauline Runyon was a few
years older than her husband, a hand-
some, thin, intense woman, who Hid
everything in an entirely Individual
way. She took -one of the new little
bungalows that were being erected In
Red Creek “Park," and furnished it
richly nnd Inappropriately, and estab-
lished a tea table and a samovar be-
side the open fireplace. Cherry began
to like better than anything else tn the
world the hours spent with Pauline.
Pauline read Browning, Francis
Thompson nnd Pater, und introduced
Cherry to new worlds of thought. She
talked to Cherry of New York, which
she loved, and of the men and women
she had met there. She sometimes
sighed and pushed the bright hair buck
from Cherry's young and Innocent nnd
discontented little face, and said ten-
derly; “On the stnge, my dear—riby-
where, anywhere, you would be a
furore!”
And thinking, In the quiet evenings
—for Martin’s work kept him later
and later at the mine—Cherry came
to see that her marriage had been a
great mistake. She hnd not been ready
for mnrrlnge. She would sit on the
back steps, ns the evenings grew cool-
er, nnd watch the exquisite twilight
fade, nnd the sorrow nnd beauty of
life would wring her heart.
A dream of-ease und "adoration nnd
beauty came to her. She did not visu-
alize any special place, any special
gown or hour or person. But she saw
her beauty fittingly environed; she saw
cool rooms, darkened against this blaz-
ing midsummer glare; heard Ice clink-
ing against glass; the footsteps of at-
tentive nmids; the sound of cultivated
voices, of music nnd laughter. She
had had these dreams before, but they
were becoming habitual now. She was
so tired—so sick—so bored with her
real life; It was becoming Increasingly
harder and harder for her to live with
Martin. She was always tn a sup-
pressed state of wanting to break out,
to shout at him brazenly:    "I don’t
care If your coffee Is weak! I like It
weak! I don't enro If you don’t like
my lint—I do! Stop talking about
yourself 1”
Various little mannerisms of his be-
gan seriously to annoy her; s rather
grave symptom, bad Cherry but known
It. He dnnred his big fingers on the
hundle of the sugar spoon at break-
fast, sifting the sugar over bis cereal;
she had to turn her eyes resolutely
away from the sight. He blew his
nose, folded Ills handkerchief, nnd then
brushed his nose with It firmly left and
right; she hated the little performance
that was never altered. He had a
certain mental slowness; would blink I
at her politely nnd patiently when she
flashed plans or hopes at him:    “I
don’t follow you, my dear!” This
made her frantic.
She was twenty, undisciplined nnd
exacting. She had no reserves within
herself to which she could turn. Bad
things were hopelessly bad with Cher-
ry ; her despairs were the dark arid
tearful -despairs of girlhood, prema-
turely transferred to graver matters.
Martin was quite right In some of
his contentions; glrl-llke, she was
spasmodic and unsystematic In her
housekeeping; she lind times of being
discontented and selfish. She hated
economy nnd the need for careful mai -
aging.
In October Alix chanced to write
.her a long nnd unusunlly gossipy let-
ter. Alix had a new gown of black
grenadine, and she had 'sung nt nn
afternoon ten, and lind evidently suc-
ceeded tn her first venture. Also they
hnd hnd n mountain climb and en-
closed were snapshots Peter had taken
on the trip.
Cherry picked up the little kodnk
prints; there were four nr five of them.
She studied them with a pnng nt her
heart. A’.lx In n loose rough coat,
with her hair blowing In the wind
nnd the peaked crest of Tnmnlpais be-
hind her—Alix busy with lunch boxes
—Alix standing on the old bridge hy
the mill. A wave of homesickness
swept over the younger sister; life
tnsted hitter. She hated Alix, hated
I’eter; above all she hated herself
She wanted to he there, in Mill Valley
free to play nnd to dream again—
A" day or two Inter she told Mnrtln
kindly nnd steadily that she thought
It had nil “been a mistake." She told
him'that she thought the only digni-
fied thing to do was to part. Jjhe liked
him; she would always wish him well,
but since the love had gone out of their
relationship, surely It was only honest
to end It.
“What’s the matter?” Mnrtln de
mnnded.    •
"Nothing special,” Cherry assured
him, her eyes suddenly watering. “Only
I’m tired of It all. I’m tired of pre-
tending. I can’t argue about It But
I know it’s the \?ise thing to do.”
“You’d go back to your father. 1
suppose?” Martin said, yawning.
“Until I could get Into something.”
Cherry replied with dlglntty. A vague
thought of the stage llitted through her
nitnd.    *
"Oh!” Mnrtln said politely. "And
I suppose you think your father would
ngree to this delightful arrangement?”
he asked.
“I know he would!” Cherry an-
swered engerly.
“All right—you write and ask him!”
Martin agreed good-naturedly. Cherry
was surprised at his attitude, but
grateful more than surprised.
"Not cross, Mnrt?” she asked.
“Not the least In the world 1’J he
answered lightly.
"Because I truly believe that we’d
both be happier—” the woman salff
hesitatingly. Martin did not answer.
The next day she sat down to write
her father. She meditated, with a
troubled brow. Her letter was unex-
pectedly hard to compose. She could
not take a bright nnd simple tone, ask-
ing her father to rejoice In her home-
coming. Somehow the matter persisted
In growing heavy and the words
twisted "themselves about into ugly
and selfish sounds. Cherry was young,
but even to her youth the phrases, the
"misunderstood” and the “uncongen-
ial,” the "friendly parting before nny
bitterness creeps In,” and the “free to
decide our lives In some happier nnd
wiser way," rang fnlae. Pauline had
been divorced a few years ngo, nnd the
only thing Cherry disliked In her friend
was her cold nnd resentful references
to her first hubnnd.
No, she couldn’t tie n divorced wom-
an. It was all spoiled, the Innocent
past and the future; there wns no
way out 1 She gave vp the attempt at
a letter and begun to annoy Martin
with talk of a visit home again.
“What you want to go for?"
“Oh, Just—Just—” Cherry’* Irrepres-
sible tears angered herself almost ns
much as they did Mnrtln, "1 think
they’d like uie to!" she fnltered.
“Go If you want to!” he said, hut
she knew she could not go on thut
word. #
“That’s It," she said at last to her-
self, In one of her solitary hours. "I’m
married nnd this Is mnrrlnge. For the
rest of my life It’ll he Mart nnd I—
Mart nnd I—In everything 1 For richer,
for poorer; for better, for worse—
that’s marriage. He doesn’t bent me
nnd we have enough money, nnd per-
haps there are a lot of other women
worse off than I ntn. But It’s—it’s
funny,"
DOES LAUNDRY
WORK AND
HOUSEWORKTOO
Surprised to Find Her-
self Feeling So Well
Taunton, Mass. - ‘ ‘I used to have pains
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about the same trou-
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Explaining.
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fro BE CONTINUED.)
Till Death Do Us Part.
Ciiilet—“Is there such a tiling a*
eternal love?” I’erry—"Ask tbe man
who’s stuck on himself.”—Life.
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