The mountain Democrat., 1863-07-18
TaE LEFT-HAND GLOVE.
CHAPTER I.

OTateO Wltnln tnOSe tiine-non0re0 walls
about ten minutes before. The church
yard Was crowded with spectators, chiefly
Of the humber class; the awning was up
from the church door to the church gate;
q cluster of handsome carriages, drawn
, by high stepping horses, waited outside;
and the path down which the happy cOn-
pie were to pass was lined with spectators
as full Of eager interest as if the great
event Of events had happened to them, in.
stead Of to total strangers. Servant girls
loitrrcd there, regardless Of the injunc.
tionS aS tu speed and care with which they
had been charged ere they left their homes;
nursemaids wheeled their charges, and
butcher boys leaned their trays against
the railings /; policemen fingered On their
beat; n cab or two drew up beside the
/ curbstOne; and bra band in the dis.
lance that had been playing Annie Lau.
rie' with the greatest diligence, suddenly
changed their tune to Come haste to the
Wedding, aS the bcadle rushed from the
porch in q state Of intense excitement, and
the white veil and orange flowers APPEAR
ell upon the threshold.
wonder why we all take such an ab.
snrhing interest in . wedding. If We see
a funeral procesSi"n g,'ing slowly along
the streets, we gaze after il an instant with
a shiveiing EenSe Of what is one dav tn
come T." us, and then gn an our way. But,
if Carl iage full uf white bnnurtS, veil,
and ties passes u< the mo,ncnt after, aud
We have the time to spare. we generally
set "tf At rnund trnt after il, to get tn the
church in time to see the hridr gn in or
come ont. as the CASE may be. The bride
alnnr for II is al understood thing that
all the interest OF the occasion crntrrs in
her. The b'idesrnnn may he n wonder in
her eyes. but in ours he is simply n lay
t.nre, aver Nh"n the mantle "f her glory
lal> in graceful folds. S',e may be young
aud pretty; she may he odd and plain; hut
sill she j. the bride, and il j. at her We
cIo~d to lunk, at her we smile, fnr her We
sign. att her We send our md ~i>hrS,
aud thrO our old shoes. Why is il that
w. feel Snch al ah>Orhiny interest in her.
We cannnI tell. Snm- uf Us, who have
never b, cn brides, NAV H. adtniling and
rnVN ing; >Iiiir "f uS who have heen brides
to nur S''rIow, may lie pitying aud fearing
Tor her; yet the attraction il either CASE
is marty the same.
In the present case the bride was nri.
ther very young n"r very beautiful. Size
was = tail, dark lady, apparently about
thirty years "f age. with good teeth, hair
and "V,S = aud u verv pl a>anI >rie Tie
mid' gr"In WAS apparently about five
y,ar> her S. Nor, hT"rZ,.'i and bearded like
n soldier, and wrnIiry hi> left arm in a
S'iug. 4 murmur ran through the crowd.
Mahamr Rumor was whispering ti.at the
par had hecu lovers in thtit ra lir>t youth;
that circumstances hal Scpa, atrd them {:
that the lady hal hren forced into DIS
tasteful ma,Iiagr, aud thr gentleman >t:.t
IL lIt'iia aud that nov, alter al absence
Of many years, he hai returned with n
title, with wealth. and hnnorS bv the score,
and laid them all ut the feet nf his ir-t
love. whom he funnd widow, tuiIing a.
a gov, rneSS fnr her daily bread We MI
love n bit Of romance II our hearts and
this little tale was received so kindly by
the crowd. that as the bells pealed out
again. and the carriages drove away, they
were followed by ringing cheer, with
/ the heartieSt cries Of 'Gnd bless you a
shower of old shoes aud slippers, procured
Hyme0 only knows where, but which We
verify believe were taken by enthusiastic
servant girls ntf their own feet, in the
sudden excitement of the moment.
All WAS over. The bells rang out their
last exultaht peal, the bride and the bride
groom had driven away into their 'FooIs
Paradise, accompanied by their rejoicing
friends. and the eace- crowd went to their
several tasks once more, III the work.a day
world
But one Of their number remained
even after the last notes "f the bells had
died away aud the red waiStcoated " hradle
had gone home to his 2 O'Clock dinner
lie MAS man apparently about twenty
six yeats Of age, who had been watching
the progress Of events, at first somewhat
cnntempIuonSly. lie was a bachelor and
vas Wont to pride himself upon his state
Of single blrSSedneSS; So VIZ must own tha
he watched the brides coming with a very
suspicious smile but As that little tale to
which we have already alluded ran thrO'
the sympathizing crowd. it caught his ear,
and the expression of his face changed
lie t,n had had an early love. Who. at the
enireatv Of her widowed mother, had
given him up. and married man far bet
ter fitted " be her father than her hus.
hand.
But here all resemblance between the
| two stories came to an end; for the lady
was still wife. the mot her of five beauti-
Gul children, the mistress Of a luxmrinuS
hume and it she ever gave Thought to
the past. probably framed II into thanks
giving that she had married for ,nunry
aud kindness. rather than fnr love and
poverty. He did not blame her for this
woI Idly prudence, which he felt~vtry sure
she had harmed in the lapse Oi years, hut
he cunirasted his future. with that Of the
Inan v hU had just driven away and sighed
deeply az he did ~. We cannot say that
he too wi, he'd to take his lnSt love back
once more; but the void that she had lett
in his heart suddenly became an aching
one. and thrnugh the happiness Of the
neW ly welded pair lie seemed to see his
own loneliness in stronger light than
usual. The years w're getting on and he
MAS older than he had becn. The buys
who had bern his SchOsIlmateS were now
the heads Of happy homes; he only was
left ithout one on earth to love him best
If all. Ii was a miserable {, cling, but he
could not shake it utf.
lie turned to leave the chuI chyard. and
MS hr did 80 a sudden puff Of wind blew
aside the dead leaves at his feet, aud nest
ling among them he saw a small white
glnve lady's glove. Hc took it uF; the
size. Aix and three quarters, was marked
inside and just beneath it. in dainty let
irrs, was written Angela II was a left
hssA Gsslnse. oG :hs- ..hiI est and mast elias
tic kind, and had evidently been worn but
once. The young man TUNED it over and
| 0vnF in his hVnaA ,al,., NTH n NnrihuS