The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1869-05-27

o. laudanum with pleasure.
Evidently she thought l did not hear her
request, for directly she repeated it, and L
gave her the little bits of brass with deep
sigh which I could not smother.
g: You do not look well, Mr.. Stanford"
said she kindly. II fear the journey has not
been pleasant to you"
81 am perfect y we'll, thank you" I growl-
al . and took out newspaper and pretended
to read the rest of the way. caught her
looking at me out Of the corner OF her eye in
a half.amused sort of way, but | fattere
myself had managed to conceal from her the
state of my feelings.
uCh;caooy bawled the conductor. And
assisted nv fair companion to alight; and
hardly had her feet touched the platform, be-
fore tall, fair man, with reddish whiskers,
had her n his arms, and they were kissing
each other as if they we're used to it.
"Dear Charles" said she, pressing closely
to his side "I am so glad to see you. This
is Mr.. Stanford, who has been very kind to
me all the way. Mr. Jashers TREND
bowed and felt myself very much dc trop
"Good morningw said l stltf1y, and was
walking away. She touched my arm, and |
turned around and faced her Her checks
were very red, and her eyes were bright as
diamonds, and the dear little crimson mouth |
had kissed SO many times, was puckered up
into its most persuasive smile as she said:
"Please call at No. Al s. street, and
see us, won't your"
I thanked her, and signi6ed that l
would do so; but had no more idea of
+bo, T b,d of o,11;p, No AT
street in the moon.
| went to hotel, ordered room, and
flung myself on the bed, as much cut up
generally as any hero Of fine novel /; and
[ ought to have been seeing after my bu-
siness. But what does man care for bu-
siness whose heart is broken?
After while I rose, and put on clean
collar and washed the cinders out of my
eyes. felt a little better, but I could
not be contented to sit down and think !;
I wanted excitement of some kind.
thought would 60 to the theatre, I look
ed in daily, and saw that there was to
be concert in hall near by. went
there, and the first face saw after enter
ing the room was hers.
And sitting beside her was that execra-
bic Charles, and on the other side of him
a young lady, who was pretty [ suppose !;
but did not notice her much then. I
had no eyes for any body or any thing,
save Mrs. Graves.
The music was applauded vociferously,
but do not know to this day whether it
was Yankee Doodle or Old Handred.
She was dressed in crimson, with white
opera cape over her shoulders, and the
daintiest little pink hood that you ever
saw on her head. 1t looked like wreath
of foam with the sun shining on it.
Suddenly there was a cry of fire There
generally is, if ever you've noticed
when building gets full Of people who
are enjoying themselves. It is not often
that there really is any fire; but every
body thinks there is, and in the rush for
safety any quantity of bones are broken,
and the bone-setters get lots of jobs
1t has long been my opinion that the peo
pie who raise the cry Of fire at such places
are hired by the surgeons, So that they
may get few extra jobs.
At that ominous cry, every person in
the room sprang up, and the scene which
ensued battles description. The strong
bore down the weak-women and children
were trodden under foot, and no mercy
was shown to any one. Each one was bent
on saving his own life.
fought my way through the crowd till
[ reached her side. Pale and terrified,
she chung to the arm of Charles; and he
had his arm, I noticed, around the waist
of the other woman. [ took Mrs. Graves
hand and drew her toward me. She gave
little glad cry at sight of me. Then |
put my arm around her and my face close
down to hers.
"Will you trust yourself with me?' I
asked.
"Oh! yes," she said eargerly. cit is
all Charles can do to take care Of Minnie"
carried her out of side down into a
wide corridor opening upon back piazza
and where no one had thought of seeking
egress. By this time [ knew that there
was no fire, and [ had been sure of that
from the first; but the crush Of the crowd,
frantic and half -crazed as they were, was
frightful, and it was indeed a relief to get
out of it. The lady was terrified, and
chung to me in way perfectly delightful;
and [ put both arms around her, entirely
forgetting she had Charles.
81 wish I knew if they were safe," said
she.
"Who?'' said I.
fsCharles and Minnie
I dropped my arms. ssProbably your
husband is safe enough" said I, feeling as
if some one had struck me suddenly blind.
'sMy husband I hope he u.s." said she,
in an amused tone "but | do not know
who he is yet" .s
ssNot know?'' cried I eagerly. els it
possible My dear Mrs. Graves, tell me
the truth Who is this Charles?'
g. ',He is my brother. It was his wife
ssMy darling !" I exclaimed, getting her
into my arms again, and stopping all furth-
err explanations in way which is familiar
to all lovers, suppose. "And now tell I
me if I may not hope %
She did not tell me, but took her silence
for consent.
"My little darling, love you! And please
tell me your first name, dear; can not very
we'll call you by your last one now. Mrs.
Graves is so formal"
sMy name is not Graves said she archly.
"Oh! then it acas Gaines 2"
t"Neither. | suppose Mr.. Jashcr's intro
duction was too much hurried for him to be
very particular"
"Then what is your name!"
e.GravO