Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-05-10

long gold eyelashes twinkle in the sun, now
sinking crihson-robed to rest upon primrose
bed-her last and goodliest of suns.
! but" she begins presently, looking about
her in vague alarm at the rushing hedgerows. at
! the whizzing telegraph posts: Indigenous,
} telegraph posts they have passedbefore. What
are we doing2 What"
'' We are Igoing back to Oxford" he answers
quietly. We have been within an ace OF com
plete smash. By some internal mismAnagement
or other, goods train met us plump-on the
same line OF rails you know. When looked out
there wasn't ffty-yards between the two en-
gines"
" And you never said word you could see
that and keep still !" knitting her pale, brown
eyebrows, and regarding him with amazed in
credulity.
"Why not ?" smiling as calmly as If to be hor
rbly mangled and mutilated were e normal
conconant of daily life. "All the yelling in
the world could have made no difference. AS it
| Is, you see, we may both live to be a hundred,
and he laughs and looks at his watch, and holds
It to his ear. "Those two jerks have stopped
it. Perhaps, had the engine-driver been fool
or "a coward or the guard had been asleep, or
the break had been too weak to bear the
strain put on it, or the boiler had burst, this
fact might have decided the precise moment at
| which the 'heArt-rending catastrophe occur
red. Among the debris Of st-class carriage
we're found the bodies of man and woman
| the former apparently about thirty years of age
tall and we'll dressed the latter short, slight
and young az far as it is possible to judge from
the aspect OF the corpse, which is very much
disigured. the face being completely battered
| in, and the legs 0uf these newspaper
photographic have more in them than one gives
| credit for" The small person contributes this
slip to the unpublished journalistic literature of
| her native land, and shudders.
| do you think we shall go back to Oxford ?"
asks she after a while when silence has steaded
| her nerves somewhat, and matter-of-fact has
partially resumed its sway over her intelligence.
| mo; shouldn't say SO. 1 should think we
/ should pull up at some intermediate station and
wait there till the line was telegraphed clear,
when we should start again for Paddington."
"Oh, I'm 30 glad of that" How she trusts
him Why should she i? Why should she not
| find out all this for herself, the goose! "If l
didn't get home tonight. Ned would be 80 put
/ out"
Med, Ned-what Ned Ned a.husbandp Ned
| brother! Ned-a Ned who dares to be put
| out toto be sulky-rude-savage to her. That
sounds like husband" The great gray man
stares gloomiy out at the darkling world, whence
| the sun has vanished oddly all OF sudden, in
some inexplicable, eccentric and complete man
ner--such as no well-regulated sun would think
| of attempting.
II dare say you'll be late" says he stody,
| somewhat as though he took dull sort of plea
sure in Neds agonies of mind.
II dare say shall, unbottonng and slowly
pulling of her left glove, finger by finger. 1t
is delicious to trifle with time when one has
Gently known the sensation of being at ones
last gasp, kind of rare and choice pleasure,
pected fortune"
The left glove of, and in her lap, she begins
upon the right. The great gray man looks
ronnd looks straight at the third finger of her
thin, white hand. She is very thin My dog
could eat her for his dinner and feel hungry. 1t
is there. The plain. thick gold ring, and next
to it diamond keeper. The great gray man
looks away again out at the world, quite be-
nighted world now, and off comes tho right
glove. There is no ring upon that hand.
30 they travel back into lonely county sta
ton, and there come to a stand-still, whereupOn
a vast deal of talking and questioning and god
bless ne-tng ensnes and the great grey man puts
OH his hat and indulgesthim in a pipe as he
marches up and down the graveled platform,
and the small person takes off her big hat and
pushes away the light, silky flakes Of yellow
hair from off her forehead, which is burning
hot, and aches with the old fever ache and her
small, pink-cheeked face framed in her two |
white hands, thinks-thinks-and then there is
loud ringing of bell and scrambling on the |
roof of the dark carriage; 80 dark, indeed that |
you could see nothing, not even the sparkle of |
that diamond. and suddenly great light streams
full upon her cropped head, and men come and |
stare cuTiously, and one great gray man shuts up
his pipe in its case with snap, and scowling at |
his fellow-creatures, lounges up to the door in |
lordly, mastery way and presently gets in with
a sardonic, ''Well, suppose we are OF in earn
est nowi" and then the guard locks them /
up, and with jubant whistle the brave engi- /
neer-driyer turns on the steam, and away they |
glide into the silent night, with a fragmentary /
and yellow moon always to their right, and faint /
stars cleaning palely highly above the soft /
white clouds in the small waste of endless
space
But no word say they, nor she to him. nor he
to her; and by degrees sleep settles on her eyes, /
and her head leans heavier against the cushion, /
and her body softens to 1.-the curves of black and
red, and down by her side drops one small white
hand, whereon CLEANS a thick gold ring, and Il
Tickets, sir Tickets--tickets ?"
The small person feebly struggles up into sit
ing position, and rummages in her pocket for a
seal-skn purse. Her ticket found and surrender
cd, and great yawn eaten she puts on her hat,
stands up to get down her neat little bundle OF
shawis and blue waterproof and agate-handled
umbrella, but the netting is quite out of her
reach.
A big hand sezes them by the strap, and sets
them upon end on the seat before her.
THANK you ~ she gays civilly.
"Can be of any use to your" as they come into
the full glare Of the Paddington gas-lamps and
the power Of the Paddington porters. "Get you
cab-see after your lugglge!" turning round
aud looking down upon her graciously.
They have jockeyed King Grim togeth-
or, she is in way integrated with his flu
ture life, in way associated with him indiasolu-
bly, forever aud it is somewhat this mans habit
to behold grace in things and persons associated
with himeelf-even in Mrs Ned.
But no she will give him no trouble. She is
very well able to look after herself /; she ID a
traveller of experience.
Well thsse young women who abide in hooks
anu CotnoTb Vi odTbu AOuoemubt necessarily
be acquainted with hooks and corners to play L
de conlpdgnie to Lady Sade with a we'd
diug-ring on ones wedding inger); these young
hangers-on to respectability by the skin Of their
teeth, do really possessaan uncommon knack Of
swimming where more refined, better brought
up, persons must sink. The great:gray man lis
tens to her ayowal of her own powers of manage
ment with complaoent calm.
49," says She when the last hasty word is
uttered, and the boxes and baths, and bags and
bundles are being tossed and kicked and hauled
out of the luggage van, and it becomes evident
that if she doesn't want to lose her trunk, she /
must make haste to claim it. THANK you very /
much. and goodbye !" and she puts out little /
gray hand to him as boldly as you please.
= Goodbye /" he says, and takes it in his, and
brushes it up, and squeezes it, the little gray /
hand and strange, eager. longing look comes
over his keen resolute face, and his eyes dwell
onshers hungrily an instsnt, nay, two instants, /
may be three and then official overbearing |
" Now then, please, send them assunder, and
the world is work-a-day again.