Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1879-08-06

10 the skin, and my horse is too weary to o.
farther through these miry roads, and see
ing hight here, have ventured to crave
shelter for him and myself, for the remain
der OF the night. l assure you that yo,
VIII md me no ungrateful guest"
Sir, Elsie resumed, simply, 'the door
oi raymond farm have never been close,
TO the weary wayfarer. Enter, and a ser
want will care for your horse
Ihe stranger bowed again, and passe,
her silently. as she held back the broad lea
OF the door. What was it that, at In,
sight of that tall muffled form, caused he
heart TO beat so wildly She put up Tn,
bar that secured the door and then precede,
her guest to the apartment she had left.
| She stirred the smouldering embers, ant
threw on fresh wood, which caught tn,
flames that soon leaped cheerily up IN,
broad chimney Leaving the stranger. cow
ering over the blaze, she went and called
the gardener TO take charge of the hors,
that was neighing impatlently at the cute,
gate.
! When she came back she busted herself,
silently, In preparing refreshment for the
stranger, who still sat beside the hearth
casting curious glances at her as she moved
about. Thrill after thrill shot through
Elsles frame, as she met those bright.
strange glances. She had begun to feel al.
most frightened at his singular manner.
when he suddenly addressed her:
Madam, he said, pointing to the row
OF little shoes, and the overflowing basket
/ of toys, Il see that lonely as is this house.
1 NJ 1acnla-a Il
brighten so many homes, bloom here You
have little children, beautiful and loving,
and doubtless a good husband. Pardon
me- madam, he added, observing Elsie's
emotion, ''we who are lonely wanderers up
and down the world are wont TO notice.
with somewhat of jealousy, the tokens of do
mestic happiness that are denied to us.
He was silent, as if waiting for an an
swer, and Elsie, conquering her emotion,
answered quietly:
There are children here. but not mine
| have neither husband nor children :" and
faint sigh struggled up from her heart !:
as she thought of what might have been.
Just then the gardener came stamping in
al the kitchen door and showed himself,
shaking the water from his garments. FL
ste turned 10 the stranger.
''lour meal is prepared" she said :;
''when YOU have partaken, the servant will
show YOU to your room
And bidding her guest goodnight she
went away TO her room, and lay down upon
her bed, but not TO sleep. Through the
long hours, until the late autumn dawn, she
tossed restlessly upon her couch, thinking
much of the strange guest, and marveling
why his image mingled 50 continually with
her vision of the past.
The next morning, when the breakfast
hour was passed, the stranger spoke of his
departure.
Before go, madam, he said, 81 ought
to inform You who am, that yod may, at
least, know You have not bestowed your
kindness on one unworthy.
''For twenty years have been wan
dercr in other lands, sad, lonely disap-
pointed man. Yet | have ever kept one
hope bright and vigorous, the hope of re-
turn to my native shores, and the scenes Of
early happiness.
Il was born and lived till manhood in
the midst of region much like this in
which your home is situated | was an
orphan, hut had a small competence and
many friends My guardian had daugh-
ter whom | loved, and who acknowledged
that my love was returned. We were be-
trothed, by the consent of her parents, and
our wedding day was very near, when
strange misfortunes overwhelmed nv Alice
First her father died a sudden and terrible
death, then her mother dropped beneath
the blow and shortly followed, leaving to
Alice the care of the younger children, and
eXacting from her promise that she would
never leave them until they were all pro-
vided for. | would willingly have shared
the heavy burdens that now fell upon Alice,
but she refused TO bind me to her life of
toll aud self-sacrifice. She laid her love
and all her bright hopes upon the altar of
duty, and |, appalled, by the sacrifice and
mad with disappointment, fled from the
country and became a wanderer in other
lands
''Elsie promised to return when your
task was ended ! am here! Have you
no word of welcome after all these years of
separation p
He had no need to ask, for Elsie lay
sobbing in the arms opened to received her,
while the little ones looked on wonderingly;
and the old gardener to whom the secret
had been impaired the night previous,
stood with clasped hands uttering ejacula-
tions of thankfulness.
''Elsie, shall we ever part again =
''Never," said Elsie, with her quiet sim
plicity; ''never again until death = and
she looked up in his face with the old con-
fiding glance that had greeted him a score
of years before.
Very quietly the middle-aged pair settled
down at the old homestead, which was
beautified and adorned by the wealth John
Francis brought from foreign lands, and
dearer far to them than any palace home,
with the store of memories that people its
dim chambers, and all the green demesne
which had witnessed their early joys, and
their reunion after weary years of separa-
fion