Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1882-09-13
concluded from first psge.l

Il
An invitation 10 dinner, Miss Clara,
no exclaimed, received q week after
the dinner Is eaten,
Then had come Mrs, Calyerly, tho
next morning, with tho Mexican plan
still no letter from Louis, And
later, came Mr., Bradshaw again with
the news that Louis ireton had sailed
for Australia that afternoon,
u went down to bid him goodbye
said Mr., Bradshaw, but the ship had
already left It's moorlngs'
Gone Louis gone-and no letter
for her. Now she regretted she had
not given Jack q message for him.
Jack had told her he was going into
the Ireton's counting room to inquire
about AustrallanI stamps She had
thought of asking him to inquire OF
Louis if he had q letter for her, Could
any letter have mlscarricd, Perhaps
It might yet come from Washington
delayed for postage, Louis probably
meant TO tell her Of his intended trip to
Australia.
Meanwhile Louis was making his
long, weary voyage to Australia Day
after day he passed in q dazed state
taking no thought, or going over and
over the last few months Of his life,
with regret for this or that in the past
The day before he was to reach tho
port of his destination, and not till
then, he took out the letters his father
had given him, and the business notes
written out for him to act upon on arri-
val. Among them appeared IN enclosed
note to Clara in its envelope. II gave
him q shuddcr as no took il out. lie
had been wondering IL any word OF his
could have wounded her, and he set
himself to reading it over again.
But as he held il in his hand, he
suddenly noticed that the rcd stamp OF
his own envelope was still uncancclled!
1t had never passed through the post
office II had never been mailed. II
had never reached its destination.
'Exton Mills he exclaimed, 'and II
two cent stamp! the fatal red stamp!
lie started up. Had his note never
reached her? lie looked again ut its
enclosure, at the envelope in which ii
had been returned.
That is old Ned Hastings hand
writing, he exclaimed; 1T never was
Ciara's. Why did | not recognize itT
must here confess that Clara wrote
one OF. those slanting, backward hands
that look as if written with the left
hand, very clear and legiblc; but they
are apt to look all alike. Hers was
somewhat masculine. Her father had
pridcd himself upon its manly clear
ness.
Clara did not write it, Louis cx-
claimed again. Ned sent it back from
the post-ofice on account of its red
stamp! aud l, what n fool, what an
idiot was to put red stamp on let
ter for Exton Mills!
A new life inspired him-or was he
too late? In all these weeks of his
dreary voyage what might have paesed?
Still he would do nothing but hope.
He would send telegram the moment
he landed. He would take the very
next steamer home on whatever line
that would soonest carry him. And
now the last day of the voyage seemed
longer than any that had preceded it
He found by inquiry that there would
be a steamer to leave on the day after
their arrival.
Louis could scarcely find time to in
quire for letters or kilograms, so eager
was he to arrange for his departure,
directly after he landed.
But he found pile of kilograms
awaiting him, and some letters and pa
pers that had made their way quickly
by overland mail. He opened the lat
est telegram of all, but could not under
stand its references, and he turned back
to the earlier ones, to take them il
order, with difficulty finding the earli