The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1882-12-17
A PHANTOM BRIDE.
BY the Author Of THE leg GAR
NIvAL."
CHATTER I.
IN llIE STRAND.

who, indeed, ever knew it otherwise
towards eight o'clock of frosty De-
cember evening, when in less than
eight-and-forty hours the arrival OF
hoary Father Christmas-England's
ever-welcome annual guest-may be
confidently anticipated
Moreover, he promised to make his
appearance this season in the full piano.
ply Of frosty splendor. The stars twin
killed. like gems tonight in the clear
cloudless sky; pendent icicles, clear as
crystal, glistened from every available
spout and oyerhanging cave; even the
City pavementS were, for once IN q
way, thickly-coated over, like slices OF
colossal bride-cake, with hard-trodden
frozen snow, and men, women and chill
dren murmured one 10 another, as they
rubbed their hands or drew their com
forters tight and tighter yet about their
ears, that there seemed indeed at
length some prospect OF enjoying u
Christmas of the good old sort, as in
1.-THE dear old times
Through the Fleet-stTeet crowd tall
emaciated woman pushes along as best
she may an old, weather-beaten dilapi-
dated piano-organ. mounted upon
wheels. Very close to the curb she
steers her course, because of the cabs
and carts and horses hoofs which men
ace her in terribly close proximity on
the one hand. and of the frowning Pc
destrians and grutf-yoiced myrmidons
of the law on the other, of whom she
stands, indeed, in yet deeper awe.
This woman wears a patched and
frayed threadbare velvet bodice, with
furnished metal buttons, and some
strings of colored beads about her
throat. Large brass rings in her ears,
and a scarlet cotton handkerchief fold
ed cornerwise across her head. are
vaguely designed to invest the WretChed
creature with some aroma OF foreign
interest; but she none the less first saw
the light in a miserable purlieu of Shelf
field. spent her infancy in the gutter,
childhood, youth and middle-age in due
course in the streets-the only home,
indeed. which it is ever likely she will
know unless she varies existence by a
spell of the union, hospital or Jail, ere
she shuffles off the mortal coil, and with
it red handkerchief, beads, and other
foreign attributes all at once.
Yet is it the trick of her trade TO re-
spond, "T'ankee, tankee.' as she drops
a curtsey on receipt OF halfpenny
from the generous paSser-by; and, II
Intercepted as TO her nationality, she
contents herself by an incOherent muir
muir of, Me no talkee English, sar.' or,
"Mees;n which species OF verbal CHI
cauery presumably conduces to larger
profits than a straightforward reply in
that L.v..j Yorkshire dialect which is
her native tongue.
The woman stops at last and glances
round: then, ''Greta' Greta'' she Kisses
in a low peculiar monotone. hast a
mind { be left lnafn heer: or Wilt
mus apOSTOpllsel, lean ILlplsn
figure which had come 10 standssill
some few PAGES IN the rear beside the
barrow Of lame vendor u h0; chest
nuts. gave sudden start as though q
pistOl-slOi had been discharged IN Gan.
ger0us proximity 10 us ear. linen STAN.
bed sulEl-y towards toe WOVEN. 5-y
I tO-eangeT ~ - the Enuek.s u ms
mouth. Us eyes sal. directed .---Z. "
towards tie glowing c1z-d,a 80. r.
with tie tln-t-zy Of c-zcra5 treasures
supported 1hyre
The woman waited urt.. 1Gs c1 q
head Was within cglyeE IL: tss1sr.ss e
her arm when STE struck on. sra. z..-
from the shoulder. N sporting rzr-
lance. and handed 4 Gslce la.-E hs-1s.
on the nape Of the girls neck
Then z bitter cry escaped The pCgl
blue l!ps. as much, nay surely more.
from beW!ldeTmsnt than PAIN. for Pain
Greta was well used 10 bear IN silence;
but now she positively reeled. half
stunned BY the uneXpecteGness Of tie
blow.
"Wheer's tn tambourine?" growled
the woman.
The girl held up this instrument OF
I warfare, which emitted tinkling pro.
test ere 1t was tucked away again be-
meath her arm. Just look wheer'st
.. goln,' or TIL be wurser fur ye.n the
, woman further supplemented, and then
pushed on as before; the girl-dehant
now, whilst her ear still tingled-tol.
lowed reluctantly.
Immediately in front Of the Frivolity
Theatre however, once again abe
paused; q brougham and pair had
j drawn up before the doors, and Greta's
' eyes caught so dazzling an apparition
In satin and lace within, that she forth.
with lodged under the very noses OF
the horses, and took up her stand open
eyed, open-mouthed, beside the snowy
wheel-regardless Of the magisterial
wave OF stout policeman's arm, in
tended as a peremptory Move on"
Then out she stepped, that radiant
being, with trailing silken draperies
and floating ribbons narrowly escaping
contact with the miry curb; her golden
plaits, in which great diamond butter
flies CLEANED and glistened, seeming to
weave nimbus around her queenly
head, the perfume Of the flowers in her
hand casting a subtle fragrance on the
surrounding frosty air.
Until this vision Of loneliness was
lost to view Greta remained literally
! unconscious OF the world beyond, and
not until the last fold Of those brocad-
ed-skirts disappeared within the en-
trance doors did the child's gaze revert
to a figure now beside her-the lady's
escort, a tall young Englishman, who
had returned for some forgotten trihe
In the carriage and now stood with his
hand upon the door, giving final direc-
tons to the coachman on the box.
Meanwhile he CHANGED TO jerk from
his buttonhole a white moss rosebud
and feathery fern, which fell at Gretas
feet--only, however, TO be instantly
rescued from, the mire by her eager