Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1885-01-22

able pile, and as Hittie placed the last
one on the table, she was overwhelmed
at the number Of them.
She felt sudden desire to read them
again-the letters that she had read and
re-read, in by-places and dark corners,
until she knew them all by heart; but at
the first sight Of that well-known, scraw-
ly handwriting, her pale face grew whittier
ana low moan escaped her.
ssYou are so different. Hittie, from
these city girls"
Yes. That was it. And because she
was SO different because she was only
rustic-her Tom had left her.
She gathered up her skirt in front OF
her, and threw all the letters into its
folds. As she turned to go downstairs,
she noticed that the sun had set, but she
cared nothing for the tender pink glow
that had settled over the bare brown
earth. The darkness that had settled
over her own heart obscured everything
else.
little sped down the old worn stair
case and out into the kitchen. There
was no one there. A bright fire cracked
and glowed in the stove. In another
moment, all the letters signed ssYour
own faithful Tom, !" were blazing away
there, too She could not bear to see
them burn or even to hear their mocking
roar as they kindled; she caught ashawl
from its nail by the door and rushed out
into the open air. She was tempted to
hurry back and rescue the letters which
were almost as dear to her as Tom him
self, but she stoutiy resisted the feelin g
and resolutely pushed on towards the
pine grove at the back of the house.
When she had reached it, she wan
dered aimlessly on. Life without Toni
Why all her hopes, her ambitions, her
very thoughts had centered for so many
years about Tom, that it seemed to her
that the best part of herself had
died. But it hadn't. She must live on
and on, perhaps until she was an old
woman-and without Toni
And then into her hot, resentful, an
guished heart, the tempter came. No
body cared for hernow. Nobody would
miss her. There would be little talk
nine days wonder, after she was found,
but what mattered it? She would be at
rest. She would not have to bear the
burden of lifelong sorrow. And per-
haps Tom would hear of it, and know
why it had been done, and care-just q
little.
She wandered on, following a brook
which came down from the lodges,
tangled with wild growth of bare
clematis, fox-grapes, elders and su-
mach.
By and by her shapely foot, for Hittie
was a comely maiden, hit something
which gave forth metallic ring. She
looked down and stopped. 1t was the
railroad track. Why was this not as easy
a way as any? It would be only mo-
ment-and then, rest and peace.
As the last lingering rays Of twilight
fell on the scene, Hittie sat down on the
railroad track and waited doggedly. In
the town Of Huckleberry there was not
another SO pretty girl. But disap-
pointed affection is not measured in pro-
portion to the avoirdupois of its victim,
and the storm Of passionate grief which
had robbed Hittie of self-control was
just as genuine as though she had been a
mere skeleton with detection written on
every line of her features.
The darkness deepened slowly, and
Hittie still waited. By and by shrill
far-off whistle was heard, and again,
coming nearer
Hittie rose from her low seat, and
ound her way to the track. She stopped
down to feel the rails. She made sure
very carefully, that she was between the
two lines of rails, and then she bent still
fower, and laying her head down on one
Of them, buried it in her shawl.
The train came tearing along, its great
red eye cleaning nearer and nearer.
Hittie had never known what it was to
tremble at danger and she did not finch
now. A moment-and all would be
over. And then the huge, screaming
engine was close upon her. Hittie closed
her eyes.
About two minutes afterward, Hittie
sat up very straight and stared blankly
at the train fast disappearing down the
valley. What was the mattef9 She felt
of herself her arms, her body, herhead,
trying to make out whether she was
alive, or if she were dreaming. Then
she rose to her feet with most disguised
expression of countenance. For the
rising moon, which just now swung it.
self clear from the horizon, revealed the
fact that she had been vainly Offering
herself as sacrifice on side-track only
used during the summer months, while
the train bad whizzed by, six feet to the
right, on the main line.
There was great deal of decision ex-
pressed in Hittie's straight figure as she
walked rapidly back toward her home a
quarter Of a mile away. If her eyes had
assumed hollow and sunken appearance
in the twilight, they blazed now, with
indignant self reproach.
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