News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-12-30


= well-ftting dress, that showed her beau
: full figure to perfection. She wore ne
e ribbons to relieve her sable gown, but
a great bunch of blood-red roses. l dom
think that ], for a moment, was ever
= more surprised, since | had selected
from my bowl the white ones fol
} Charley. Of course, the next moment
came the only solution to the mystery
S Charley's red roses must have arrived,
l after all, and my lovely white ones were
| cruelty sacrificed. After all, that is the
l common fate of old people when they
e are too ardent in their offer OF
= help to the young. had robbed my
parlor of my bowl of roses and had
: foolishly sacrificed kind friends Christ
mas gift.
Charley's hammer had a vicious sound
! Talk of wOman's never hitting a nail
on the head-judging from Charley
blows, a sailor is not a whit more for
tunate. And not only my young kins-
mans carpentry, but his manners, were
atrocious. He scarcely spoke to any
one, gave what few services he was
called upon to make, grudgingly; and
was altogether most disagreeab!e. His
usually pleasant cheerfulness had, like
Bob Acres courage, oozed out of his
finger ends. His going to sea next day
accounted for his low spirits; but his
loss of temper needed different render
ing. And our good-na ured goSsips
were not long in finding it. Since he,
with much ostentation, kept away from
Mary Sinclair, it was patent that he
had discovered that she had been fiirt-
ing with him, and that all of their sur
reptitious meetings had only been a
passing amusement to her. The sym
pathy was with Charl y; and his man
ners, for which l blushed, were, under
the trying circumstances, excusable. l
have always held that the highest COM
pliment paid to a woman is that she
is never apologized for. Condemned she
often is; but when she fails she is con-
sidered a ruin; which means that a
failure is not so very common that the
world grows used to it.
And Mary-well, she worked dill
gently, and perhaps only a near OBJ erver
would have noticed she was nervous.
She was busy in one of the transeps,
and Fred Hastings not only helped her,
but looked pre- eminently happy. Why,
| puzzled me; for / was never one to
doubt cause and effect; and besides, |
heard Mary give him such a decided
snub, that nothing but transcendent
| hope could have tided him over it. AL
together, l was sorely perplexed, and
began to think peace on earth was the
holy angels wish rather than a reality
'Miss Alethea, what can Mary meanP
asked Eveleen, in great distress. "She
wears Charley's roses, and then firts
with Fred Hastings"
''Does she wear Charley's roses? l at
first thought she did; but judging from
my kinsman's behavior, l am sure they
are not his. And also from young Hast
ings' manner l rather opine he is the
giVer.n
''But, Miss Alethea, if they were Fred
Hastings, Mary would not wear them.
Even if she cared for him, she would
not treat Charley so tonight said Eve |
leen. "And besides, why should Fred |
chance to send roses today
"Just because it is to-day. Why, I |
have had a Christmas gift of them my
self-a gift I appreciated, but foolishly
---I~saw- EXeleen Looked -peTplexsdl. ----v--.
There is q mistake somewhere" I
explained. ''Only don't intend to put
it upon Mary, until know must. She
wears her red roses Loyalty, even if under
a mistake" - -- 4...s E> Il
..sBut think how awfully unlucky, if'I
Charley should sail under misappre-
began Eyeleen.
EsN hich he must not do."- t-- i
Just then Charley came 10 where we
were.
'Cousin-"i hesaid, quite calmly -'I
am going to leaye in the earliest train
tomorrow, and-"
NWill have no Ch istmas service, and
no dinner" interrupted. ''Wen at
least you shall not miss ny Christmas |
gift, which l intend shall be quite valu
able. If you are tired, you can go over
home; and if you want to smoke, you
can light the gas in the dining room. /
will come as soon as | can; and if you
want my blessing and an old woman's
Christmas gift wait till l come"
Charley went away making no prom
ises. I grew tired and impatient before
the church was dressed: for the clock in |
the tower struck twelve just as we finish
ed. AS the new day rang in, all of our
busy workers gathered round the organ
and sang the Gloria in Excelsis, the
great Christian hymn. 1t sounded sweet, |
though a little weird, as 1t fioated through |
the dark, empty church, seemingly all the |
darker in its heavy shrouding of green. |
was sitting in a front pew close to |
the chancel. The transepts were in |
complete darkness. "ThOu that takest |
away the sins of the world, have mercy" |
sounded like wall through the empty |
church. l thought | heard a sob quite |
near me; and putting out my hand, /
touched bowed head. Some one was |
kneeling in the side pew. Atmy touch,
the head was quickly raised, and my
hand fell on the soft petals of roses.
MARY | whispered -'come home |
with me. have something to say to
you"
She at once rose obediently. I could |
hear her footstep on the brick aisle as
we together stole out of the chur h |
into the churchyard. The great, |
triumphant words of the angels
hymn seemed to follow-"Thou only art |
holy, Thou only art the Lord" Islipped |
my hand through Mary's arm, and hur-
ried her on. A moment more, and Fred |
Hastings deep bass would cease, and he |
would be hunting for her.
Had you no other roses to wear to-
night2" / asked. abruptly. being well |
out of the church-yard and making a |
rapid and oblique transit over the green |
toward my own domicile.
Mrs. Tracy sent me some white ones, "
said Mary, inditferently.
"Mrs. Tracy?"
eyes, do you not remember when we
went through her conservatory last week |
and admired the white roses2 Well, |
she sent me great bunch. knew them |
at once"
"Oh! you did! Yet you are mistak-
en-. l sent you the roses, orrather Char
lie did"
"And the red roses?" she asked breath
lessly.
"Well, of course can't say; but from
observation l think they were young
Hastings Christmas gift. Quite nicely
thought off, I added IN appreciation.
And then, having reached my own thres
hold, | added, "Come in my dear. |
have a gift which might as we'll give
you now, since it is really Christmas
morning.
'It is so very late, " she said, demur-
ring on my doorstep, which is so hOspi-
ably low had no trouble in drawing
her into my tiny hall; and then l shut
her in.
The odor of tobacco smoke was not to
be denied. A stranger would have con
victed NE of smoking. Just then | pre-
ferred the Odor TO that of roses or any
other blossom, Charlie was waiting for
me. lie did not see who was with me