The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-02-09
was never sweet upon me-; we are first

he was somebody straight from home,
Perhaps she knew him. At any rate,
he must know John Dabney.; and she
found herself wondering what this
strangers important business might
be; but ut the thought of John her
'cld sorrow walked and cried" 1t was
such a mere trifle that had separated
them, "the little rift within the Lutte"
How foolish it had been, and yet how
irrevocable! How sorely she missed his
kindness, his presence, the right to
think of him as belonging to her! bow
bleak md barren the world seemed
without him! Life was ended for her;
that is, all that made life worth living
had left her; nothing signiiicd after
that; she could think of nothing that
she could substitute for his love; moth
ing in NIL the world could make amends
to her for all she had squandercd. and
she had a doubt if heaven would be
heaven without him. In the distrac-
ton of her thoughts h had walked on
till she was tired, and now she turned
back into the Altmarkct. How the
scene had changed! the people, the
shops, the carriages, were still there, to
be sure, and the figure of Germania in
the centre of the square still seemed to
soar into the violet heavens. 1t was all
another world by gaslight; such NEGRO
nancy had been wrought that Violet
could not tell which direction to take
toward home; so many cross lights puz-
Zled and blinded her. Everybody was
fastening h~omcward; everybody had
some one waiting and watching for his
approach, some m thinking of him.
Only she was forlorn and alone and
desolatc. She FORGOT that
"No wind could drive her bark astray,
Or change the tide of destiny"
Of course 1t would be impossible for
Violet to lose herself to-day in Dresden;
she laughs ut the idea; out ut that time
it was quite a different story. The Alt
markt, as everybody knows, is a square
leading out of it from each of its 70 r
Violet chose one of these streets; if it
were the Schlossstrasse through which
she had come to the Altmarkt, She knew
it would presently bring her i'm view of
the thoroughfare leading into the
Schlossplatz, where the glldcd groups
on the stairway of Bruhl's terrace would
show her that she was all right for
home. That was the only route she
knew. But after walking some dis
lance the street ended against a dark
and ~forbidding building; then she re-
traced her steps and hurried in the
opposite direction, into Wildruffcr-
~strasse, and rs this opens upon the Port
platz, she soon saw that she was wrong
again; always she returned to the Alt
markt, feeling that this was her only
guide and safety, as the street which
had brought her there must still lead
out Of it, unless some ~cnchantmcnt had
been ut work.
In her haste md excitement she ex-
plored one street after another without
hitting upon the right one, and, in fact,
following several of them more than
once before recognizing her mistake.
If it had been daylight she felt that all
would be we'll, the adventure would
have been delightful; but here, with
the clocks striking eight in the dark
ness, made more %perpleX1ng by the num-
bcrlcss lights, without Il German word
in her vocabulary, it was anything but
comfortable. Desperate at length, when
the Schlossstrasse really seemed to van
lsh out of existence, she accostcd a
woman and asked her way in English.
The woman smiled, and shook her head.
1t was of no use asking the way: no.
body understood her. She was hungry
and cold and faint. 1t seemed TO her
that she had been hunting for the
Schlossstrasse for hours, and might con-
tinue in that occupation all night if no
one came to her aid. There were the
droschkas, to be sure, drawn up in long
lines, waiting for passengers who never
seemed to arrive, the driver wrapped in
their blankets, smoking or sleeping con-
tentcdly; but she dared not take one,
even if she could nave made the driver
understand where she wished to 90. At
that time she did not know that o Ores
den droschka is as safe as ones roof.
tree. At last she paused in her mad
and despairing haste to beg help of a
gentleman with his wife upon his arm.
They stopped and listened, regarding
her compassionately. They answered
her IN broad German, and she replied in
effusive English. 1t seemed to her that
the woman began to regard her with
suspicion, to question if she were
a beggar, or what. The man opened
his purse. Violet shook her head, and
the tears sprang into her eyes. II have
lost my way" she persisted. .If I
could find the Terrace. should be all
right. ] know the way we'll from there"
While she spoke, somebody else stopped
and listened, arrested by her voice.
"Violet! Violet" somebody said.
close to her elbow; and Violet an
swered:
''Oh, John2 John! is it you2"
Eyes, it is /. I found I couldn't live
without YOU" And Violet was in his
arms, safe and happy, and the German
gentleman and his wife smiled at each
other and at Violet, who no longer saw
anybody in the crowded square but
John OabneY.-Hdrper's Rnznc.