Griggs courier., 1888-06-01

came. She grew nervous: sleep and alpe- /
tite failed her, but not her courage. She
was i'll Virginia now. and took the train at
length to come to fredericksburg The
spring was here; the air was full Of it.
She vaguely wondered if it was this
that gave her such a feeling of languoran
made her so drowsy. Occasionally. as she
lifted her heavy lids, she became conscious
of the watchful gaze of u pair of Keen.
dark eyes. She wondered vaguely if any
thing was amiss in her attire to attract at
tention, and lapsed again into drowsiness.
the flush of fever deepening on her check.
Presently the conductor passed through
the car, and the owner of the dark eyes,
who was also the owner of an empty sleeve,
touched his arm and engaged him in =
whispered conversation, which. from their
glances. concerned the sleeping lady. In
a moment or two the conductor took the
vacant seat at her side, and. after address
ing her twice without response, shook her
her arm gently, with the result only
OF causing her to open, for a moment, eyes
that seemed already too dull for seeing.
Another whispered conversation with the
dark-eSed gentleman, whom the conductor
courteously addressed as Colonel. and lit
tie later, when the train stopped at Holly
Springs, Colonel and conductor together
half led and half lifted the fevered trav-
eler from the train, into IL waiting carriage
which presently rolled away into the dusk.
And that was the end OF Kate Wilton's
pilgrimage. 1t was mid-April when she
opened her eyes languidly upon the room
where for weeks she had moaned and
tossed in pain and muttered in delirium.
She looked moment at the pleasant-faced,
white e-hared lady who sat at work in a low
chair; at tall dark man with an
empty sleeve, who stood by the ladys
side; her gaze wandered over the appoint
ments of the room, and then the eyes
closed again, and she sank into a restful
sleep. The lady, who had watched her in
silence. rose and bent over her moment,
and then. crossing to her son, said THE
danger is over; she will recover, When
she wakes again she will be, conscious.
truly hope that, as all our inquiries have
failed to discover any friend who was in
terestcd in her or waiting her coming. so
no unpleasant results or serious shock
may follow when she learns of her long
sickness and detention" Kate did get
we'll, but her recovery was very slow
When good Mrs. Gardiner. with kindly in
tonation and many motherly caress,
told her how she came to be among
strangers, the tears that flowed were tears
of gratitude and thankfulness. The kind
ness and devotion shown to her.
stranger touched her deeply. and won up
on her loving nature. She grew accus-
toned to the coming and going of = Alex
as his mother called him, simply as if he
were yet boy. and received with glad
humility the kindnesses that were showered
on her Little by little she told the story OF
her life, her love and pilgrimage. The at
mosphere about her seemed so restful she
felt such a strange content in her helpless
ness and dependence that she began to ask
herself if she were too content; if she had
grown disloyal to the dead. 1t was one of
the things that troubled her, that the past
really seemed dead now; not forgotten, but
dead; and buried as it should have been
long ago. She had tried to embalm her
dead and keep it with her as living thing.
Now it was buried. Often she tried to
renew her grasp upon the old, but it eluded
her. 1t seemed impossible, in this new at
mosphere, to rehabilitate that old life.
Perhaps, she thought. when | go away, the
old feeling will return. But did she wish
it to return: Was it not better buried,
since it was dead: Often she questioned
herself in this wise after one of the
Colonel's daily visits. visits she had grown
to look for and expect There was q
mighty magnetism about the man. He was
so courteous, so unobtrusve. He seemed
to divine her wishes and ministered as
thoughtfully rs gently to her wants. One
day he had dropped Il bouquet of her favorite
roses on the coverlid OF the bed. How
did he know the flowers she best loved."
But this was the South: this man was
one of his mnrderers. Nay, she
had been un just: wrong he may
have been, but never wicked So she vexed
strove to reconcile tine past and present of
her life. Strange, that we will not be con
tent to follow nature without this attempt
at reconriling the differences of her dis
pensatiols. With her SLOW convalescence
came the month of May. She was able to
rise now and to walk Il little, and passed
much of the pleasant morning upon the
cool shady veranda. upon which Eer Win
dows opened. There. among the climbing
roses. the color came back to her cheeks
and the brightness to her eyes. She began
to talk of the time of her return to the
North, From the edge of the veranda the
large garden stretched away, as yet unex-
plored for her, save only when she had taken
brief tour among the flowers leaning
ON the Coloners arm. "Do you know what
day this is!" said the Colonel one day,
when Kate was beginning to feel that no
excuse was le1C nef 1Or tne lAdOlence OF
invalidsm. 1T is the thirtieth. isn't it,"
she said. A flush came to her face. 1t was
Memorial Day, and she had forgotten. The
grave in the village graveyard in the North
rose up before her; land - she thought
sit in the house of the enemy" Yet she
felt the thought was foolish; there was no
enemy Come with me, said the Colonel,
presently, "you have never been to the end
OF the laurel walk. and have some thing
there to show you. There was certain
seriousness in his manner, and he was un-
usually silent as they walked slowly down
between the laurels. They paused at
the end of the walk. where was an
open space bordered about with low shrubs
In the center of this inclosure two graves
lay close together, the narrow path that led
between alone dividing them. She looked
at them in surprise. and then glanced ques-
tioningly at her companion.
"You WONDER he said. what these
graves are and why l brought YOU here!
Sit down a moment on this bench and
will tell you. l had a brother, sn only
brother. who fell at my side at Petersburg
There was no time to halt or help, for we
were driven back by an impetuous rush of
the soldiers of the Union. At night we