The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1889-04-04
The Flower Jessie Planted.

= going Tor Rugby, Lancaster, Cat
. lisle and the North" And then On
last gentleman, who had left hi
A railway bag TO keep his corner seal
4 and had fied 10 secure Q neWspape
. or book for the beguiling Of hi
: journey, was hastily locked In, an
. the last trunk wa hoisted to u
. plsee above Its owners head, en-
> the last ladder was Withdrawn ~ Tn
: lsmp-trimmer came down from hi
1 duty; and laughter at one window
and Handwriting from another, aui
/ parting tears at another, were los
! In the shrill whistle from the engine
Under cover Of which we gllded on
of the handsome precincts OF Eustol
, square station.
say, I'VE" for was not alone Il
the comfortable first-elas carriage o
the northern-bound train on tina
pleasant July morning. In the Othe
corner was lady, evidently prepared
as wa, for . long iourney-PrePar
ing, I should say, for her arrange
ments took some time TO complete.
My reflections on that July day
were very happy ones. None enjoy
holiday 80 much ~ those who
leave behind them busy hOme-life
aud tee months OF plenty to do,
whether In q sclioolroOm, la an
office, or a. Il happened to be In my
case, In q town parish, forms an
excellent background for the enjoy.
ment Of summer vacations. Then,
having left London amid the fare
wells Of kind friends, 10 was pleasant
to feel, as we few through the
counties, aud shrieked through the
tunnels, peeped out at the pot
teries, aud called up remembrances
Of English history In Warwieksliire
and Lancaster, and skirted the
picture gallery Of the lake country,
aud Weakened the border echoes past
merry Carlisle, that each minute
was bringing nearer the greeting Of
other friends, snd that In . few hours
more welcomes In kind Scotch
voices, and bedside visits to little
| sleeping children, aud interchanges
Of happy intercourse after long sep
| aration, would close In the hours Of
the long days journey.
could not have impaired these
pleasant antielpations to my friend
| In the other corner Of the carriage;
for she had told me that for her
no one would be looking out when
she would arrive that evening In
her country home south Of Glasgow.
She had been for long years In Ja-
msca, and her husband was there
still, and was Ill, and she could not
get to him. She had been staying
with her sister in the suburbs Of
London, q sister who was happily
settled with husband and children;
but another sister, Jessie, the com.
panion of her childhood and youth,
was not In England. She Was far
away, over the wide seas; aud my
travelling companion, who had her
self returned from the West Indies
to recover from the effects OF the
yellow fever was very lonely. She
thought she might never see either
her husband or Jessie again. She !
had left In st. Johns Wood the
relatives who best cared for her In |
England; and almost everyone
whom she had best loved Ia her
native Scotland had either died or |
left the neighborhood.
But Jessie's absence was the sore
trouble. Jessie. who had been like |
twin sister, aud who now would
have been her Communion and sun
port: and I, who had only a abort
time before taken y joyful fare well
of NV own family, whom hoped In
two months TO meet again, tried to
show my sympatby for my lonely
acausIntance In every way that I
could think OF, from the assurance
of concern for Jessie's absence, to
the request proffered Of Stafford that
she would regard nv basket Of
strawberries as her own.
said that we were alone in our
railway carriage; hut my friend
would hardly have allowed this to
be A true abatement. Early In our
tourney she had withdrawn from
beneath the opposite seat a small
fiower-pot containing a tiny plant;
N. indeed, such A very Insignificant
looking stem, bearing two such very
unimportant leaves. might he digni-
fed by the name of plant at all.
And this cherished object Of her
care was treated with a. much ten
der consideration throughout our
Journey az II 1t had been the rarest
Of hothouse flowers from one Of the
many eonservatories which we
passed by on the right and on the
left.
"You have some rare plants, I
suppose, Lual YOU are IAklnE north |
with you?" said.
"Not altogether rare" was the
reply, in scotch accents; I'D maybe
find many such another In Glasgow
but its lust q cutting from their gar
den In Il. Johns Wood, aud its from
A flower that Jessie planted when
she was In England. tn seem like
company," she repeated, once more
the tiny fiower-pOt from
the draught, ''to see It growing in
The garden, and to think It's from
the flower Jessie planted"
My railway acquaintance has
probably by this time completely
forgotten her felIOv-traveIer Of four
years ago, and more than probably
has quite ceased to recall that brief
concerning the small two
Ieaved nursling on the seat before
her, which II now, have no doubt,
. plant Of size and Importance In
.ome west country garden, and In q
position to afford cuttings Of it's
1wn to anyone who might desire
hem. But Il hes not been 50 with |
her companion. After our farewells
II Carlisle, and IS, alone In q fresh
railway carriage, I sped through the
border country, with its traditions
II feud, re- and foray, aud caught
,ound OF the Scotch tongue
It Galashiels, and sight of fair Mel I
'ose ss the end Of the days travel
rev near, found myself thinking &
" the chance words she had let fail;
md many times since I have found I