Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-05-31


hoping that every blue shirted figure in the
distance would prove to be Tom; but he came
not. The third morning she ventured to asl;
one of the workmen at the shop concerning
her Young friends whereabouts. All he knew
was that Kelly had given up his job. Four
days, five days, week, two weeks, passed,
and still no Tom.
''What do you Think" said Mary Ann on
one of her calls at the cabin; Jimmy Dolan
says that Tom Kelly has run away"
The girl did not know what her mother
knew, but she was piqued at her lovers unac-
countable desertion.
Jimmy Dolan have right to hold his
tongue about his betters," retorted the
mother, sharply.
She was sad at heart, but she bore the
trouble l in grim silence ;:
Winter was an early and oppressive visitor
to the city that year. Uptown pedestrians
battled feebly with the gusts as they crept
around the corners of the wind swept thor
oughfares, and told themselves that SO severe
winter was never known before Mrs. Ma
gllinnis complained a great deal i'll these days
Of the cache in her bones" Her customers
noticed that she had quite lost her old time
spirit, and did not attempt to cross swords
with them when they INDUCED in little pleas
antries at her expense. 1t was remarked that
she was absent from her stand much oftener
than formerly. In the opinion OF the neigh
bors the old lady was fast going to pieces, :"
as they forcibly put it, and they hazarded
guess that the profits from her business were
very small.
Meanwhile it Jared i'll with Mary Ann
Her lovers strange absence had wrought a
woful change in the once careless girl. AT
first she affected pert Indifference. If Mr.
Kelly did not care for her there were others
who did, she declared with toss of her pref
ty head. But as the weeks went by and
brought no news of Tom, the memory of his
many virtues began to tug painfully at her
heart strings She recalled his tenderness
and his patience with her hayward moods,
and bitterly reproached herself for her ca
PRECIOUS treatment of him. Her coquettish
airs were all gone; she no longer took delight
in smart gowns and ribbons, and her eyes
were red with much weeping She had dis
missed Mr. Dolan; she couldn't bear the sight
of him. she said.
About this time Mr.. Follansbee having, by
bold stroke in Wall street, added pretty
penny to his fortune, decided to take his fam
lily abroad; and SO the house on the avenue
was closed and the furniture was shrouded
in brown holland, and Mary Ann went to live
in her mothers cabin
ooh, mother, mother" she sobbed, 'he's
dead, I know he is, and l drove him away
with me foolishness.'
''Be aisy darlin', be aisy," answered the
old woman in a choking voice. She had no
word of comfort to offer, and did not seek to
combat this view of the case. She had tried
to believe that Tom was dead, 1t was better
than the other.
Of course when Tom came back, for you
must have known all along that he would
come back, he took them completely by sur
prise 1t was wild, wintry night, with bit
ing wind and falling snow, but not night to
be feared by those with glad hearts and COM
Portable homes. From the great shop win
dows the light streamed in cheerful glow
across the whitened pavementS Muffled fig
ures hurried along in fond anticipation of the
JOYOUS welcomes that awaited them in many
happy household.
Alas, there was little cheer for the two lone
women in the Shantytown cabin. They sat
in silence, crouching over the small fire and
listening to the beating storm.
Was that knock at the door? Yes, now
it comes louder, and Tom bursts in-Tom,
with a white, thin face, and his curly hair
cropped close, but still Tom. And in a mo-
ment Mary Ann was in his arms, and Mrs.
Maguinnis from surcharge Of joy, came .'as
near faintin' away entirely as ever she did in
her life" as she expressed it.
And then Tom told how he had been sud
denly summoned to Chicago to show his in
vention to some people there; how the ma
chine had proved an emphatic success; how
he was coming back to astonish them with
his good luck, but was taken i'll on the eve OF
departure and lay unconscious at deaths
door for weeks; and how now a company
was to employ him to make the machines and
give him percentage of the profits arising
from their sale All this and much more
Tom related, as he sat with his arms around
Mary Ann, while the widow lowered over
them like a blessed spirit.
How happy they were Only an old Irish
apple woman and two young lovers in hum
BILE walks of life But doubt if any brown
stone front on the avenue sheltered gladdei
group than that in the widows cabin this
bleak winter evening.
Tom built a neat little cottage out Harlem
way and insisted that his mother-in-laW
should retire from business and make hel
home with him and Mary Ann. Mrs. Maguin
mis- gave a reluctant consent.
SIT do be pity to give up the stand" she
said, ''an' that as fine a one as there be in the
whole cityl"-Frank II. Perkins in Boston
Globe. -