San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-03-04

penses, and | should not get the smallest
salary for at least two or three years"
81 am afraid we must not think of that,
Merle;" and then | relapsed into silence
from sheer sadness of heart | had al
ways so longed to be trained in a hospital,
and then l could nurse wounded sol
diers or little children. | always loved
little children.
But this idea must be given up; and yet
1t would not have mattered in a hospital
if had spelled "all right" with one a."
am quite sure my bandages would have
been considered perfect, and that would
have been more to the point.
CHAPTER IAN UNPREACHED SERMON.
Such an odd thing happened few min
utes afterward. | was sitting quite quiet
ly in my corner, turning over in my mind
all the arguments with which | had as
sailed Aunt Agatha that Sunday after
noon, and watching the pink glow of the
freight in contrast to the whiteness of
the snow outside, when the door bell rang,
and almost the next moment Uncle Keith
came into the room.
| suppose he must have overlooked me
entirely, for he went up to Aunt Agatha
and sat down beside her.
Sweetheart he said, taking her hand,
and should hardly have recognized his
voice, 81 have been thinking about you
all the way home, and what a pleasant
sight my wifes face would be after my
long walk through the snow and" But
here Aunt Agatha must have given him
warning look, for he stopped rather alb
ruptly and said, "Hir-rumph" twice over,
and Aunt Agatha blushed just as though
she were "a girl.
| could not help laughing little to N.Y.
self as went ont of the room to tell Pa
thence TO bring in the tea, and yet that
sentence of Uncle Eeith's touched me
somehow. Were middle-aged people capa-
BILE of that sort of love? Did youth linger
so long in them? | had imagined those
two such a staid, matter -of-fact couple;
they had come together so late in life that
one never dreamed of any possible ro-
nance in such cOurtShip, and yet he
could call Aunt Agatha sweetheart" in
voice that was not the least drawing.
At that moment one would not have called
him so plain and Insignificant with that
kind look on his face. suppose he keeps
that look for Aunt Agatha, for | remem-
Der she once told me that she had never
seen such good face as Uncle Keith's,
mot handsome, Merle but so thoroughly
good"
Patience was tOasting the mullins in
her bright little kitchen, so | sat down
and watched her. | was rather partial
to Patience; she was pretty, neat looking
creature, and | always thought it a great
pity that she was engaged to a Journey
man bOot-maker, who aspired to be a
preacher. never could approve of Reu-
ben Locke, though Aunt Agatha spoke
we'll of him; he was such a weak pale
faced young man; and / think a man, to
be one, ought to have some spirit in
him, and not possess only the wOmanish
virtues
How is Reuben, Patiencc?' | asked,
somewhat amiaby, just for the pleasure
of seeing our little landmarks dimples
come into view.
"Reuben's but poorly, miss" replied
Patience. as she buttered another smok-
ing muffin, the last of the pile. HE
was preaching at Whitechapel the other
night. and caught cold and sore throat;
his mother says he will not be at chapel
tonight"
81 do not approve of street preaching
Indeed. miss" replied Patience, inno-
Gently, as she prepared to carry in the tea
tray. Reuben always tells me that the
apostles were street preachers, and Reu-
ben is as clear rs Gospel in what he says"
But here the drawing room bell broke off
PatienCe's argument, and left me some
what worsted | went to church by my
self that evening, and | am ashamed to
say ! heard very little of the sermon. |
knew Aunt Agatha would be taking adj
vantage of my long absence to retail what
she termed my prepOsterous scheme to
Uncle Keith. and that | should have the
benefit of his opinion on my return, and
this thought made me restless.
was not wrong in my surmiSe. Aunt
Agatha looked a little pale and subdued,
as though she had been shedding a few
tears over my delinquencies. but Uncle
Keith was simply inscrutable; when he
chose, his face could present a perfect
blank.
"Hirrumph, my dear what is this
your aunt tells me, that you are going to
Princes Gate tomorrow morning to offer
your services as nurse in gentleman's
family"
Yes, Uncle Keith"
do you mean to tell me seriously that
you have really made up your mind to
take this step?"
Oh am quite serious, assure YOU"
Your aunt's objections and mine do
not count for much, them"
81 should be sorry to go against your
wishes or Aunt Agatha's," l returned,
trying to keep cool; but his manner, as