Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-04-30

grays, Georgia Marshall had vanished
from the scene.
Presently Kenyon took long leave
and disappeared. Having it out with
his newspaper friends in Chicago was
Martins suggestion. But the next thing
heard of him he had turned up in Gin
cinnati and Mabel knew well what that
meant, and waited with bated breath.
For month there came no further news.
and then he was reported at st. Angus
tine, more grabbed than ever.
Then he, too, has been rejected, = said
Mabel. And she was right. Kenyon
did not rejoin until long after the Christ
mas holidays.
Old Blauvelt by this time had been
sent before the retiring board, which
recommended him for permanent shelly
ing, and he was still on leave until the
needed vacancy should occur Hearn
meantime remained in command Of his
troop, no longer encumbered by the
presence Of Trooper Welsh, who had
been formally ''sent to Leayenworth. >
Corp. Brent had won his sergeant's
chevrons. and was looking forward to
examination for promotion.
Everything was going blithely at the
post, but for the sadness that seemed to
have clouded one young soldiers life.
and for the anxious look on Mabel Lanes
face when Portia was asked for, as
Portia often was. Teaching children
all the fall and winter was telling on
her," wrote an old school friend, and
when April came she was reported i'll,
though her own letters made no mention
of it. The family would move to their
country seat in week, and she would
be so glad, she said, to see the trees and
birds again.
The first of May had come. The
lovely suburbs of bustling city were
shrouded in the richest, freshest green.
The sweet breath Of the early summer,
laden with the perfume of lilac and
honeysuckle and Of myriad blossoms,
was signing through the foliage of a
park of grand old trees and ripping the
surface Of a grassy lawn. Robin and
bluebird, oriole and crested woodpecker
flashed and fitted through the sunshine,
now splashing in the basin of the fount-
ain, now chasing each other in chatter
ing glee through the slanting light and
shadow. The drone Of beetle and hum
of dragon fly fell soothingly on the
drowsy ear.
The little knot of Jerseys browsing in
the paddock down the eastward slope
huddled together sleepily in shaded
corner. The tennis court was deserted,
the mallets lay sprawled about the
croquet ground, and pair Of Maltese
kittens that had been scampering about
playing hide and seek among the currant
bushes, seemed ut last overcome by the
dangerous spell in which all nature was
hushed, and with the confidence of kit
tenhood proceeded to Chamber into the
slowly swinging hammock. hung well
back in the shade, wherein was reclining
the one human being visible in the en-
tire pieture-a tall girl with big dark
eyes and a wealth Of somber braids of
hair-a girl whose soft cheeks were al
most as thin and pale as the slender white
hands loosely clasping an open letter that
lay in her lap. And it was this that the
foremost pussy, after clambering by
swift springs up the pathway afforded
by the trailing white skirts, now impa-
tiently paved to one side and curled her
self up in its place; there she was
promptly joined by her playmate. Slow
ly the thin white hand was lifted and
gently stroked the fur of the pretty,
graceful creature.
1T is holiday for us, isn't it, Fluffy
kim" murmured the girl. 1.-The children
and doggy both gone, and it's almost
time for us to be thinking of tea-tea all
alone. There's the whistle of the sunset
train now"
For a moment the wooded slopes on
both sides of the valley echoed to the
rattle of the incoming cars. the sharp
hiss Of steam, the distant sound of voices
at the little station down the winding
village street, arched over with rustling
foliage. Then the clang Of the bell and
the hurrying engine again pushed north
ward, impatient Of delay. A few light
carriages and pony phaetons came driv
ing swiftly by; few of the occupants
waved hand or handkerchief to the re-
clining figure in the hammock, but far
more passed by ON the other side without
a sign or token, and presently silence
and solitude again settled down upon
the shaded lawn, and the last rays of the
westering sun kissed the tree tops good
night and slowly died away.
S'Surely there should be another letter
from Mabel tonight; this one is week
old now,'' said Portia But, old as il
was, there seemed one page which de-
served re-reading, and the white hands
sought and found the letter and lifted il
before her eyes:
''Mr. Hearn has been gone a week
now, and we miss him sadly. He hao
almost made his home here with us dur
ing the winter, and rarely spent an even
ing anywhere else. His fathers death
seems to have been very sudden. and il
was a great shock. He has months
leave, with permission to apply for an
extension. Georgia - Portal could
say so much, so very much, if you would
only listen. IL you would only release
me from that promisel | was thinking
but yesterday how blessed the day that
my pride broke down and gave me Fred
and happiness. Sometimes cannot but
think that only pride-foolish, unwar-
rantable pride-stands between You and
a life as blessed as my own"
Impatiently the letter was hurled upon
the grass, and, half turning, Georgia
buried her wan face on her arm. OF
what was she thinking? Surely those
were hot tears trickling through the
long white fingers; surely there was
little evidence Of stubborn pride in the
abandonment of that silent, lonely
sorrow. All day she had been at leisure,
the family and children away in town,
and, though neither her duties had been
very onerous nor the trials of her new
position very great, she had drooped ali
winter long. This was the first real day
of rest; yet, with all its sweetness and
sunshine had it not been full of tears?-
full of vague unrest and longing? And
now even the sunshine was going, and
the cleaning was slowly settling down
upon the valley.
Far over the eastern heights the sill
very shield Of the soft May moon was
peeping into view; but the fairy shafts
Of her gentle light could not yet pene-
trate the gathering gloom here in the
grove where swung the hammock. Still
the hot tears came trickling down be-
tween the white fingers and, yielding
at last tn the mOuruful influence