Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-03-22

presence OF trooper NelSn, MHo Hdu
been formally "Sent 20 Leavcnworth. y
Corp. Brent had won his sergeants
chevronS, and was looking forward To
examination for promotion.
Everything was going blithely at the
post, but for the sadness that seemed 10
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 chill
dren all the fall and winter was telling
on her" wrote an old school friend, ana
when April came she was reported Ill,
though her own letters made no mention
NJ IL The family would move TO their
country seat in week, and she would
he so glad, she said. to see the trees and
birds again.
The first of May had come. The
lovely suburbs of busting 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 grassy lawn. Robin ana
bluebird, oriole and crested woodpecker
flashed and fitted through the sun
shine, now SplaShing in the basin oil the
fountain, now chasing each other in
chattering glee through the slanting
light and shadow The droRe of beetle
and hum OF dragon tlY fell soothingly
on the drowsy ear.
The little knot of Jerseys browsing In
the paddock down the eastward slope
huddied together Sleepily in a shaded
corner. The tennis court was deserted,
the malletS lay sprawle1 about the
croQuet ground, and pair OF Maltese
kittens that had been Scampering about
PLAYING hide and seek among the currant
| bushes, seeming at 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 picture-a tall girl with big dark
eyes and 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 II was
this that the foremost pussy. after
clambering by swift springs up the
pathway afforded by the trailing white
skirts, now impatiently paved TO one
side and curled herself up in its place;
there she was promptly Joined by her
PLAYMATE. Slowly the thin white hand
was lifted and gently Stroked the fur Of
/ the prptfV graceful creature.
1T is holiday for Us, isn't it Fluffy
kim" murmured the girl. The chill
dren and doggy both gone, and its al
most time for us To be thinking Of tea
tea all alone. There's the whistle Of
the sunset train now
For 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. \ 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 with
out 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.
surely there should be another letter
from Mabel tonight; this one is week
old now" said Portia. But, old rs it
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:
MIR Hearn has been gone week
now, and we miss him sadly. He had
almost made his home here with US
during the winter, and rarely spent an
evening anywhere else. His father :
death seems TO have been very sudden,
and il was a great shock. He has a
months leave, with permission to apply
for an extension. Georgia-Portia-I
could say so much, so very much, if you
would only listen. II you would only
release me from that promise. l was
thinking but yesterday how | blessed
the day that my pride broke down and
gave me Fred and happiness. Some
times | cannot but think that only
pride-fooliSh, unwarrantable pride
stands between you and life as blessed
as my own
Impatiently the letter was hurled up
on the grass, and, half turning, Georgia
buried her wan face on her arm. or
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 sor-
row. 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 dropped all
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 to the mOurnful influence Of the
dying day, Georgia Marshall wept I'M
reStrainedly-w while great SObS
shook her frame; and while fluffy kit
ten, disturbed in her intended nap,
stretched forth furry paw and
lifted up "A querulous note of remon-
STRANGE. her companion. suddenly dis