Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1892-03-26
ELLIE'S DELAY.
ny ]. P. MAY,

Mis- Langham stood on the Neranda,
looking down into the garden. Ellie.
Ellie, where are you, Come here want
you.
A merry little girl Of IA dartei out
rom under the dropping branches of the
chestnut trees.
"Yes, mamma, here am. What is it?"
And she skipped into the pretty little
sitting room. with a shower of pink
chestnut blossoms clinging to her hair
"I have Just received letter from
gour Uncle Frank, said Mrs. Langham,
he has arrived from New Zealand az
asst, and is in London.
"Oh, how niceln cried Ellie; he will
come down this afternoon with papa,
won't her"
"That is what I should like. And l
want you to go to the postoffice to tele-
graph to your father not to come by the
a25 train, but to look up your uncle at
lis hotel, and bring him down by later
train. have written the message down,
and all you will have to do is to copy it
on TO a telegraph form, and IL you write
plainly, there can be no mistake.
"Very well, mamma, said Ellie, leav-
ing the room TO put on her hat and
jacket.
"And be quick, child, said her mother,
"for you have only half an hour to spare,
IL your father is to have the telegram in
time"
In few minutes Ellie was speeding
along the dusty road leading to the viii
lage, which was some distance from the
Langham House. There were. however,
one or two large houses scattered along
the road and at one OF these dwelt the
Raes, great friends OF the Langhams.
Mary Rae, child Of Ellie's age, was the
latter's school fellow and bosom friend.
As she passed the house now. who should
be standing at the gate but Mary herself
why, Ellie, you're just the person
wanted to see; | meant to come fuI y,ll
in little Will. Ada's wedding filings
are here, and they are SO lovely. Do go
and look at them.-they're all laid out in
her room.
I'm in such hurry, said Ellie, i've
got a telegram to send off. I'll look in
when come back.
"Oh, nonsense, said Mary, it won't
take you two minutes, and you can make
up for it by running the rest Of the way.
Besides, you might not be able to see
them later on. They are just going to
pack up most OF them.
"Well, I'll just have tiny peep" said
Ellie. going in and she followed her
friend into the house.
She dearly loved nice dresses and pretty
things, and the sight Of all the wedding
finery delighted her beyond measure.
She stood looking first at one thing, and
then at another, till she suddenly awoke
to the unpleasant fact that she had stayed
much longer than she ought to have done.
She never could understand how the two
minutes Mary had spoken of could have
heightened into a quarter of an hour.
She took hasty leave OF her friend,
promising to call on her way back and
pass an hour or so there, for she knew
her mother would not be anxious about
her, as she was in the habit OF spending
a good deal of her time at the Rae's dur
ing holiday time.
1tdAibk AuiA opScA lhbO tile Nllidkts Blu
dashed breathless into the postoffice; for.
tunately there was no one else there. so
that her business was soon concluded.
"How soon will it get to London ~ she
asked the postmistress.
About 90 minutes past 4, miss" an.
swered the woman, and Ellie's heart fell,
for she knew that her father would be at
the station by that time, and that her
mother would be exceedingly vexed. not
only at not seeing Uncle Frank arrive
with Mr.. Langham, but also at her care.
lessncss.
But when she arrived once more at the
Raes and began chatting with Mary iu
the garden, she soon forgot all about it,
and never noticed the flight Of time. She
was just laughing at some nonsense OF
Mary's when Tom Rae, the youngest boy.
dashed into the garden.
Il say, what do you think 2" he called
out, breathlessly, the 425 train has come
TO smash little further up the line and
they say there's an awful lot Of people
killed and injured"
A great horror came over Ellie. The
4.25 train That was the one her dear
father would come iE since sile telegram
must have been late and he might now
be lying wounded perhaps killed-and
il was all through her Her heart turned
cold. her head swan. everything seemed