The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-11-15


mentl Other hours may well afford to ba
dull since their nectar is compressed into
the lovers kiss. Let the pendulum Of
time swing slowly when young lovers
meet in the electric touch of kiss, in the
poetry of melted Chances, in the eloquent
pressing Of hands.
The train passed familiar street,
whose long line of glimmering lights
stretched as far as the sight could reach
affording passing glimpse of q massive
church, black and gloomy looking, tower
ing into the night.
10 the C%o young people who saw it
from the window Oh passing train it
would always be dear spot.
doesn't it look deserted now?" she
said, 81 wonder if they took all tho pretty
decorations away?'
The train had proceeded haltingly at
first, but now as it neared the suburbs it
was dancing along at fair speed. 1t shot
past side streets, running off into the dark
The gloom here and there was illuminated
by the red lights of saloons and billiard
halls. Sleepy looking policemen and
watchnen stood at the corners. ~
1t did not once occur to the happy young
couple in the sleeper that the world was
pursuing its daily round, just as if they
had not been married at all. To them,
everything seemed to have caught the
spirit OF the happiness they were expert
encing. The lights blushed with a SYM
pathetic glow The train rumbled along
unsteady. Even the passengers must feel
that this was an extraordinary occasion.
And the world outside that was reeling
past the windows, here bristling with
numberless lights and there running off
into hopeless blackness and. geoom, seemed
full of new beauty.
"Are you very happy, Mabel?" he asked.
Every" she said, land are You quite
sure that you are as happy as if it had
been Laura. Deane instead of me?'' "
He laughed. 81 never asked her to ac-
cept the. honor, he said. Perhaps she
would not have appreciated it if had. AS
it is, am more than satisfied"
ibid you think she looked pretty to
night?" Mabel asked. 81 suspected that
she felt pang of jealousy as she stood be-
side me- Wouldn't both Of you have been
glad il she had been in my placer" she
added teasingly.
81 do not suppose such thoughts are
keeping her awake. - Clarence said, but
do fear that poor Jimmie Franklin's
slumbers are badly disturbed tonight
eh?" 49,
"Do you think SOP 1 am sorryif it
troubles him. I only hope that he is
quite as happy as l am"
81 used to think you had tenderness
for Jimmie, " he said. "It may have been
jealousy in me.
~ never cared for any one but you,"
she replied. II didn't care a snap for a
single one of the gentlemen who paid me
attention. You were the only one, Clar-
ence'' ~
The lights of the city had vanished be-
hind. The train was roaring along
through the night. The gloomy world
lay asleep; the locomotive dashed along
like great, restless monster on some mo-
mentous errand. The semaphore signal
and the operators light at a wayside sta
tion flashed by the window.
With his arm about her, Clarence drew
her head to his shoulder. To have her all
his own for the rest of his life was joy
enough for him. Unconsciously his mind
ran ahead into the future; he saw them
selves living happily together, loving each
other none the less after the passage of
years. Maturity had added sweeter
charms to her. Through all the years to
come she would listen for his football COM
ing home and would meet him at the door
with smile and kiss. His wife! His
pulses throbbed delightfully."- at the
thought.
Neither spoke He was filed with bliss
full reveries. She, tired and weary, was
resting her head confidingly upon his
shoulder.
Only the monotonous murmur of the
train broke the silence. The passengers
had sought relief from WEAKNESS in slum-
bers, and the only light that burned in the
car was that hidden beneath the pink
shade
Rousing himself from the delightful
train of thought into which he had fallen,
he stopped to kiss her. The brown head
was dropped so low upon his arm that the
face was quite hidden from his gaze. She
was perfectly still. Very tenderly he lifted
her head until her eyes looked straight
into his. A silvery tear glistened upon
her lashes. The look sheturned upon him
was one he could not understand They
gazed mutely at each other for an instant;
then his eyes dropped to her folded hands.
While he was thinking of the future, she
had slipped his watch from his pocket. ,
But it was not upon the dial that she
had been gazing. While she had been
reStlnS SO paSslVely IN nJS arms Sne was
looking at the picture cf beautiful
woman-not her picture-glued fast to
the inside of the case
He took the watch from her hand quick
ly, and his eyes fell before the look of ear
nest inquiry in hers. She did not speak
"That- that--picture, % he stammered,
hat's-that's, ah-that's friend of
my sister's.'
The brown head dropped back upon,
his shoulder. She was sobbing half tear
fully. She refused to look up to him.
"Oh, Clarence" she cried, ''why didn't
you tell meI'
And this was the beginning of his mar
ried life.-Robert L. Adamson in Atlanta
Constitution.
Tom Reed and the Tiger,