The record-union., 1893-10-28
ssnunl Baisf,re 31n,rner.

had implored him-with a vague, unde-
fined fear which she had, all at once,
been forced to entertain-to humor her
sister.
on the very spot where, years before.
Oliver Deane had hidden farewell to
pretty Grace Farnham, his son stood and
held the old maids quivering hand in his
1t seemed to her as it she was young once
mere, as if all the weary waiting OF the
past years had been a sad, dark dream,
as if the present alone was true and
sweet and real. So she lived in the sun
shine of her little romance once more;
and when at last Oliver Deane passed out
Of sight and hearing down the highroad,
Miss Grace turned back quietly to her
sister.
Il am puzzled, Stella" she said,
thoughtfIllly; she does not seem changed
in appearance at all, but somehow he is
different-cOld and strange, and not like
himself"
'Gracie!' Miss Farnham's voice was
shrlll and her face white and drawn.
Oracle. surely you cannot believe that
this young man was the Oliver Deane
whom we knew when we were girls?"
Then very gently; Dear. what has corr g
to you? Can you possibly think that he
would be just the same after all these
years?"
at puzzles me, dear Stella" was Miss
Grace's gentle answer: 1T all seems so
very strange, and although | have been
expecting his coming for so long, and
felt certain that he would keep his word
to me, yet still the meeting seemed TO
come upon me very suddenly. L am
! thankful [ had the strength and courage
TO trust him-sO thankfulr' And as she
spoke there was a new brightness in her
dim, brown eyes, and the same vague,
| patient smile on her lips. 1T has been
hard sometimes, Stella, to believe that he
| had not forgotten me, particularly when
L saw how foolish you considered me;
and then, oh, the years have been so
long, dear-so long! but yet something
always seemed to tell me that some day
| he would come; and Stella, Stella, you
see now that l was rightu'
"Come, Grace" said Miss Farnham
hoarsely, drawing her sisters hand
within her arm, 1.-THE sun is going down
and it is chilly out here; let us go back
after all this excitement"
! Together the two lonely little old maids
/ left the shadowy lime-Walk where this
| last terrible blow had fallen on them;
and as Miss Farnham paced by her Sis
! ter's side over the lawn where the last
rays OF the glowing red sun were rest
! ing, she realized fully how deep were the
| VI tlSI w JULIUS hulCu tlib WEARY JGdIS VI
waiting had made in Miss Grace's gentle
heart, and to what they had at last
/ brought her. Poor little old maids!
All through the summer they humOred
/ her, Miss Farnham and good-hearted
Jane, and sometimes the doctor.
| He would come again in the autumn,
| they said and Miss Grace watched the
! leaves in the garden grow red, and gold,
and brown, and even when they fiuttered
| to the ground and were blown hither and
| thither by the wild winds, and when she
| knew that winter was close at hand-he
never came.
They told her that he would come in
| the spring-time, and they used to move
! her great armchair close to the window
where she could see down to the lime
walk and the rustic bench and the old
garden gate and she saw how the snow
all melted away at the caresslng touch of
| the bright sunshine which seemed to
CLINT and sparkle everywhere, even in
| her dark, gloomy bedroom, and even
when she saw the welcomed buds and
! leaflets on the lime trees in the old walk
| she asked-and no, even then he had not
come.
The rosebusbes were all in bloom once
more, and Jane gathered handfuls of
them and carried them in to Miss Grace,
and Miss Farnham laid them on her
! bosom and in her thin folded hands.
She had trusted all through the lOr G
! spring-time, and then at last when the
! scent of the flowers was waited UP from
! the pretty garden to her window and she
| knew that another summer had como,
she smiled her old gentle, patient smile
and closed her tired eyes and rested-for
! Oliver Deane never came.-A1 the \ ear
/ Round.