St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1893-09-30

night" growled Gibbs. Merrill mental
ly remarked that the night had already
been pretty bad for him.
The y reached Mandy's at four o'clock.
The rain was falling. Gibbs called up
man who lived in a white house, after
having made Merrill wait until he had
bestowed the horse and buggy in the
barn back of the village store. 'Glles,'
said Gibbs, to the head that appeared at
window, "this gentleman wants to get
to Pittston. Have you got a horse y
can let him have"
"Waal, l dunno" responded Giles.
"Got to 60 south with my mare at six. "
'Hain't y got that bay?"
eth bay amt fit" said Giles. lie
added, "What's it with 2"
Ten" said Merrill, eff you'll drive
me over in hurry"
Gibbs disappeared after getting the
balance of his money. 1t was twenty
eight minutes later by Merril's watch
when the second start was made, and it
was at the end of the first mile that the
second horse stumbled in the wet morn
ing twilight and splintered the shaft OF
the buggy. :,
Merrill sprang into the road. GOOD
morning y he shouted, striding OFT
through the soft clay. But when ne
heard q protesting snort from Giles he
turned about for a moment and showed
S. bill into the mans hand. For an
hour he struggled on through the dim
road, which grew but little lighter dur
ing that time, and became increasingly
wet. At the fork of the road he had to
delay for ten minutes until he could find
a sleepy man with red whiskers who
gave him instructions to keep to the lett
all the way. Merrill looked at his watch
with a shudder. A quarter past 3. he
kept to the left with a persistency born
of a lovers faithfulness and expectancy,
until he came against huge barn.
When he appealed brokenly to solitary
woman at a well she yelled back at him
that he would have to 60 back about
three quarters of a mile to where the
quarry was, and then take the road just
beyond the tobacco barn.
Poor Merrill, who pitiably timed every
turn, reached the tobacco barn at twenty
minutes to six. He then put in straight
half hour on the right road, and at the
end of this very muddy period he heard
the low whistle of a locomotive. 1t was
the train he might have comfortably
taken if he had kept out of the Gibbs
contract.
At seven o'clock he reached the out.
skirts of a town.
us this Pittston?' Merrill asked of
boy with pail.
'East Pittston," said the boy.
chow do you get to the Pittston sta
tion?''
"There's horse car down there" the
boy said, pointing through side road.
Merrill found the track. The car was
not so easy to find. The bob-tail car
with q sad horse hove in sight at the end
of seven minutes. That this car could
actually be going direct to the station
seemed to Merrill too good to be true.
He twice asked the driver about the sta
ton. and was twice assured that the sta
ton was at the end of the route.
Merrill was on the platform of the car
when the station became visible. He
rushed almost madly iuto the waiting
room. No bride was in sight. Nor could
he see any welcome figure in the ladies
waiting room.
He was almost running across the sta
tion to the inquiry window when the VIC
lent tapping Of a pencil on the ledge of
the telegraph Office attracted his atten-
ton. The pretty girl behind the grating
was reckoning to him.
AS he paused there the pretty tele.
grapher was asking: care you the gen
tlelnan-that is looking for the lady
who-who was waiting for the gentle
man"
eyes, I am" gasped Merrill.
"WelI, she is in here"
Merrill found her sleeping, on sofa.
Her eyelids were red. AS the bride
groom we'll wet and spattered with mud,
knelt down beside the sofa and took hold
of one of her hands the bride awoke
with a start and the pretty tele-
grapher turned her face away Phila-
delphia Press.