Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1893-12-23

JAM LpE augusta 70 give IL on
that she was going 50 far to visit SON
one She had never seen. and start of !
spite Of our remonstraaces upon tn
appointed day, and then suddenly
reappear and admit she hadn't bee.
where she said She was going. but re
10 keep her whereabouts for those tw
days a secret from us-I tell you. Il
very queer, And such a cold as sh
has brought back with her, Vel.
Il will fea mercy if it doesn't end il
pneumonia and carry her Of. Blu,
then, Augustus head was a~lvars ful
u the queerest crotchets, she ended
breathlessly, and you never could tel
what she was going to do next
That Augusta Van ALLEN vas eccep
the to a degree was the unanimou
opinion OF her nearest relatives But :,
many d poor soul she seemed 4 veri,a
bic angel OF mercy-it a small. middle
aged angel can be imagined. in widow.
cap and ~spectacles, In reality. the lit
tie woman had a passion for doin.
nice things FOR others. and BEN,
blessed with a liberal portion Of thi,
worlds goods she was able 10 follow
her generous inclinations. and va.
never 50 happy as when planning tc
give some n a pleasant surprise.
Her plan for this particular holiday
had been % make a 'Nferry
ehristmas for the family OF a poor
ana distant cousin. she had never seen
cousin, nor any Of her family. bu,
she mad somehow managed to learn the
names and ages Of her eight children
and she mad solidly packed q huge box
with comfortable jackets and shawls.
hoods Of various sizes, and manv
other nice and appropriate things. and
lad 50 crammed the chinks with books
and dolls and paint boxes and tin TOYS
ind trunpets, that the porters who put
i on board the train vowed II must h.
.oaded down with lead.
When Mrs. Van Aliens sister had
heard that She was going to travel two
hundred miles in midwinter and tax.
henrietta NARROW by surprise. instead
If spending her Christmas comfortably
md soberly at home with them. she
solemnly declared to her husband
hat She thought Augusta must be
ray 10 which he had made the ara
nous reply that for a crazy wona his
certainly seemed able To
manage her WI affairs remarkably
veil.
Early OF the morning Of the dav
'efore Christmas, Mrs. Van Allen. with
.er un~ieldy box of gifts, had started
N her journey in a gentle snovstorm.
nd all went well, though the storm
increased in viole nee. until
nst before noon, when the engine ran
nto an enormous drift and there stuck
asst
soon all the women and children on
train had been gathered together
the car where Mrs. Van Alien was
ltting' and for awhile she amused her.
Ell by studying them with kindly eves
by and by, when they began To
I'VE a louder expression to their disap-
ointment at the delay, she came to the
'scue, and with her CHEEKY temper and |
ne contents Of her liberallv-stoc,ed
inch basket, She succeeded in auietino
ne complaints and raising the spirits
4 most OF the respondent snowbound
lothers and their uneasy children.
Al hrst they had all expected that
ne engine would be able TO pusl, ;,s
'ay through the drift and 20 on in the
purse OF a few hours; but it soon be.
n apparent that there was no DOS.
.oillty OF getting through that night.
eve began to be limited that II
'ould be impossible to proceed on the
blowing day, unless the storm abated
M there were rumors too. that the
lei was running low. and that there
ere no provisions on board.
AT this the murmurs of the blockadea
avelers grew loud again, for it was
D. Pheasant prospect 10 be Obliged
spend Christmas Eve and Christmas
~ cold ana hungry in. a snow.drif
a deserted part OF the country.
ne afternoon wore slowly on. There
as no communication with the ant.
ae world, for the storm had beaten
the telegraph wires, and the for.
'ihg party which had started ont
me hours before had not returned.
-hrs' a Allen, all this time. went
Jung from group to group. dronnino
u'hos OF comfort on every side, and
.ueavoring to replace complaints
I'm at least a sembiapce Of content
1, the weary children were fretting
cause they wouldn't be ANYWHERE /,
: christmas. and wouldn't have anv
till Christmas was all over" /,
! hen a new and charming possibility ,
ened itself to Mrs. Van ALIENS busy {
am and presently she was seem in ;
fhest consultation with the condnc +
and the porter, and after that they
three vanished into another ,
The proceedings after this were .o -
iebtiuiiy mysterious to al. OF the d
ldren, and they were So taken IN j
In wondering what was goipp on \
t they quite forgot to fret. One and =
he q had been hastily ~curta,ned h
With sbawlk but one child. na.n.