New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-23

But Alminy could not hep crying when she
Rugged her sister AT the std"oli oeio'o wv 800
came ,u,,
'Tf should happen to stay good while,
she said brokenly, don't let FREDDY l9, . ra;r
NO no. 1 won't" sobbed Olivia, and the tram
rolled along and seemed TO sweep up Ai'ii''a
Drowdy into itself and then dash of again "a
II can't seem to make it seem real saia
Iivy as she and her husband drove back aohs
the familiar country road. . -.
Then II you can't | do wish you'd stop
erwin" said Mr. wilson; I'm awful sorry ra my
But Amnys old enough 70 90 what she pleases'
Now, do cheer up, Livy.
So Idvy gradually chccred up ana py .ns
time she back again with Freduy sue Hdu
begun to be reconciled
And the neghborhood, after 1t had raked up
that affair about Roger Crawford and talked II
all over again. subsidized with perfect calmness
into the habit of seeing some one else IN Al
miny's house and in her pew at church o,s
strange feeling If she had suddenly cut adritt
from this planet and had taken passage for Mars.
But she did not regret. With every hour that
passed her mind turned more and more strongly
from the place she had left and toward the place
to which she was jour- rying.
! She believed that she was a hard-hearted
wretch because she did not think more OF her
sister and Of Freddy Here she smiled.
rs it possible" she asked herself. that I'm
going where | shant know how many shoe but
tons Freddy swallers. nor how many times the
cat scratches him.
Almina had never been ont Of Massachusetts,.
! therefore even the houses Of Fall River. as seen
/ In the spring twilight. had foreign look, and
she already felt as II she were in a strange
! land.
When she walked over the pankng that !ed
! to the steamer she could hardly believe she was
| in America. Without really having given any
! thought to the matter she now knew that she
| had expected this craft to be kind OF ferry.
There was a crowd Of people. Somehow she was
pushed along into dim. electrc-lghted place
where women were sitting on magnifcently up
holstered touches. and where negro men In pue
uniforms occasionally walked through, their feet
making no noise the thick carpet. There was
a gentle motion: there was the sound Of wheels
outside hurrying along the wharf. the cries Of
drivers the ringing Of engine bells. and pres
! emily voice somewhere shouted:
"All ashore rs goin' ashore. and then the
enormous bulk that was tee steamboat became
possessed Of a little more motion.
AImina all at once was conscious Of a choking
sensation Hardly knowing what she did. she
rose and hurried out through the large doors by
which she had entered the ladies' CABIN She was
possessed by longing to see her country again;
She stepped outside. not Winding who pushed
against her.
There were the shores Of Massachusetts, slid
ing away from her. Her hands held tightly the
| package Of lunch which her sister had carefully
put up for her. II wa not yet dark. The sun
had gone down. but there was cool apple,
green tinge over the west. The air from the lana
blew I'm a steady. chill breath
Almina shivered. She did not know that there
tears on her race
But when she turned to 20 box to the cabin
leaving home The words in her mind were
II do wonder why always think Of r oyer as
young man" and her thought added codly'
''Mebby he's dead: yes. s'pose he's dead
Rut no tears came. Strangest Of all was the
fact that from the moment she had contem-
plated this journey she had felt as II she were
Young again She scoffed a. this thought. but
she could not quito put T. away from her Going
by large mirror she accidentally looked at
herself
ION. goodness me-" she exclaimed in a
no mi ed
guess ?in't so young that everybody II be
fallln' in love with me on this Journey"
she sat down on one OF the gorgeous chairs
and forced herself to eat a doushnut. although
swallowing a morse seemed well-niSht impos-
sble.
The stewardess came and asked her II she had
a stateroom.
The black woman replied that she would prob
ably know 1t II she ala nave one
Yes" said Alminy W.T. nervous t iausn.
7 lust the same = Ia know II had bandoox or
an umbrella. spose.'
The attendant moved away and presently A.
nina saw her talking ana laughing with yel.o"
man In a blue coat and nodding toward her.
The night passed somehow. She spent II lying
moti3ness on mattress on the moor or the
| cabin I'm a row OF other mattresses and other
women Two or three times in the dim nght she
saw a black man stepping along between the
beds But no one seemed 10 mind him
And In the morning there was New-York she
WAS out on deck before the sun was up she ala
not feel Ike crying now. The new day, me
magnificent picture ~ he lily that lay calm
and still under the crimsoning sky. ned her
gaze The glitter Of the water. the white paths
left by the ferryboats and tugs. the whole effect
Of superb i!fe not yet awakened Tor the morn
Ing thrilled and stirred the woman with an emo
ton she had never felt before
She wondered how any one could ever tnlhh
Of criticising that figure standing with command
ing pose and torch upheld. She rememoered
having read in "A newspaper something deroga
tory She supposed there were folks jest made
10 find fault with everything.
When she left the boat her mind was strained
In the utmost TO assure itself that she was ac-
tually in Jersey CITY. and really In the right car
She knew that cars were always being detached
and sent off on other tracks. for no o;her pur-
nose apparently than TO take people TO places
where they did want 20 60, ana 10 cause