Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-05-03
RECONSTRUCTED.

TO- middle age, L hank ou,' SAID MIS-.
Nellie Hunt, with decision, to her niece,
Id.th DAILY. They Were gathering crys-
anthemums at Mapleton, Mrs. Hunts
pleasant homestead, whe:e her liece
from the west was visiting her.
"Why, auntie, l thought youthful ro-
mapces were the best kind" said the
young girl, shyly. (She had n on
hand herself.)
Yes, dearie, so they are at your age"
laying Il bright blossom against the
girls flushed face. You remember I
said warmed over"
well, auntie, l don't see any objec-
ton to having it warmed over if it
were all it should have been at first"
Edith urged. I'm sure mamma thinks
as L do, that Maj. Townley is q fine
man and would make you a splendid
husband"
Eyes dear, that is un1oubted-she
told me so herself. / think it is a
conspiracy among my friends" sad the
elder lady, playfully.
Edith buried her chin reflectively in
a yellow mass of bloom, while her eyes
lothCu oNcI II lLlbV iICl dullI . III ALNEit
and not uncomely face.
Il don't want to be inquisitive, auntie
but oh, I would so like to know what
separated you long ago." she said, sud
denly.
Mrs. Hunt started a little, then she
smiled.
I'm afraid it would only spoil the
romance for you" she replied, 1.-The
circumstances were so prOSaic. Yet
1t is the little things of life that go
to make up the important whole. But
/ will tell you what you wish to know.
Maj. Townley and 1 were schoolmates
when we We're young and / cannot re-
member the time when we were not
attached to each other. We graduated
at the same time ut the town academy,
where we got a little tircture Of Latin.
1t is said that "A little learning is Il
dangerous thing Certainly it was in
our case. After we left school we
kept up our studies together. One
evening we got into a discussion about
a certain line of Virgil. We could not
agree about the translation and were
unwise enough to argue the matter
too long and too warmly. Neither
would admit OF being in the wrong.
The result was that unkind words Were
spoken and our engagement was brok-
en- off. You must remember that we
were both younS-I only Is and he
not yet 81"
(Which was in the right? asked
Edith.
II do not know, dear. I never ever
looked the matter up. / think we We're
both sorry, but we would not acknowl-
edge it, so we took separate roads, n
now we are both m~iddle-aged, prosaic
and I, at least, am a little gray. AS
for the major, l have not seen him for
years"
Mrs. Hunt had been a widow for
some years and the gentleman in ques-
ton had lost his wife a couple of years
before, so that mutual friends, knowing
of their former ice, had been,
perhaps, a little too otficioIS in their
| efforts to effect Il reconciliation. They
argued that time brings wisdom and
it was presumably that in the light of
a score of years they had lamentcd the
impetuosity Of youth which had barred
the way to satisfactory explain ltion.
Three months afterward, one dreary
December day, there was a storm very
nearly akin to a blizzard raging in
the Western states. The air was laden
with sleet that seemed armed with
needles, and carried by the gale with
a force and rapidity that threatened
to impede locomotion. Travel was sus-
pended and telegraph wires were down.
On a snow-bound train in Indiana We
find our friend Mrs. Hunt, who had been
summoned by telegraph to the bedside
Of her sick sister and had run right
into the teeth of the approaching storm.
Six hours ago the huge iron horse had
halted in sheer Encouragement, and the
snow banks might have been walls OF
adamant separating the belated travel
ers from their homes. Apprehension
was followed by anxiety as might set
tied down on the weird, white scene.
A squad of laborers, brought into
strong relief against the white back
ground by the headlight Of the engine,
worked vigorously in the biting blast.
The blockade had occurred near a viii
lage and through the storm the glim-
mering of friendly lights told Of rural
peace and plenty, cheering if unattaina-
bic.
But rs the hours wore away even
those disappeared and left the night a
prey to snow and cold and sleet and
bowling winds. Within the cur there
was n growing sense of cold physically
and foreboding thoughts. mentally.
Mrs. Hunt thought sadly Of her sis
ter; perhaps she would die, not know
ing how near her Nellie was, and tears
forced themselves through the closed
eyelids. a child's cough was heard in
.he car. What n place for a sick baby!
She promptly rendered her assistance,
and in helping another in trouble for
| got her own discomfort and anxieties.
The night wore away, as nights will,
however uncomfortable, and as old Sol
condescended TO favor the travellers
with his smile answering smiles seemed
less difficult. 1t WIS a white, trackless
world the sun looked down upon-very
cold and f~orbidding in its beauty, and
conveying to Mrs. Hunt that sense of
breadth, of wide, level distances, which
always strike a New Englander with a
sense ofssurprise when the prairies are
! seen for the first time. Soon there