St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-06-03

gray enough for sixty, and such you woul,
have voted him had you not CHANGED to catcI
sight OF his clear complexion and almost
youthful face. Then you would have sale
that he was not a day over forty.
And this was just what the little woman i,
brown remarked to herself as she stood there
by the gate. Besides, it seemed to her that
there was something strangely familiar about
the Dig man in gray. Away back in the past
before her life became SO lonely and sad, she
mad known some one of whom the stranger
reminded her. But that was long while
ago and perhaps she was mistaken; at Sec
ond thought she was almost certain that she
was. At any rate it was very foolish of her
TO stand there staring curiously at man she
had never seen before
Then why did she do it?
The lane in which the big man In gray was
walking was not public road it was pri-
vate property, and besides, at its further end
was posted placard which warned the pub
lie not to trespass thereon. The father of
the little woman in brown had nailed it there
the morning after the village boys made the
raid upon his peach orchard. That was
lay at rest in the old burial ground. the boya
who stole his fruit now had children of thei,
own, but still it stood as a warning to all
passers-by. Perhaps, thought the little
woman in brown, the big man in gray did moi
notice the placard; he might be stranger
who by accident had wandered away from
the public road. She would show him thu
way to the hotel and then 60 back to the cot
tage. So
But just then the big man in gray came up
to the gate, and raising his hat to the little
woman in brown, said: 81 beg your pardon.
but can you tell me who lives in Deacon
Gilkenson's house over yonder?"
deacon Gilkenson! why, he has been dead
for years.
Yes, L know, but what became of HE
daughter, Alice? She was only young girl
when went away
81 am Alice Gilkenson," said the little
woman in brown in half-inquiring. half
startled manner. T.
"You are Alice Gilkenson, and do YOU not re.
member meT And the big man in gray
stopped down and looked eagerly into the
face OF the little woman in brown.
Five minutes later they were seated on the
bench by the side of the gate. The little
woman In brown had out her handkerchief
and was crying in it softly, while the big man
In gray was wiping his eyes in a suspicious
manner and saying: .tAnd so you have not
forgotten the old mill under the hill and the
black haired boy who used to work therei
That was long time ago.
cages ago." said the little woman in brown
"But the boy did not find the work hard OF
tiresome," the big man in gray went on.
''Twice each week there was an old gentle
man who came to the mill bringing with him
his little girl, and while the grist was grind
ing the boy and the little girl used to play to-
5gether and he thought her the prettiest.
dearest creature he had ever seen. and the
days when she and her father came to the
mill the brightest, sunniest spots in all his
life
"After time the girl stopped coming to
the mill. She was fifteen then and the bow
was eighteen. But the old gentleman used
to ask the boy to his house for dinner on
Sunday afternoons, and after dinner was
over the old gentleman would lie down on
his sofa in the little parlor and take a long
nap, while the boy and girl would talk to.
gether for hours at time. What they talked
about would have interested no one but
themselves, yet they were interested, and to
the boy at least those afternoons were very
precious, for he loved the girl dearly
Il know he did, said the little woman il
brown.
"But there came an end to all this" con-
tlnued the big man in gray, not noticing
the interruption. "The boy was poor, very
poor, while the girls father was the rich
est man in the town. One day the latter
gave the boy to understand that he could
never hope to claim his daughter for 6
wife. The boy was crushed, completely,
broken. He went, a poor, miserable ghos,
of his former SELF --s,-
"He went into the army; he was ever in
the thickest of the fight and always well
coined danger with glad heart. Men said
he was a brave soldier and made him an
officer. His superiors said that he was capa.
BILE officer and asked him to come up higher
At the first Bull Run he was only private
when Lee surrendered he commanded q
regiment. But to him all these things
were melancholy pleasure, for he was
only ghost. When the war was over he
went to travel in foreign parts and then set
tied down in great city, where in business
he was successful, perhaps, beyond his de-
serts. He was famous, and men were glad to
claim him as a friend. At times he was happy
in strange, sad way; but then how could a
ghost hope to share in the pleasures of the
world in which he was dead? Often, very often
he thought of the old life and the things
which had once given him SO much pleasure
and happiness. He thought of the girl who
had once been so dear to him, and he Won
dered if she had ever loved him.
81 think she did," said the little woman
in brown. But a lump came up in her
throat and choked her, and the big man in
gray went on:
"Once in very great while think he
really wished that he had never lived"
Did hep said the little woman in brown;
but the big man in gray did not answer her.
ga few days ago." he continued, ethe poor
ghost heard for the first time that the father
was dead and the daughter alone He re-
solved to come back and see if he could not
find his lost self in trying to win back the
woman he loved. But then he is only a
ghost and perhaps doomed to be disap-
pointed
81 don't think so, said the little woman in
brown; and when the big man in gray very
tenderly pulled her head down upon his
breast she did not resist.
month later there was q wedding in the
village church. The wedding was quiet
but joyous one and after it was over the big
man in gray went to live with the little
woman in brown at the old cottage. People
say that he is now the most contented and
happy ghost in all the world.
Prince Bismarcks wit is still as quick anf
keen as of yore. To the winner of lonS.
II Cto wal p,nta