The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-02-26
aid In her eyes was look OF ezpee

fancy.
Presently she turAed to fnd tall
dark man coming down the aisle TO-
ward her, and then she heard q voice
With u wealth OF love in its tones say,
Edith and the voice was that Of the
tall, dark man In her dream. Then the
pretty face hardened and the bright
eyes grew cold and the little head lifted
haughtily as she said: "Str, you have
made mistake
The tall man paused moment, LOOK
Ing down at the aVerted face, ana rhen
said, softly: Edith, will you not come
% breakfast with me and talk 1t over"
Certainly not" was the reply, II
frosty tones; 81 prefer to breakfasl
Alone" and with that she rose ana
,talked past him directly away from tnt
dining car. 1t was humiliating to ot
obliged to retrace her steps and pass
him again, but she did It braTely, trying
not to see that he sat with his heac
pressed close against the window. NheI
after breakfast, she returned 70 ne'
cent, her neighbor was not to be seen.
The great train rolled on, and the ca.
wheels whirred and sung their Chrlst
rnas carol, but to the little lady IN sec
tioD 8 they brought no thought OF
peace on earth, good will toward men.
She had taken another book from hel
satchel, and appeared greatly absorbed
In it. A very dear old lady in the sec
ton back Of her had been watching al
the proceedings, and now, glanclnG
over the shoulder Of the little lady she
noted that the leaves Of the book were
never turned, and she said to herselr
u lth kindly smile: ''Poor children! s
lovers quarrel Soon the book boy
came through the train with his armfu
of books; he~ paused at section ., ant
laid a volume OF poems on the seat be
side the little lady, as he said: 'Ihe
gentleman in the smoker said was tt
mpd this to you, ma'am."
Edith glanced at the book, then .ou'
# the window for moment, then agair
at the book. She saw that leaf Waf
turned down, and her hand went slowly
out toward the little volume, and the
very dear old lady in the next seal
looked on and smiled Edith turned tt
the indicated page, and found a verse
marked; it was part Of poem that the
pleasant voice Of the tall, dark man hat
many times read to her, and now II
came to her as message, and this was
he message:
Alas, how easily things 20 wrong!
A word unsung In a lovers song,
There comes q mist and binding rain
And life Is never the same again.
Alas, how hardly things go right!
A storm may come in summers night
The stars will Jade in the gloom away,
And the summers night is winters day
She read the verse softly through, ant
n tender light came into her eyes; then
as the book dropped to her lap, she saw
something was written on the fyleaf
turning to it she read: Edith, from
Philip; merry Christmas" written IL
the strong, manly hand that had writ
ten her so many words Of love. If Phil
ip could have come to her then al
would have been well; but such is the
Of fate we do not know
WI en- to "come back and be forgiven
and in the smoking compartment Phil
ip sat, glowering out Of the window,
twisting his mustache fercely and say
'ng to himself:
Poor little girl, she is awfully hard
with me, and all about beggarly dog
Confound the beast, anyway. I always
lid hate little dogs!'
And the car wheels still whirred ant
sing and all their song was Peace Oh
earth;" and at every station the passen'
gers Leaving the train, laden with their
plcasant-look1ng parcels, were met and
greeted by those who needed them to
complete their Christmas circle, and
the train hands were greeted by their
friends in passing, and everyone was
happy and full Of holiday cheer save
only the little lady II section and the
tall, dark man in the smoking compart.
ment. Philip made another effort at
luncheon time; he came slowly down the
aisle and said: Edith, shall get you
some luncheon" The little lady, see.
ing him approaching, had seized her
novel, and, in response to his question
glanced coldly up from its pages just
long enough to say, with extreme
!rostlness: Thank you, no."
Philip noticed the book Of poems Oh
the seat, apparently untouched, but he
gained some trifiing comfort from also
noting that the novel in Edith's hands
was upside down. He returned to the
smoker, and Edith, throwing her novel
pettishly down, sat gazing out Of the
window. Presently she had the porter
bring her a cup Of tea, and just as she
had finished it she felt a light touch on
her shoulder as sweet voice said: my
dear, don't you want to come and talk
% q tired old LADY,
After they had chatted a while the
very dear old lady said: Il have been
watching you all day, my little girl, and
YOU must pardon an old lady if she asks
you some questions. Is the tall young
nan your lover"
NO." said Edith, Il am sorry to say
he is my husband
"Sorryr said the old lady; "oh no.
my dear, not that And am sure he is
still your lover rs we'll as your hus-
band. Don't you want to tell the old
lady all about it? have had q lot Of
and perhaps I can help
you"
Edith looked into the very dear ole
race and then said: "Oh. thank you so
much! Yes, will tell you. But 1t Is
too late to help u.s. can never forgive
philip"