The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-10-28

II Is the twilight time of the busiest,
gladdest, most hurried day i'm all the
year-the day before Christmas. The
scene is the Grand Central depot, that
portal through which. in the morning,
pour the countless thousands who are
as the sands of the shore in the midst
of the great city; through which at
night these countless thousands depart.
and the city knows not that they have
gone on this evening the crowd Is
glad and a merry one, and though
there Is much pushing and jOsting,
every one Is good-natured, and each
has a pleasant word for another: for,
indeed, is not this the eve of gladness?
that gladness which is the touch OF
nature making the whole world kin. In
the waiting-room of that road which
leads to Chicago, on the edge of the
crowd forcing it's way through the mar
row gateway leading to the Limited
train, is a little lady, who, to keen
eyed observer, shows a notable lack of
the holiday atmosphere. She is fault
lcssly tailor-made as to garbing, she is
gloved and booted and hated in the
most exactly correct of the smart
styles; and she carries "A small hand
bag which looks as assured and as self
contained as does the little lady her
self She waits until she can pass the
gate without being crowded, then shows
her ticket. walks through, finds her
car, hands her little bag to the porter.
saying Section number nine" and is
presently comfortably seated facing the
engine. Altogether a very well-reEu-
lated and systematic little lady but
evidently little lady who either does
not know ii is Christmas Eve, or, KNOW
ing, is for some reason trying to forget
it. As the train moves out of the
great depot, and the little lady watches
the lights flashing rapidly by, two
great tears creep out of her beautiful
eyes and CLEAN for a moment on the
veil that falls from the jaunty travell-
ing-hat. Soon dinner is announced in
the dining car. and the little lady walks
calmly through the train, eats her dim
ner, then as Calmy returns to her place.
AS the porter passes, she glances AT the
unocCuped section opposite and in
Ouires pleasantly, Porter, is number
ten not takcn?" Reserved for a par
~ at Albany, miss" is the reply. "Then
] may sit there for a while and watch
the river" says the little lady, and she
takes the seat by the window and looks
out across the Hudson, and watches
the lights coming out one by one along
the Palisades. After a time she re-
turns to her own place. takes a novel
from her satChel and settles herself to
it's perUsal, but by and by she disCov-
cI's that it is all about a husband and
wife who have become estranged, and
then make it all uD and live happy
evermOre, and the little lady signifies
her disapproval by closing the book
With a vicious bang, and saying, after
n moments thought, "NeVer!" Shs
then called the porter and had her Sec
tion prepared for the night Ere long
she haG drifted to that land where
dreams take possession of us, and
whether she would or not her dreams
We're all about q tall dark man with
merry ewes, which could look severe,
and with a pleasant voice which called
her Edith; and all through the dream
was little dog, a Skye terrier, for
which she did not seem to care at all,
but which seemed to have a great deal
to do with everything-and then a
pleasant voice said briskly Porter, Ia
number ten ready?" and the voice
somehow seemed to go with the tall,
dark man in the dream. and she half
woke with a dry little sob, and mur-
back to her dreams until the sunshine
of Christmas morning came through
the curtains, and brought her again to
the world of real things. AS she emerg-
ed from her seclusion to complete her
toilet, she discovered that the opposite
section had been made, up and the oc-
cupant had departed, probably to ,he
smoking compartment. a dress-suit
case and a travelling-coat We're lying
on the seat; as her eye was caught by
the initials on the dreSs-suit box her
heart seemed to stand still: then she
looked hastily at the coat, and gasped,
1T is Philip" then, becoming con-
scious of her dishevelled condition, she
made frantic rush for the end of the
car. When she appeared again she
was as fresh and blooming as a rose.
Her section meanwhile had been made
up, and she settled herself comfortably
and gaZed out at the beautiful, snow
touched country through which the
train was hurrying, and in her eyes
was a look of expectancy. Presently
she turned, to find a tall, dark man
coming down the aisle towards her, and
then she heard a voice with a 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 haughti-
ly as she said. "Sr, you have made
mistake"
The tall man paused "A moment, look
ing. down at the averted face, and then
said, softly, Edith, will you not come
TO breakfast with me ana talk It over?"
Certainly not" was the reply in
frosty tones; II prefer to breakfast
alone" and with that she rose, and
stalied past him directly away from
the dining car 1t was humiliating to
be Obliged to retrace her steps and
pass him again, but she did it hrlvely,
trying not to see that he sat with his
head pressed close against the window.
When after breakfast she returned to
her seat, her neighbor was not to be
seem
The great train rolled on, and the
car wheels whirred and sung their
Christmas carol, but TO the little lady
in section nine they brought no thought
of peace on earth, good will toward
men," She had taken another book