Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1898-12-30

sOh, aeor'l' sig hed little 81 IL Grace
I King, So she swung gently hack and. fortl,
Al abess 49, I,amnloe ssass.. Howl swish
something exciting Woulii l,appenl Il 8 80
lonesome ind hot here. q, "a nd she seized
sthe magazine az her siie ana began fan
ming herself vigorously fts Evidently the
operation gave her no RELIEF, for she soon
dropped the paper 10 ! her Jap, while her
eyes wandered i1stlessly over the columns.
Suddenly 8 little notice tucked away in
. o0rner oaught her eye. It ran !as follows:
s Young gentleman O, Massachusetts
would like to correspond with young
Lady OF tho west. address Z. g., Water:
town, MISS. = Grace Strengthened herself
up, read the lines again, laughed, bluehed
and eaid softly: ST / only dared; it
would be such fun But, Z: " it'll u little
frown, mother wouidn't like it,
The tamrr ock swung, creaking, to and
FRO, and the fair occupant was busy with
her thoughts. ys..# k:s
II can stop whenever like she com
*mented. Besides, shall never see him,
and 1really must break this terrible mo-
<notony. So,' with a half ashamed glance
toward the little notice. II believe I'll do
IT," .-~5-
She ran into the house immediatel
and half an hour later q dainty little mis-
sive bearing the address TX. G., Water
town, Mass, - was sent on it's journey. As
pretty Miss Grace laid her. head on her
pillow that night it would have been hard
to analyze tho half guilty, half pleasant
excitement that pervaded her mind.
She was visiting her aunt in that lady S
rustic home In Oregon, recuperating aft
Or a long illness
Health returned but slowly in her own
mountainous home, SO the reluctant young
lady sought this mild, secluded valley in
the depths of nowhere as she herself
expressed 1t, destined to no company ex-
cept gentle old lady, who let her have
her own way and abandoned her to her
own resources But this mode of life suit
ed the sociable, fun-loving Grace not at all
Yet she knew that health was returning,
and that stay she must.
A week, rendered quite enjoyable by
anticipation, passed. There came a letter
from mother bringing news of brother
Franks return homo after his graduation
from Harvard university. She was six
years his junior and was only child
when he went east.
II suppose Wen hardly recognize each
other,' she remarked to her aunt, and
the old lady nodded pleasantly, as she al
ways did.
When she recovered from tho excitement
of her mothers letter she began to await
impatiently that other missive. At last
it came, and after a careful thought of
what mother would say and half
formed decision to tear it up she broke
the seal.
"What queer writing!''. was her first
thought, as the compact backhand script
appeared. But soon all else was forgotten
in her reading. why, what beautiful
descriptions she cried at last. "Ob, how
nice he must be! I'm SO glad wrote. If
only mother don t find me out! That was
happy thought-to become Miss Bert ha
Frazer"
The ice once broken, it was easier to
write. Grace answered promptly and
waited eagerly for the replies. The young
unknown" wrote SO fascinatingly; yet
through all his letters ran certain vein
OF fun and amusement which puzzled
Grace not a little.
But one day, when nearly three months
had passed, rather a startling letter from
her unknown" came. He was coming
west immediately; in fact his home was
there, and he would cali on her when he
arrived in her locality. Miss Grace turned
quite pale at the thought. Why, what
should she do! Should she allow him to
come? Even Aunt Jane might object to
her receiving strange gentleman "Oh,
dear!' For the first time she reren: ed
her little romance and Wild desire seized
her to run away from home. And yet she
would-yes, she would like to meet him.
Perhaps she had better stay and make the
best of it. Then she would 20. "But
do hope" she thought, THAT he gets here
before Frank That boy would surely
find it all out
She found tesolf in fever of excite
ment, waiting, but still he did not come.
Days heightened into weeks, and at last
she decided that she might safely return
home. There was some mistake.
1t was on the eve of Grace's departure.
Aunt Jane had gone to a neighboring
town and left her niece packing her trunk.
Suddenly foOtstep sounded on the stair,
and Hannah, the cook, burst in upon her.
.Oh, Miss Grace" the old woman cried,
"who do you suppose-your brother Frank
and'- But Grace waited for no more.
She brushed past Hannah and was down
the stairs into the sitting room and in her
brothers arms in a second.
'Oh, Frank, she cried, II am SO glad
to see you! When did you come? And
have you been home YETI But of course
dAh, B6t / haven't, interrupted the
young man, his eyes twinkling 1nerrily.
II stopped off here to call on Miss Bertha
Frazer '.,.s>..
Grace looked up in amazement. How
did he know Then she cried penttently:
"Oh, dear! I only did it for fun I was