The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1899-12-27
One New YEARS EVE.

no The swish of q blue dress. n fai,
as breath of vlolets, as in passing. and
ne felt rather than saw Marie Summe
rt field go by.
oil Standing little apart from the kno
b. OF merry young people thronging lh
ID pleasant rooms, he was conscious of
g, thread OF pain running through the la.
night of the old year, touching onl
. Miss Summerleld and himself.
u By he, l mean Leigh Reyburn, tn
~ owner OF the old fashioned, low-roomc
~ grange beneath whose roof the youn
:, people of G!adbrook had gathered I
" keep amcrry watchnight. With musi
i and laughter and gay repartee the
= meant TO dance welcome to the iov,,u
New Year without much thought fo
/ the staid old twelvc-month which ha,
served them 80 faithfully.
But Leigh moved uncasily, sendin,
: lmplorlng glances after the blue grown
all to no purpose. Marie was absorbed
: WIN the fascinating company of Mau
rice Davenport, and was smiling he,
swectest-and Marie could smile di
vlnely and entertaining him admira
bly,.
RcyburR was thinking hard, and. il
must be confessed, uncharitably. Had
ne worshiped and pettcd and lived for
Miss Summcrlield these two blessed
suElit years, To have hope aud happi-
ness go into tho gaave of the frail old
year leaving nothing but memories9
What was that M,uie was singing to
the sweet toned guitar she held so dain-
tlly, strapped in place with a blue RIB
and?
"Ring out the old, ring in the new;
The year is dying, let it 90;
ting in the new; ring in the new.n
Her voice seemed to fater a little on
the repeat as it fell to soft cadence.
was 1t possible she was thinking of the
Old so tenderly-thc cid love, for in
stance? All! well, he did not know.
The yule log had burned out a week
| ago, but he had not the heart to take
up the silvcry ashes from the old, red
brick hearth as yet. Ever since that
other night he had kept his VOW and
closed his doors to all merriment for
two long years. But somehow the lads
and lassies of Gladbrook had lain their
sympathies ON his door-stone and work
ed themselves into his good graces
once more, and before he realized what
he was doing he had given up the silent
rooms again to Christmas party. But
no more New Year frolics under his
roof, he said not unlil-wcll, maybc-
He stopped short in his musings: still
the remnant Of the mistlctoc hung IN
the bracket wolk of the old chandelier
and he remembered now, as he looked
at it, how pure and fair Alicia Merrill
looked when Herman Montrose kissed
her beneath its potent spell week ago.
She put him in mind, O, so much, of
her. Covering his eyes for moment
with trembling hand, he went to the
WINDOW and looked out. White and
Slistcning as an angels wing lay the |
snow on the intervening fields. Over
there was her house, but she had been |
away now for long time studying |
music, and he had heard, for she did |
not write to him, that her voice was
simply divine, and as a musician she |
was wonderful.
Nevertheless, it was night like
this, nodding toward the flooding moon
light outside, that they--he and she
had their misunderstanding. A spasm
of pain crossed his fine face and he |
caught his breath a little. He could |
not tell just how il came about, never |
clearly understanding, but that night
so much like this, and New Years
Eve, too, marked the beginning Of their
diverging paths. And he had heard !
of diverging paths which came toguth-
er again after awhile!
Tomorrow was the glad New Year
again. Would its happy greetings be
only mockcry to him?
Suddenly thought, which had
smouldered IN his mind for days, flash.
cd up like CLEAN Of heavenly light.
radiatiny his whole being
She was coming home tonight on
the late train; and he was so hungry to
see her; only God knew how famishcd
OF heart he was
He would take the down train, get
Off at Rockland where she changed cars
for Gladbrook. No one could prevent
him from riding home in the samo
coach with herr and even th,t would be
a blessed comfort. Then, maybe,
something would come of it.. Who
knew?
In 10 minutes he was inside his great
coat AID locking the hall door, with
IL nervous, glad excitement stealing
owe: him, like the coming Of new day.
A ten-minutes' walk brought him to
the station.
"GOing away for the New Year?"
queried the agent, pleasantly, handing
Reyburn the required paslcboard.
so, little way" he replied, absent
ly, pulling on his gloves.
Scarcely had he settled himself in the
outward-bound train than Joe Antrim
thumped him ON the shoulder and sang
out: "Hullol gong away on blow
out, l snpposc3 Well, so am l. Some
are going away, and some are coming
home"
| In the awkward silence which fol-
lowed Joe's voluble introduction, he
seemed to read Reyburn's thoughts,
for, without looking further for reply,
he began: "Miss SummerGeld is
coming tonight, they say; and they
say, TOO, that she is bringing her best
fellow with her. Gladbrook looks for
a wedding at the Summerfeldhome to-
morrow. But, Of course, don't know
it is only gossip, maybe"
Having thus delivered himself, Joe
Al.