The Holly chieftain., 1901-03-22

The help sAssnad sought was younA-
safed haf abuHdantlys;
I We'll. We nwt ba good. to him In
that case. But our house Id, been
hllpg up, tAis week until ther4's Kard-
" { decent room left for thiS tftfahker.
And. LeiA my dear I want your helm
again. Our arrangements are not
quite fntbhad. +" ssrs s.s-
Lady Jane rushed off as RAPIDLY "a
she had come, a.- b, n
There was'to be large party Of old
and young on Christmas night at Tenn
ple-Dene. For years there had been
almost no entertaining In the partially
ruined home. The Christmas gather
ing was, therefore, looked forward to
by the neighborhood with keen, expec-
tation.
|. 1T Is to be quite an old-fashioned
Christmas party. with tree and blind
mans buff and romps-neither more
nor less" Lady Jane warned them.
1T should have been, properly speak
ing, on Christmas eve: but our dear
young people will not arrive until: that
oay. SO our merry making must be on
the twenty-htth. ~
1t was late afternoon when the fam
lily carriage, newly furnished. came up
the sleeps from the roadside station.
and reached the Temp,e-Dene avenue
OF tall frs. whose Stately trunks were
redding in the suns dying glare.
We're at home now, GLADLY! We're
on our own land at last. Welcome.
dear wife, to aIernple- Dene!"
Gervis bent forward and lifted in his
the little hands lying listlessly ON
Gladys lap ssFerhaps, 10 they two
had been alone, he would have kissed
hts welcome as well as said IT.; but tney.
were not alone, From a cornarsofs the,
roomy old carriage pair Of dark rest
less eyes .royed over the snow-covered
landscape. =
GLADLY, at her husbands words lift.
ed her head to look out also, and II
was startling to note how she had al
tered. There was peculiarly wasted
appearance and an unutterable. llstless-
ness not natural In one SO young. It
needed a distinct effort for her to sur
vey her new home; to speak she made
no attempt gGeryis drew back dsaps
pointed. hsssF
Haven't you word Of praise. my
dear, for your own homer" he asked. +
Its all very nice, but 1t is SO cold,
and l never liked pine trees" GLADLY
forced herself to say. And she shiv-
cred under her Partisan wraps and her
costly furs. They always make me
shudder. they are so gloomy" she add
ed piteously. s,s5F G'ia ~ a.Ja.
She's fearfuily nervous"- thought
Gervis. 6t&laI bt6l ,.is) ztff
But there was no sign ,of 1t when
GLADLY stepped out of the carriage and
into Lady James widely welcoming
arms.
A self-possessed,, wistful-eyed little
bride twas who lifted her cold cheek
for her mother-fn laws kiss; a dainty
figure, in truth. In Its costly furs.
But the face under the green velvet
toque. with its diamond buckle and
nodding feathers, was not the face Of
a shy. happy bride, and for. moment
Lady Jane stared, half puzzled.
Then Gervis was clasped in his
mothers arms and. held tight; II her
ladyship had a soft corner In her
worldly, ambitious heart 1t was for her
boy. the son who had done SO much
for herself and the old home.
The bride stood apart, = pathetic
little figure in her momentary lonsli-
ness. Leila, who had been shrinking
behind the person Of Lady Jane. quick-
ly noticed It. forced herself to go for
ward.
May bid you welcome! am
Leila. Perhaps Gervis has told you
that his cousins, sybil and l. have lived
here since we were almost babies
syb. at least. was baby
Leila's winsome, tender. face was
bent close to GLADLY, who was slightly
shorter in stature than she. Her low.
| rich voice, with its caressing note.
stirred something in Gladys heart.
and she moved eagerly forward-so
| eagerly that their lips met in cling
ing kiss before Leila had quite made
up her mind to greet the bride with
anything warmer than . stff hand
shake. .,4,.44i sse 1
y didn't know there was any Leila. 2
said GLADLY, in her sweet childish
tones. "Gervis did not tell me- But