The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1902-02-07
THE NIGHT BEFORE.
ny ADA y. COOItE.

The day before the wedding was
closed, and Tomorrow bride sighed
YEARLY.
Those stupid prcparations-ihose
chattering girls, their minds 50 full
OF the ,nowy gowns and velvet hats
of to.lnorrow's pagcantry. the sadly
interested faces Of the father. mother
and sister, a. they had sat in the Ii
brary after the late dinner. the fam
lily circle complete for the last time
in many months.-for she and Rob
ert would see the continent before
the honeymoon wancd. The conti-
nent! What did .hc care for the con-
tincnt!
She loathcd the thought Of railway
portcr.. Of oilicious guides. Of thctur-
moil and excitement Of a tour through
u strange country! She could see her
self now, she fancied. sickcned Of for,
cign sights; strolling aimlcssly
through endless galleries and anti
quated piles with Robert-for Rob
crt was thorough-hc would wish to
omit nothing. They must see all
those things the cosmopolitan man
and woman is expected to be familiar
with. Not that he himself cared for
the opinion Of people who were moth
ing to him--hc wa Of too broad and
cultured a mind for that mark Of the
p%arv,nue and undcrbred-but il was
one Of his pet theories to make the
most Of opportunities; TO be constant
ly charging ones mental vision; TO
let each minute, every object. every
new acquaintance, with men Of cir
cWmstanccs, mean some broadening Of
the mind. She knew il to be an ad-
mirable theory. She loved him for
this very thoroughness Of character,
80 different in nature to her own dila-
tory self.
But she didn't want to travel.
What was wrong with her that she
didn't! She knew the healthy mind
grasps eagerly at new objects and their
attendant train Of suggested new
thoughts. Why. how she and Evan
gcline used to spend hours planning
imaginary tours-through the Lon
don of Dickens, through the quaint
and rocky little towns Of Wales.
through provincial France and Ger
many, living as peasants. trying to
Think as peasants, that they might
q, sp the very essence Of each coun-
try. life. Then Paris. beautiful. mad
Paris. they would be Parisians; there
would he no sun save that Of Paris
while they fingered in her bounds.
And ltaly--Romc at midnight, Ven
icc-with her whispering waters and
her romance-then Egypt-Cairo!
How beautiful it had all seemed in
those schoolgirl days! What had
come over her that familiar objects
had seemed the only ones worth
knowing:
Recently, at receptions, at dinners,
at mu,icales. she had found herself
shrinking almost visibly from intro
auctions she would have met gladly
a year ago in that they opened NJ
fresh avenues of study, Now SHIT
wanted nothing but her familiar room
with It's familiar furniture, bric-a.
brac and books--thosc friends Of her,
che had tried and not found wanting
and a quiet daily routine of life
She looked into the future and saw
herself stripped of. ambition ant
higher aspirations, %stoical, indiiTeren.
TO everything save the minute, liy
ing in it, a monotonously calm AM
placid matron.
This state of things was coming
about. She knew it. She had felt i
tonight when her fathers eyes ha'
filed with tears as he had drawn he
down to the arm Of his chair and strok
ing her hair, had called her Ellis lit
lie Ray" Her eyes had remaine'
bright and fearless, she had felt an