The suburban citizen., 1902-09-20
Her WstdiRg duuFRsg.
RN~~>1~T&~~~H
HERE was never a tlme the
Dy E. II. Porter.

sessed wonderful fascina
q alton for her. As a child she
had eagerly devoured every available
bit of information concerning the we'd
ding journeys of the entire village, and
in time it became a settled thing for
each returning bride to subject herself
to the admiring questions and worship
ful homage of little Matilda Jones.
When it was that the idea Of her own
wedding trip first came to her she
could not tell, but it grew with her
growth and strengthened with her
strength, until it became the best part
Of her life. The supposedly necessary
adjuncts of a man and a marriage
never occurred to her-her vision of
wedding journey contained herself
alone.
To be sure, as she grew older. a viii
lage youth would now and then sham
BILE diffidently up the garden walk on
Sunday afternoon, or shyly offer his
escort home from evening service at
the little church. But all these things
only frightened her, and by and by the
young men ceased from troubling.
Then one day her mother died, and
| she was left all alone i'm the little white
cottage at the end of the lane. As time
passed the thin little face wore a look
/ of placid contentment, and the faded
blue eyes locked out serenely-Matilda
was about TO take her wedding jour
ney,
Away in the top of the tiny house,
| far back in bureau drawer, lay a pile
of money. She could tell the history OF
almost every penny there.
This was the dollar her picked pears
had brought, and that was the quarter
saved on the trimming for her black al
| paca dress. All this little pile Of nick
| els and dimes she had earned selling
blackberries and that beautiful shining
gold piece had been sent to her on her
eighteenth birthday by her uncle This
particularly dingy five-cent piece she
had gained when a mere slip Of a girl
pulling weeds in the garden. 1t was
the first money she had ever earned,
and she had Immediately dedicated It
to her wedding Journey.
She made daily pilgrimages to the
shrine at the top of the house. and Low.
ngly fingered her accumulated treas
ures. She thought-she was almost
sure-she had enough now There We're
nearly twenty whole dollars! She
caught her breath at the audacity of
spending such a fortune, but. after all,
this was her very own-it did not rob
her scanty income in the least; it had
been saved for years for this very pur-
pose.
When people took wedding trips they
wore new things. She looked doubt
fully at her black alpaca; brushed it
sponged it-pressed it-and regarded il
with a dubious sigh. 1t would have to
do. She certainly could not afford a
new dress. But in some trepidation
she did invest in white cotton cloth
and embroidered edging, and her
cheeks grew pink with excitement OF
making the unwonted finery.
Her evenings were especially delight
full. She would 20 into the parlor and
bring out the big atlas, and reverently
turn the pages until she came to the
map Of her own State There her slim
forefnger would find the black do
which stood for the little village, ant
her eyes would gloat over the unknown
world before her.
Just above that dot-where all those
black lines met-wss the junction, ant
sometimes she held her breath as SHE
carried her finger away out along ont
of those lines, and stopped with LITTLE
gasp Of delight at the extreme end oi
the map. Then she would draw a Ions
sigh and shake her head, and giving {
quick hitch to her chair, would settl,
herself to the delightful task Of mark
ing out her wedding journey.
She would go to the junction b!
stage. Then she would follow one o.
those little black lines until she cam,
to that large round ring with a dot il
the middle. Such a bit of a way I
looked to be on the map, but she knew
it was forty miles from home, and !
big city!
Her breath came fast and she trem
bled little when she thought of a no
tel. Yes-she should go to one! Sh
had never been to a hotel---a real hote
she thought, regarding the villag
inn with fine scorn. She was not quit
sure she would know how to behave
but she should certainly go. Whoeve
heard OF a wedding trip without a no
tel
She decided to stay three days, per
haDs four, and she looked fondly at tn
little round ring on the map, whicl
/ contained so many delightful possibili
ties Then she would close the bool
and go 10 bed, only to dream Of won
derful electric car rides to the moon.
At last the great day came. /
dawncd clear and cloudless, and a yer,