The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-09-17


sessed a wonderful fascina
alton for her. As child she
had eagerly devoured every available
bit Of information concerning the wed
ding journeys Of the entire village. and
In time It became a settled thing fol
each returning bride to subject herself
to the admlring questions and worship
ful homage Of little Matilda Jones.
When It was that the idea OF her OWL
wedding trip first came to her she
could not tell. but II grew with hel
growth ind strengthened with her
strength. until II became the best part
Of her life. The supposedly necessary
adjuncts Of a man and marriage
never occurred to her-her vision Of q
wedding journey contained herself
alone
To be sure. as she grew older. a VII
lage youth would now and then sham
bic diffidently up the garden walk on
Sunday afternoon. or shyly offer his
escort home from evening service q,
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 in the little white
cottage at the end Of the lane. AS time
passed the thin little face wore a look
Of placid contentment. md the faded
blue eyes looked 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 fve-cent piece she
had gained when mere slip Of girl
pulling weeds In the garden. It was
the FIRST money she had ever earned.
and she had Immediately dedicated II
to her wedding Journey
She made daily pilsrimages to the
shrine at the top Of the house. and low
ingiy fingered her accumulated treas
ures. She thought-she was almost
sure-she had elough now. There We're
nearly twenty whole dollats! She
canght her breath at the audacity Of
spending such q fortune. but. after all.
this was her very owH-it did not rob
her scanty income in the least: II 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
spopged Impressed it-and regarded II
with dubious sigh. 1t would have 10
do. She certainly could not afford n
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.
ful. She would 60 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 dot
which stood for the little village. and
her eyes would gloat over the unknown
world before her.
Just above that dot-where MI those
black lines met-was the junction. and
sometimes she held her breath rs she
carried her finger away out along one
Of those lines, and stopped with little
gasp Of delight at the extreme end OF
the map. Then she would draw long
Sigh and shake her head. and, giving a
quick hitch to her chair. would settle
herself to the delightful task Of mark,
Ing out her wedding journey.
She would 60 to the junction by
stage. Then she would follow one OF
those little black lines until she came
to that large round ring with dot in
the middle. Such a bit Of q way !,
looked to be on the map. but she knew
II was forty miles from home. and o
big city!
Her breath came fast and she trem
bled little when she thought Of q no
tel. Yes-she should go to one! She
hod payor haon fo o hotol-o rool hos o.
she thought. regarding the village
Inn with 6ne scorp. She WINS not quite
sure she would know how TO behave
but she should certainly 90. Whoever
heard Of wedding trip without a no
tel!
She decided to stay three days. per
haps four. and she looked fondly at the
little round ring or the map. which
contained so many delightful possibili
ties. Then she would close the bool
and 90 to bed, only to dream Of won
derful electric car rides to the moon.
At last the great day came. Il
dawned clear and cloudless, and very
happy Matilda climbed the stairs fol
her treasure. Joyously she graspet
the precious pile with eager hands
then looked ruefully at the empty spo
IN the drawer. She hesitated a mo
ment. quickly found the dingy nickel
and smiled content as she placed j
back In its old corner and closed th,
drawer.
With trembling hands she arrayet
herself In her wedding garments ant
selted herself on the doorstep to wal