The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1901-1903, 1902-10-05

honeymoon Eips had not pos
sessed a wonderful fascina-
alton for her As 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
10 the admiring questions and worship
full homage Of little Matilda Jones'
When it was that the idea of her own
wedding trip first same 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
adiuncts Of man and marriage
never occurred to her-her vision of a
wedding journey contained herself
alone
To be sure as she grew older, a vii
lage youth would now and then sham
BILE difiidently 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 in the little white
cottage a the end Of the lane As time
passed the thin little face wore a look
of placid contentment. and 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 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 lad earned selling
blackberries, and that beautiful shining
gold piece had been sent to her on her
eighteenth birthday by her uncle. This
particularly dingy fiye-cent piece she
had gained when Il 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 pilgrima2es to The
shrine at the top Of The house. and low
lngly fingered her accumulated treas
ures. She thought she was almost
sure she had enough now There were
ne9riy twenty whole dollars. She
caught her breQth at the audacitY Of
spending such a fortune, but, after all.
his was her very oWn-it did not rob
her scanty income in the least: it had
been saved for years for this very par
pose
When people took wedding trips they
wore new things She looked doubt
fully at her black alpaca; brushed it,
sgonged it-pressed it-and regarded it
{. fYhh a dubious sigh il would have to
z do. She certainly could not afford
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 unw0ntcd fnery.
Her evenings were especially delight
full. She would 90 into ihe parior and
bring out the big atlas, and reverently
turn the pages until she came 10 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 sloat over the unknown
world before her
Just above that dot-where all those
black lines met-was the junction, and
sometimes she held her breath as she
carried her finger away out along one
OF those lines, and stopped with a little
gasp Of delight al the extreme end Of
the map. Then she would draw a long
sigh and shake her head, and. giving a
quick hitch to her chair, would settle
herself 10 the delightful task OF mark
ing out her wedding journey.
She would 80 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 a way it
looked 10 be on the map. bur she knew
it was forty miles from home, and a
big city.
Her breath came fast and she trem-
bled little when she thought of a ho-
tel Yes-she should go to one! She
had never been to a hotel-a real hotel
she thought regarding the village
inn with fine scorn. She was not quite
sure she would know how to behave
but she should certainly go. Whoever
heard OF wedding "Trip without ho-
tel.
She decided to stay three days, per
haps four, and she looked fondly at the
little round ring on the map, which
contained so many delightful possibili-
ties. Then she would close the book
and 20 to bed, only to dream Of Won
derful electric car rides to the moon.
At last the great day came. 1t
daWned clear and cloudless, and a very