Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-08-22

came straight from her heart, and told
| him of the love she bore him, and that
| she would be proud and happy to be
his wife. And-that was ALL He had
never written to her again, and when
he came back to Brentley they had met
as though his letter had never been
written and answered.
She raised her head wearily and con-
tinued her search. At last she found
a coat that had belonged to her brother
George (married now and living in
distant state), and several other gar
ments with which she could part, and
making them into a parcel sent them
with one or two articles of furniture
and various other things to the hall
where the rummage sale was to be
held.
1t was on the evening of this bright
October day that the sale was to COM
mence. The town had been ransacked
from end to end, little judicious ad-
vertising done. all the articles collected
and arranged, and now, with sigh of
relief and anticipation, the maids and
matrons of Brentley stood and looked
a moment on the work of their hands
ere they went home to snatch a hasty
supper before returning for the open
ing of the sale in the evening.
Among those who dropped in that
evening to ''see how the women folks
were getting along" was Caleb Thorn
as. He passed down the hall, eXchang
ing pleasant word with an acquaint-
anca here and there and amusedly in.
specting the heterogeneous conglom-
Grafton of donations. until he came to
counter presided over by the daugh-
ter of an old friend, who laughingly
challenged him to pick from her stock
in trade the style which suited him
best. She had charge of part of the
| clothing and merrily exhibited her as
| sortment, commenting gaily on each.
At Last she held up a coat in the style
of twenty years ago. "See," she said
gleefully, "Miss .Almira Hunter sent
this in; how oldfashioned it is! One
| would think it came over in the May
| flower and hadn't seen the light of
day since; and, indeed, it must have
been laid away for ever so long, for
she"
"I'll take it, interrupted Caleb short
ly. "How much is it!'
FIFTY cents" was the wondering
answer. The girl watched him with
perplexed, musing eyes as he threw the
coat over his arm and made his way
straight to the door. She wondered
if there was any truth in the gossip
she had heard but hardly needed,
which called him an old lover of Miss
Hunters.
Meanwhile Caleb Thomas took his
way homeward. the coat pressed tight
ly to his side. Once in a while he
stroked it tenderly. almost timidly-it
was something Mira had touched.
Arrived at his bachelor home, he
spread his purchase on chair and sat
down facing it. Somehow, the sight of
something connected with her brought
thronging back the old pain, the old
question, "Why?". Why had she never
broken her proud silence?
With the question still echoing in his
heart he took the coat and slowly put
it on. 1t fitted well. He remembered
that her brother George had been about
his size. He ran his hand over it in
an awkward masculine way, patting
it ahstractedly. Suddenly, near one of
the pockets. something rustled. He
felt in the pocket but there was moth
ing there. Still the rustling continued
when he touched that part of the coat.
1t occurred to him that there must be
something between the cloth and
the lining, and searching carefully he
found a rip and drew out-a letter,
sealed, stamped, but not postmarke ed,
and addressed to himself in a hand
that sent thrill along every nerve.
Slowly and wonderingly he broke the
seal and glanced at the date. 1t was
1882. He. rubbed his eyes as If in a
dream. What did it mean?
all clear to him.. Here was the answer
to the why. the long-delayed answer to
his letter. She had given it to George
to post. and George Che was always
careless boy had slipped it into his
pocket and forgotten it, and it had
worked its way through the rip and
lain for twenty long years between the
cloth and lining. And, miracle of
miracles! 1t had at last been deliv-
cred to its rightful owner.
He finished the letter, folded it care
fully, and replacing it in its envelope
put it back in his pocket. Forgetting
that he still wore the old coat. for now
his only thought was to get to Mira,
he strode out into the night and hur-
ried, almost ran, down the village
| street.
There was a light in Miss Hunters
sitting room, where she sat trying to
| read But she could not concentrate
her thoughts upon her book; they
would turning again and again to Ca
| leb Thomas.
Suddenly there was a step at the
| outer door. the latch clicked sharply,
! and Snn,anna SfaDnoI tho ;nro>