The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-10-29
ONE VIRGINIA NIGHT
By KENNETH BROW1W.
obvious retort that in that case it would
Copyright by 8, s. Mcclure %.

obvious retort that in that case it would
be wiser not to talk
They were standing very close togeth-
er, as people who examine ferns some
times do. She raised her eyes to his;
she who could preach so we'll had better
practice, for her soul was in her eyes,
and much protestation would be needed
to unsay what her eyes revealed.
She left him standing by the ferns,
piece. To him it all was background to
her eyes, it and the people and the
lights, and further back the music, and
even eve the e. wedding ceremony itself. He
up in her eyes-as tho there remained,
but the husk of himself, now that she
was gone.
Next came the getting ready to drive
waited, half sentimentally, to 90 down
with the bride, hustled about cheerfully,
Of the girls called to know in Which car
riage. the heroine was going, and the
hero's heart stopped as he waited to
hear her answer, certain that she would
not dare, before them all, to say that
she was going with him. But the
heroine 9Y was upstairs, and the hero kept
ute something would happen to prevent.
At last she came down. There was a
block Of various vehicles driving up
to the door, and he asked her in low
tone if she would mind walking to
where his horse was tied to a tree. "He
does not stand well,' he explained.
She went with him, disbelieving the ex-
cuse, out into the dark beneath the
road behind dayton" full of cheer.
full men, his horse plunging and trying
to run from his long wait in the cool
air.
,;+ 1T 4o was = true' you see, you boy Of
"And now I can look at you in the
proach-,,or rather without fear Of re-
proach.'
emo, you can't. I can look at you In
to be circumspect, as tho there were q
dozen people around, because the road
is narro w and on your driving depends
the unbrokenness Of two very aice
necks-and it 50 unromantic to break
a girls neck.'
They trotted swiftly along tina sim
uous, undulating road. On the left the
dark, wooded hills rose steeply from
the edge Of the road, while on the right
the meadow, three or four feet below
them, invited an easy upset. The red
Piedmont clay makes night driving an
affair of keen sight. not rejecting that
glimmer of light which dirt or gravel
the red roads to the south, where such
obstacles to social intercourse are not
considered
The heroine held the hero IS left hand
between hers. At times he had to
snatch it suddenly away, to save them
from driving over the edge Of an un'
protected bridge or down into a more
| 4nl 49,
driving not over-well- broken horse
with one hand requires more care
than the hero was willing to give, when
the heroine was beside him. The stars
above them gave that light more clear
and unearthly than any moonlight, and
for time the hero was content.
When they got out on the country
road he no longer had to pay SO much
her pure, starlit face beside him, anG
once or twice he leaned toward her till
his cheek touched hers.
"Some one will see,' she said gently
but not moving from him.
| "Please, ma am, how good do yor
think peoples sight is9,' he asked.
tested.
h ittEfe 4 @or T5s slo1ly sha have to drive
hadn It spoken"
A long hill was before them, an6
when they got to the top, they saw the
waning moon just rising in the east anC
dimming the stars.
"And you are. coming back with me
too, aren't you9' he asked when they
were halfway to town. 4
| "Why are you never content7" she
reproached him. "When you have
sonnet thing, you are always worrying
about something else.'
"But you will, won't yous' he per
sisted.
NPlease don't ask mel No, I dom
believe I can. There will be plenty Of
room in the trap, and it would be silly
for you, to drive way out in the coun
try again with me. -
It was the bitter in the sweet, the
thought Of this drive back which be
could not have. It in way spoiled
the present for him, and yet In a way
expressibly- dear. He pleaded most Of
the rest Of the way to be allowed tc
drive, her home, but she would not
which is a strong argument with a girl
Just before they got to the station
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