Gloucester County Democrat., 1904-09-01
WHEN
.aABBERWOCK
RODE
BY Keifb Gordon
Copyright. 1908, by II. c. Mcclure.
BY K eth Gordon

There was nothing at all extraor
binary in it's appearance, and it ar
rived in the usual way In other
words, it was a letter in square
white envelope, and the stolid post
man stuffed it into that one of the row
Of mail boxes which bore the name
.'Loring'' just as indifferently as he
tucked an advertising circular into
Smiths box and an envelope bearing
all the outward and visible signs of a
bill into the Lymans' Then he blew
shrill note on his whistle and con-
tinued on his impersonal errand down
the block
Barbara heard the whistle and won
dered with mild interest whether there
was any mail for her. Being a mat
ter of fact young person, she went
calmly on about her affairs, having
learned from experience that her tiny
share of the United States mail was
not usually Of character to make
trip down four flights of stairs worth
while. Having no presentiment that
something superfine was hanging over
her head, it was fully an hour later
when she was ready to go out on an
errand She fshed small key out of
the brass bowl that stood on the man
telshelf and, making her way in an
unhurried manner to the vestibule,
fitted it into a narrow slot in the mail
box and took out the letter
Even then, with the momentous doe
baf 6noarc oh faiIad In
''feel it in her bones" as her great
great-grandmother would have done,
that something unusual was about to
happen. A CLEAN of curiosity did,
however, light up her face as she
glanced at the superscription and,
tearing the edge of the envelope off
dafntily, passed out into the street,
reading the note as she went.
When she had finished she stopped
quite still and looked about her in a
dazed way She felt that it was the
sort of letter that could only arrive
by page on a silver tray, heralded
by fanfare of trumpets.
Still she seemed to be awake. All the
familiar landmarks We're there-the
church across the way, the house OPP
posite where the ivy was just tingeing
the walls with faint green and the
inevitable group of children of assort-
ed ages and nationalities scurrying
hither and thither with small regard
for the usurping pedestrian. 1t looked
precisely like West - street, Town.
She began to read the note a second
time, moving automatically down the
street The blood rose in her cheeks,
and her eyes sparkled with excitement.
An elevated train thundered by just
ahead Of her with as much fuss as if it
We're the Cyclone limited. 1t disap-
peared, and the commotion Of its pass
ing died on the air. But it had served
its purpose and established the reality
of things.
In the next block she ran into port
ly colored woman, with large bundle.
Twenty million she began in eX-
tenuation of her awkwardness. Then
as the woman stared at her in aston
ishment, Il mean beg your pardonw
and she continued ON her way toward
Fifth avenue with a somewhat fus-
tered countenance. Once there she
swung along as if she were walking Oh
air, saying over and again to herself,
Millions-do you Understandable
lions?"
Then she tried impatiently to get
away from that thought, to think of
what the note meant in more concrete
oh nj iOIo otts
and maid. That was her first thought,
and she laughed outright at it's mea-
gerness. An Imagination Injured to pow
erty could not reach the possibilities of
such a fortune all at once. 1t would
have to be trained up to it, just as
contralto voices We're sometimes trained
up to sopranos. Cabs and violets, in
deed Orchids and victoria, with two
men on the box, was more like it.
But what were those things? Mere
bagatelles. 1t meant Paris, London, st.
Petersburg and Rome; aye, and India
and Egypt! 1t meant all the dreams of
her life come true and in addition
splendors that she had never even
thought of in her widest flights of
fancy.
She drew her breath in sharply. The
realization of what it would mean to
be the wife of a man with score of
millions was almost oppressive. Even
now she was beginning to feel the re-
sponsibility of wealth, and as she
turned into an art gallery at the corner
of Thirty fourth street, where in the
silence she meant to sit and think it
out, there was a little frown upon her
forehead
For the third time within the hour
she read over the note. Now that the
first dizziness of the 1napnificence Of