The San Francisco call., 1904-12-31
ON THE LAST DAY OF
THE YEAR.
BY BEATRICE NELSON.
- M very sorry. but there's not
chair left in the parlor car" The
Pullman conductor looked really

Pullman conductor looked really
distressed. Somehow the Glib
sonesque figure of Stella Mayhem
seemed utterly incongruous with a day
coach for a background. 1t was the
aftermath of the Christmas rush, with
family parties and numerous single
tourists returning from weeks pleas
uring in the big city. That was all the
reason why he hated to see Miss May
hew doomed 10 the day coach. 1t would
| be crowded to suffocation.
''Iu see what l can do he said cour-
| teously as he turned to assist her into
haps some one may fail to turn up and
a reservation may be forfeited"
Thank you" said the girl gracious
| ly, and. followed by the porter and her
suit case, she disappeared into the day
coach.
1t was as the conductor had feared.
crowded She passed down the aisle
and had about decided that she would
have to go in a car behind when the
sound of her own name, spoken in a
surprised voice, brought her to stand
I still.
Jack Moreland." she cried in Won
sively, utterly unmindful of the inter-
ested passengers and the grinning por-
ter Moreland took both her hands,
then suddenly remembered and dropped
! them without speaking. F1inging his
bag from the seat next the window he
made room for her She, too, had re-
covered from the shock-and the pleas
ure-of this unexpected meeting
though her cheeks were flushed trifie.
Perhaps you were saving that seat
for some one?'
No, L think my good angel must
Just have warned me Of your coming.
He settled her luggage and dropped
into the seat beside her.
This is great luck" he remarked,
"and to think that 1 have been dread
ing this trip"
You don't deserve meeting me. Here
l have been back a fortnight and you
haven't been near the house" She did
not add even mentally that she had
missed the flowers which had come
from him daily before her trip abroad.
IT have been very busy" he said
gravely, at which she smiled quizzi-
cally.
Planning a barn dance for the
| Pennifield- Browns, or steering some
J pretty Western woman through the
shoals Of New York society?"
Neither" he said shortly. That
: is not my line just now.
obi" she looked out of the win
dow. He had changed and yet he had
seemed very glad to see her. Did
YOU make the mistake of failing TO
have a seat reserved in the parlor car,
too?"
mo, I have taken to riding in day
coaches lately"
She glanced at him quizzically.
Don't tell me, Jack, that you're
going in for literature and are study
ing types %
: Then she hadn't heard. Why should
he tell her now with a thirty mile
run through Paradise before him?
Types are interesting, don't you
think so? Rather different. these
people. from the sort you'll see at the
Brandons tonight. / suppose you
are going out to spend the week end
with them ?"
Yes. and you, too?"
mo, I'm bound for Poughkeepsie.' y
He bent over suddenly to pick up a
violet which had fallen from the great
bunch at her belt. These must seem
mighty poor imitation, after seeing
the real thing in Italy," he said as he
Strengthened up.
Stella looked from him to the flying
!. landscape.
Poughkeepsie And he was so anx-
ious to change the subject. She had
heard rumors of his interest in Dick
; Farrar's young sister. Perhaps she
was in Vassar College. No, not now
during the holidays.
Jack went on talking quietly about
her trip, asking her questions which
she answered half mechanically. A
little country school teacher, seated
across the aisle, watched them Curl
ously. They made her think of {
frontispiece in a novel illustrated by
Christy.
Suddenly he glanced at his watch.
by Jove, how time has flown. Wei
! pull into your station in five minutes
Stella Mayhem watched him gather
up her luggage as one in a dream. Fol
her the time had dragged-and it wa:
his fault. He had changed, while She
When we come back TO town l hops
: you'll find-time-to CALL" She put al
odd little emphasis on the word time.
Thanks awfully. but I'm not goinl
II about much and"
He saw the look, half-wonderins
u half hurt, which crept into her eyes
and he turned to her abruptly. Hi
:. face had gone a bit white and his voic
! had lost it's even quality.
! Il thought you knew. No, l lacke'
! the courage to tell you" he said calm
! ly. II took business cropper-and In
! going to Poughkeepsie to sell derrick