Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1905-11-11
AT THE TRAIN.
FOLLOWING F..gy1I.. SEPARATE
CEST TIMES.
Dx ]. X. IRTEDMAE.


the entrance to the union station in
Canal street and moved down the steel
stairway 10 the trainshed below
Lester b. Alden never WAS In haste
and YET nc was ever in a hurry. He regu-
lated his movements with watchllke
regularity and the result was that he
wasted as few moments By being ahead
as BY being behind time. This may have
been the reason why at the age Of AZ,
despite an active. wearing career, his
typically American face bore no trace Of
age and his step was as elastic, his tall,
slender figure ais unbent as in early
youth.
1t was the verdict Of his fellows at the
bar and his acquaintance at the club
that Lester b Alden-~to have dropped
the initial in his name would have at
tested fnexcusable familiarity wore
His heart neither on his sleeve nor in his
bosom Just where he did conceal his
heart and what use he found for it, it
he was Inconvenience BY such an
article, bench, bar and elp5 Aimed
puzzle. He @as dfy 1850 per-
sonified which o. course 1al that
his heart had been eHaer pc ed or
desiccated while TIE work 81 Is sonid-
cation went on.
Just now the distinguished lawyer
was on his way TO New York, whittier
he had been called to put the anishing
touches on a deal that meant millions
to his clients and a generous slice OF
that huge amount TO Lester b. Alden.
He was exactly six minutes ahead of his
train-a leeway he allowed himself
partly out Of habit and partly because
he believed the unexpected often hap
pens and one never can tell what will
occur anyway. The world. thank heav-
en-. is not as logical as Lester b. Alden!
The unexpected happened to-day. 1t
confronted him with an appalling sud
denness in the pretty face and 1.-THE fig
ure OF Miss Jane Morrill,. clad in black
tailor-made dress who was ascending
TO the ticket Office above as Lester b.
Alden was moving to his train below.
His fine head went back with start;
his cold, gray eyes expanded, lifting his
entire ridge Of brow, and he was con-
scious that something like a thrill tray-
eled along his neryes-his nerves hard,
firm and reliable as the steel stairs on
which his feet rested
Jane Morrill, blushed despite herself.
in way that made her blush still
deeper afIerward when she stopped to
think about IL. Then prettiness per-
sonihed extended a slender hand %
logic personifed standing there with
its hat off. What an allegory,
Seven years had passed since this
strong man and still stronger woman
had set eyes on each other, although
time was when they had found it diff
cult to take eyes OH each other Their
love story has been rendered trite by the
novelist. hard pushed for material, who
has used the situation so often thai even
the fresh paper ON which he recorded il
has groaned out: Tell us something
newt" In brief-to save this very paper
a protesting pang -they loved; they
were engaged lying gOssiping tongues.
never ont of employment since the days
of Adam, provoked a quarrel and they
parted For further particulars buy
any novel at the news stand and refer
to IT,
The quick mind of the man of law
bridged those seven intervening years
in a flash His thoughts darted back
and forth over he structure with such
rapidity aud n such haste that even
its calm engineer stood confused Be-
sides. although he would have been the
last man in the world to have acknowl-
edged it TO himself. and although there
was nothing In his face 10 SHOW it, emo
ton tied his eloquent tongue Lawyer,
plead your own case!
Perhaps something akin to This same
process. with more stress laid ON the
emotional and less ON the intellectual
side OF it,, divided Jane Morrill, into two
women. The one she was; the one. with
a just pride she wanted him to think
she was At any rate, both of them
sought refuge in those commonplace
that we execrate for boring US to death
at one time and bless for saving our
lives from utter stupidity at another
You ere s,in living with your aunt
at Pasadena he asked
Yes" she answered. smiling. We
have made a flying trip east and we
leave for home in less than quarter of
an hour. There has been a misunder-
standing about the sleeper tickets and
came upstairs TO see about them Aunt
is in the car now"
And my train leaves for New York in
about a minute Good-by," he said. the
slightest tremor in his voice,
Good by" she answered suppressing
all tremor in hers.
In the haf-hour that Lester B.
Alden. seated at ease in the smoker,
stole from business and gave to ro-
! nance. it seemed to him that the two
trains-the one whirling toward the
east. and other toward the west-sym-
bolized his life and hers. destined to
meet, to whirl away on separate desti-
MES. and part forever Chicago Daily
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