The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1907-10-18
Al the TURNING Of The Long Lane.
By RosAL1NE MAssoN.



Miss Janet Galbriath tooke her best
black kid gloves out of her corner
drawer, and gave the strings OF her
Sunday bonnet a final adjustment be-
fore she turned away from the mirror.
1t was the seIf-same mirror in a
solid mahogany frame with a little
drawer in the stand, that had reflect
ed Miss Janet Galbraith's face for
over thirty years; but the mirror S
task must have been as grateful now
as ever, for the face under the Sunday
bonnet was undeniably comely and
winsome, with the pink of rose eptals
in the cheeks, and an attractive crlnkle
in the soft hair that was turning TO
that beautiful creamy white that re-
compenses many a Scots woman IN
her old age for the red tinge endured
in her youth. But it was Miss Janet
Galbraith's eyes that made her lovable
eyes blue and alphabetically gentle,
with, in them and in the soft wrinkles
around them, a wistful hint of sad
ness.
1t was not Sunday and yet Miss jan
ct donned her Sunday bonnet and took
out her best black kid gloves this May
morning, and sailed forth with face
of dignified intention She was to-day
going to carry out a great resolve, to
put into execution a long and prayer
\ fully considered purpose; she was go
ing to select the spot of ground which
she intended to purchase in the new
graveyard, in order that she might feel
that her bones would be decently laid
there when her time came. Her father
who had so long been the chief doctor
in the small town and everybOdys
friend in time of trouble, and her
mother, whom she could not remember
and the half-dozen little brothers and
sisters, who had died in infancy be-
fore her birth, as well as several I'M
Giles and aunts and cousins, were all
laid beneath one upright slab in the
wall of the older burying- ground; but,
alas an uncle-in-law who had died
ten years previously, had left it in his
will that he desired to be buried beside
his wife, and this, as Miss Janet pa
thetically remarked to the minister,
"fllled up the lair" and left no room
for her. But she had not gone against
the dead mans wish-and she was too
gentle to be assertive.
Miss Galbraith visited the grave
every Sunday at the conclusion Of SER
vice. This was a decorous habit, al
lowing Miss Galbraith's little servant
time to run home and rapidly dish the
potatoes, and also allowing time for
the congregation to disperse. When
Miss Janet had read, line by line, the
names and ages of her forbears and
kindred down to the inconsiderate I'M
cle-in-law in the last line-'Thomas
Wyllie. relict of the above Susan Gal
braith''- then she was sure the last
loiterers would have gone, and that
she could feel secure from garrulOus
acquaintance. For Miss Janet was
hopelessly shy and dif1dent, and her
dignity of carriage and reserve of
speech were as much the outcome of
shyness as they were the result of the
pride natural in the last survivor Of
a highly respectable and professional
family. "Ay, she keeps herself to her
SELF" they said about her in the small
market-town that had known her for
over half a century. "She has aye
kept herself to hersel, and been that
respectable l doot if she has ever had
an offer O. marriage" it was once
added
But the speaker was mistaken. The
anniversaries that are marked in the
calendar are not the only ones in
womans reckonng. There was a GER
tain day--in June it was, when the sun
shone and the birds sang year after
year in unconscious cruelty-when
Miss Janet always unOstentatiously
wore black; and in the afternoon,
when the duties of the day were
over, she would go upstairs to her
own room and after carefully draw
ing down the blinds, whether to keep
out the sunshine or to prevent the
birds from looking in was uncertain,
would unlock an old desk and take
hence three letters tied together, and
photograph. and two or three appar-
emily meaningless triies. When Miss
Galbraith came downstairs again quite
two hours later, the sad look in her
blue eyes was intensified, and her
gentle mouth was somewhat tremu-
lous But, indeed, there was no one
to notice