Norwich bulletin., 1912-10-19
OUR WEDDING DAY,


 the girl turned abruptly and discarded the neat blue walking suit she had just donned from heap of billowy, lustrous apparel that lay spread out over the bed. Afterward she contem- oval mirror of her A.essing table, noting the details with some curiosity.
 No; her three years absence on an other continent had made very little difference, beyond, perhaps, intensity ing each feature a mere trif1e. The suntints of her hair had deepened to a more metallic gold, the blue of her eyes to misty violet, and her mouth red, finely lined-drooped bare frac- tion at the corners. That was all.
 With a final wistful glance at the en loveliness, she turned and ran down the stairs as fast as she could, pinnfng her hat on as she went.
 Half an hours ,brisk walking brought her to the entrance of the park. A few minutes later she found herself completely hemmed in by an unfamil- jar wilderness of trees and brambles. She paused and looked about her des- perately On either side was for midable tangle of thorny hedge, with mass upon mass of impenetrable shrubbery everywhere ahead. Three years had made B material difference After a moments rest on one of the benches she got up again. more than ever determined on her quest. At the end of a harassing hour she stood on familiar ground at last, a tumult of emotion surging all through her being as recollections crowded up thick an1 fast
 There was the same old log upon which they had sat on that eventful day-the day. the very hour of their betrothal-now crumbling to decay, but the very same, nevertheless. l Lifting her skirts, all sagged and limp with dew, she picked her way ] carefully to the sound end of it and sat down, catching her breath in a lit ] tie 'spasm of relief. In the distance a i coyotes cry sounded distinctly and a whole army of minor echoes thronged i in its wake.
 The pink gray of early morning flung an enchanting rosiness over everything and the air was suddenly vocal with { the matutinal chfrping of thousands of birds.
 Presently the girl got up and began to search along the stde of the log for something She came to it at last | A have detected that from the unmistak- able signs of emotion all at once visi- ble on her face. Quick tears sprang to her eyes as she looked, and splash ed unheeded on her interlocked hands
 'R. G., k. R., June, '02-June, '05.' The letters roughly carved with a pocket knife, were a trifie eaten away at the edges, but perfectly legible still
 Our wedding day. she murmured softly, touching the crude inscription with a tender. tremulous finger. Dick i Dick--if we only hadn't" For a mo- ment she felt as though she were go- ing to choke; the memory of past bit terness-their quarrel, estrangement and>final separation-came upon hel suffocatingly, overwhelmingly. Then with a swift access of pride, she threw back her head, the mist drying away from her eyes and leaving them haI1 ' hard, half regretful-bright as stars T For full minute she stood there, tai and straight, immovable as a statue Then she bent suddenly and laid hel cheek against the rough side of tho log.
 Almost on the instant the sharr snapping of a twig brought her up right with a startled movement. No 20 feet away just visible through th' interlaced foliage, man was stridins rapidly toward her. The girl had jus time to gather her skirts and slil noiselessly behind screen of bamboo
 Despite It's nonchalance, Gordon'i careless swing had decided purpos' behind 1t. He came directly up tt the crumbling old log and stood look ing down upon It's crusty surface witt an inscrutable expression in his keel gray eyes.
 Presently he, too, stopped and scan ned closely along certain line on tn side of the log. In an instant his fac lit up, only to cloud swiftly, while look of pain made his clean, clear fea lures look almost sharp. He sat dow and dropped his face in his hand with sort of hopelessness too entir for expression. After a little he lite : his head wearily and stared straigh ahead of him at nothing at all Ther
 all at once, he started, paled am
 jumped to his feet, every nerve culver
 ing. On the soft turf exactly in iron
 of him were footprihts--a woman 3 footprintsI And a bit further on lay
 tiny scrap of lace, vaguely exhalant c
 q subtle odof-hef favorite perfume. Gordon stepped quickly and pos sessed himself of the handkerchief. |
 one corner were the initials he alread 1 expected to see there He crushed
 against his lips with a passionate rus
 6f tenderness, and wonderful ligh tcatna lasa hss eyes. Dearest of &