The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-11-29


same car Tom fou;.d them all.
"Well, if this isn't luck" he ex-
claimed, as soon as he was seated.
And then, with the air Of boy burst
Ing with pews, he said: 'They are
going to D."
eyes, I know it," Harding replied.
But as he vouched no information and
did not seem inclined to talk, Tom
took refuge in his paper and prompt
Iy forgot the whole affair, until he
was abruptly called back by:
atom, I cannot tell you when a
thing so impressed me as that did,
as if there could be but one "that."
"That2" asked Tom, little puzzled.
Then, "Oh, I thought you did not be-
tieve in that kind of charity-sympa-
thetic and sentimental, I think you
called it." he teasingly reminded him,
remembering the crisp bill John had
dropped in the tambourine.
"Oh, that is altogether different"
John answered, half defantly.
Eyes, different because a pretty girl
made this appeal an old man the
other" laughed Tom 'But, tell me,
how do you adjust your acts to the
ories"
"Oh, theories, the dickens! What
are they ever compared to acts? And
that act this afternoon was a spon-
taneous expression Of the true Christ
mas spirit, from which springs the de-
sire to hedp, to bring some JOY to
lot of poor unfortunates, because fts
Christmas, you know" he quoted
softly. 1T was the real thing, and
everybody in the car felt it."
And having, as it were, justified his
position and interest, he looked across
at the unconscious subject Of their re-
marks. Truly she was good to look at,
though at present all he could see was
the well-cut profile and the glorious
copperish-brown hair turning to dull
gold where the western sun struck 1t,
and eyes, that with her mood, he knew,
varied from hazel to brown. A verit-
able gem of q girl, he thought, as she
began adjusting her ,furs. With an
intuitive feeling Of understanding her,
he turned to Tom.
Don't mention the affair to anyone,
not even Mary, for it would not please
her, I am sure" he added, as the train
pulled up at D..
The station was small and John had
just finished greeting Mrs. Danvers,
when Billy Grants deep voice broke
in: "Hello, Harding; glad to see you,"
as they shook hands.
Grant, an old friend Of both Harding
and Danvers, also lived in D..
"Now, I want you to meet our
friends, for its cold and want to get
home"
While Tom and John were bowling
In acknowledgment to "Mrs. North
and Miss North" their host chatted on
about it's being "too bad they couldn't
have met at the other end Of the line,
as long as they happened to be on the
same train"
Nancy North threw q quick glance
at Harding, but otherwise no outward
sign was given, as he walked with her
to the car, that they had ever seen one
another before or that the same
thought was in the minds Of both, but
John was so strangely elated that Miss
North's color deepened each time she
looked up and met his smiling eyes.
"Now, don't you fellows keep our
bridge waiting tonight" called Grant,
as he gave the signal to start.
"I'll guarantee our arrival on time,
Grant" answered John, well satisfied
with the arrangement, whether it was
chance or fate, for somewhere within
him something was thrillingly alert,
tantalizingly expectant, confidently
hopeful, and the feeling Of the after
noon that had expressed itself In
cynicism and manifested itself in lone
nness was gone.
At the wedding reception Of John
Harding and Nancy North, six months
later, many Of the guests were curious
as to the presence in the gay assem-
blage Of guests of sweet-faced little
woman in the dress of the Salvation
Army, who was the recipient of much
attention from the bride and groom,
and was quite q center of attraction
as she related again and again the re-
markable story of that December aft
ernoon, after which all looked with
greater interest and understood why
in the array of handsome and costly
wedding gifts an old and battered tam
BOURNE occupied the place Of honor.