The Meeker herald., 1919-07-05
GROWING GLORY
BY MILDRED WHITE.


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studying her own plaintive face.
"Why." she naked herself. chad youth
passed her by. leaving SO few Of its
pleasures. For surely this silvery
shimmering crown upon her head was
proof that youth had gone. and she
must no longer deceive herself with
Its possible coming joys"
Thoughtfully she unloosed the heavy
coils Of hair. letting 1t fall In wavy
mass about her shoulders, almost, It
seemed to have turned white In q
night. A few silvery strands which
appeared from time to time had not
seemed to matter, but now-Con-
stances dark eyes were brooding and
pathos curved her red lips. Always
she had been attendant upon a pa
tient invalid In a wheel chair. And
while girl companions enjoyed them
selves here or there, Constance
solaced herself with the thought that
faithful service wns the least she
could give. in gratitude for the care
her aunt had bestowed upon her own
orphaned childhood. Now Aunt Della
was gone, and after long sojourn in
the outer world. from which she had
been withheld, Constance returned
agnin. with a grateful sense Of home
coming to the empty house on the hill.
Constance had arisen early upon
this first Sunday of her homecoming,
and had gone alone to answer the call
Of the bell swaylng high in the old
church steeple. Very conscious WINS
she of the silent nudges and whisper.
ings In her direction.
"Do you see Constance Gail7" she
could fancy her old neighbors saying;
"her hair has turned white"
Resentfully she glanced at the cop,-
panlons of her girlhood. with their
brown or black locks unchanged; yes,
youth had been unkind in leaving her
30 soon. Thus, as she sat before her
mirror. into the eyes that still were
young. came a sudden Retrospective
smile. After all. there had been few
hours of enchantment, of light-hearted
irresponsibility, and though these oc.
casions stood ont with startling dis
tinctness. perhaps the one best re.
membered was that Of the olden-time
party Mt Stauntons. She had gone
dressed as Colonial maiden, while
friend Ind stayed with her aunt for
company. and perhaps the memory Of
this evening was especially pleasura-
bic because Of the daring. mysterious
cavalier who had claimed her undivid-
ed attention.
Seated now before her mirror. the
face Of Constance flushed between Its
curtain Of siivery hnir; the man had
kissed her goodnight, and she had
never forgotten the kiss. =,
Why should she recall the episode
now. awakened to the fact Of youth
past and gomez With careless grace
she pinned up the masses Of her hair
and moved toward the door. It was
the twilight bell which called to wor-
ship. Hatless. through the summer
night. Constance followed on down tha
lane. Back In the old family-pew. n
sensation Of being steadily observed
caused her to raise her eyes to the gal.
1ery: and there, looking down upon
her, as though In glad recognition, was
the very same daring face.
Older, Of course. was this man IN
the gallery, with certain grave dis
tinction. but there could be no mis-.
taking the fine, frank face or the deep
eyes with their humorous twinkle.
Hardly had she stepped ont again into
the night, when he was at her side.
II claim remembrance" the man said
quickly. 'from the long ago. You may
have forgotten certain hold young
guest Of the Stauntons, who attended
their olden-time party. hut have new.
er forgotten my charming companion.
whose name had not even known.
You must pardon me for assisting your
recollection; we met during the eve.
ming Of the party upon the veranda.
and In spirit of youthful adventure,
preferred to spend the evening with.
out learning each others identity. At
midnight. like Cinderella Of the ball,
you disappeared, and" he laughed
shortly. II saw you no more"
Constance. gazing into the mans
eyes, smiled. II remember 1t ALL" she
said; ''but you are mistaken as to the
last. Several times Upon the street
sfterwnrd I passed you without rec
ognition. Tint wns the humiliating
ending Of my adventure"
"Impossiblei" the man declared,
"Why. I walked the village streets,
searching in win for golden-haired
maid. From the fair texture of your
skin, I fancied your hair must be gold.
en-. The night of the dance. you may
recall. 1t was powdered white. glorious
~ white, like some olden-time picture.
Beneath 1t your eyes. with their dark
brows and lashes, were beautiful"
The man was walking along now, at
her side, seeming almost to forget the
fact OF her real presence, in the de-
light Of her past fancied one
Through the years that are gone" he
went on. II have kept upon my dress.