The St. Mary banner., 1922-12-23

pthllon OF lHe joys VI AIsslOudT9 e4-
istence.
On the afternoon on which our story
opens she was just in the midst Of
description Of the happy state Of
some cannibal king when she should
| have brought him 10 realization OF
| tie superiority of roast lamb over
roast enemy, as an article Of diet and
Of Plymouth Rock pants 10 the sarong
as an article Of dress, when with an
I anatomical rattle and a bronchial
/ cough, the doctors machine came up
/ to the gate and the doctor dropped in
for one Of his little chats, disse1ninat-
ing youth. health. animal spirits and
slight odor of the ap0thecary shop
/ about him. The longer the doctor
/ stayed the more Amanda felt herself
| slipping, and when he finally arose to
go she took sudden and desperate
resolve. ''Good-by," she said, Il prob
ably shall not see you again. leave
for home tomorrow and join d party
OF missionaries sailing for the Far
East the following day. The steamer
! leaves in the afternoon-I shall have
just time TO pack. My parents have
consented to my trying the missionary
life, but ! have heretofore delayed do
ing 50. ] have resolved 10 delay no
longer. Good-by."
Aunt Jane exclaimed and expostu-
lated the doctor looked grave and
sought his fivyer with hardly word
of farewell. Amanda was deaf 10 all
Aunt James pleadings; she was firm
with the firmness Of panic-there is
such a firmness. The secret of her
own heart had suddenly been revealed
to her: in her startled mind she saw
II only 4 temptation, and therefore
something 10 be fed from. She tele-
phoned 10 the village garage for a
machine To come and take her 70 the
railway station TO catch the four
O'Clock train the next afternoon The
utmost concession she would make TO
Aunt Jane was not to try and catch
the morning train at six o'clock
there were only two through trains a
day out Of the village
1t was 2 40 when the machine or
dered by Amanda arrived to take her
TO the station.
Lots of time" said Ruben Hughes,
the cheerful chauffeur, land this old
boat is a f1ier" But scarcely two
miles from the house the engine of
Kuben's machine went wrong and
he had to fuss with it long time be-
fore he got 1t going again. Even then
he might have made the train. had
not another machine, unoccupied ex-
cept by its driver, collided with
Ruben's boat" about two miles be
yond the scene of the first delay. The
collision was so slight that Amanda
scarcely felt the shock, but both
drivers, roundly abusing each other
for carelessness. declared that their
engines had been so dislocated that
they could not move-a wrecking
party must be telephoned for from the |
village. Amanda was In despair, when |
Doctor Clinton's machine was seen |
rapidly approaching.
"Oh, doctor" cried Amanda, as the |
young man drew up beside the mo-
tionless cars, do, please. try and get |
me to the station" why, my dear
Miss Lathrop," cried the physician,
what has happened? Are you in
jured? Are you sure? Some internal |
injury. perhaps, here; let me help |
you into the car. There. No. you |
must not think Of going on. You must |
get right home and have your aunt
put you to bed"
And before he got Amanda to the
house he had really persuaded her
that, perhaps, after all, she might have
received some injury from the gentle
collision. "She must remain absolute
ly quiet for three days" said he to
Aunt Jane as he left. II will run
over in the morning" "Well. doc,
everything all rightT asked Ruben
Hughes that evening. "All right" re-
piled Doctor Clinton. Here's the ten
dollars for you and here's the ten for
Hiram" Having been foiied by fate
and two ten-spots-in her attempt to
fee temptation, Amanda consented to
remain with her aunt the rest of the
summer. And il the missionary serv-
ice lost an incompetent recruit who
would have been failure In the South
Sea islands. Doctor Clinton gained a
most efficient wife, who was a great
success in Ashville. Aunt Jane la
mented Amanda's falling away from
celibacy, but Amanda's children recon.
ciled her.