Year: 1873




Rntie's Lantern.


'ilHlth tu tell. the comfortable. old- tastl-
ionrI farm house, at The t,ol Of the mar
row and rocky LEDGE, had a most pict,u.-
wound and smiled the fertile valley. a
Goodly proportion Of whose acres apper-
tanned to Grandfather CroWninShield, and
along the edge thereof swept the curves
ol the railway, after what seemed its birth
in the cloven ledge 50 very near to Katie
CroWninShirlas home As for Katie her
self. with her sweet, fresh face and merry
brown eyes. the little valley and her nest
imG home We're all the world 10 her-all
indeed. that She had ever known. for She
had been but Wee thing when Grand
father and Grandmother CrowninShicld be
came father and mother to her in place OF
those whose face, She could hardly now
rrmembrr Neither did il ever occur to
her that She was in any sense an heircss.
for She seemed rather TO belong TO the
valley than the valley to her; while the
idea, if anything had brought il to her
mind, that her good old grmdpa
We're NOT 10 live forever would have turned
the brightest June day il the "loomrSt
DcccnbvT


But. In these latter years. one great
entity had painfully struggled into katie'S
world with M apparent mission to unite
the valley with thai great rnknown
which lay beyond the hills and lodges.
Katie had seen the ragged ritl rloyen in
the granite wall, Watching it curiouslv
from door 10 window, and listening to the
duh reporG Of the blasting charges until
the barrier was pierced and the railway
cr,-pt ont and found its way down through
the valley; and. cycr since the trains
began to run. she had connected With
them the idea of \ life that was almost
human. She had waved her handkerchief
enthusiastically 10 the very first train, and
had been literally responded to by pas
Srngrl| and conductors and although She
had been then Il little Girl and was now Il
Young lady. She had never yet dreamed Of
any unmaidenly boldness in giving the
same white SIGNAL Of welcome. al times.
when the great railway mystery came
rushing ont of the cloNrn wall There
wa, one train in particularto which katie'S
attentions were at last pretty we'll rr-
Slilctrd-1 through express which went
hy at eight in the morning, and there was
another from the same direction again at
EIGHT o'clock at night With the latter, for
a very long time Katie had felt no sort OF
SympathN since il could rs She thought
neither see nor acknowledge courteous
greetings, while from the former, Just as
easily as her own dainty good morning =
tuttercd above the garden gate. SO Ger
tainiv would thcrr be tlcctng flash of


h 4, h,, a. +
one OF the cars, or even from the engine
itself tor that too, had happened. And
Katie knew very we'll that in these late
days, At least, her answer had always
come from the same hand. A tail erect.
manly fellow he was. dressed in darl, blue
cloth; and Katie had been we'll aware, for
a good while, that he was the conductor
Of the train, but she had never vet been
near enough 10 speak to him, or get amy
clearer notion of his face and lis meaning
than might be given her in those swift
hul almost daily glilnpses. When or how
hr found his way back to the beginning
of his perpetual journey, was n question
that Kate never asked even herself 1t
was enough that every morning the swift
train brought him out of the unknown
country beyond the hills, and added Il
something, that had grown to he very
pleasant /" the peace and quiet OF the day.


There was something very noteworthy
even 10 railway men, about the manner
in which the road broke in upon that
valley. \ deep cut. a sharp curve, and Il
heavy doWn-@Iade combined to make the
precise point where the conductor had
learned to look tor katies greeting an in
,,tr ,,,a. mad bo,. ~,
may even have seemed to wave a species
of csngratnlalion at his repeated safe
passage Of what might at amy time have
shaped itself into danger


BE that rs ii may the railway "cut' had
brought TO Katie Crownmshield, among
other results, a shorter and easier path to
the home of her aunt, her mothers sister,
who lived just a little way beyond the
ledge, and who was never satisfied if too
many days passed by without bringing
the sunlight Of katic'S face across the
threshold. And SO Katie had gone and
returned, many and many Il time, by the
narrow path between the granite walls
She learned to walk the rails like a rope
dancer, and she knew the time of every
train SO well, rs she often told Aunt Betsy,
ever to get herself caught in the cut
Even if she should. she said, there We're
ever so many places where she could
chamber up on the rocks on the side and
be entirely safe Nobody in that peaceful
region dreamed Of fear at being "out after
dark; and often had good Aunt Betsy
detained her pet until night had fallen
although her only company homeward
was a little star Of a lantern. 1T was u
"a In nt,l,.p nIt ,af, a,,f
and winning character of its own, like
everything else that belonged to Katie
Crownnshield, and She herself was half
inclined to make II confident Of it.


In fact, katie's lantern found its own
occasion Of putting on almost the SEM
blance OF personalifriend. There came Il
day when katie's handkerchief nuttered
in vain, and then another, when even the
reply she received from the train CON
vinced her that there had been u change
of some kind and that she would receive
no more signals from the same hand 1t
was odd enough, but her long accustomed
bit Of morning pleasure seemed suddenly
turned into something childish and IN
interesting worn-out amusement that
it was time to put aside with her dis
garded dolls. SO she sadly prepared to
give il in the first fit OF genuine blues she
had ever indnlged in; but, a few evenings
atterward she fingered at the garden gate
a little after her return from Aunt. .Betsy's,
to see the night express 60 flashing by.
II was grand sight when it came, incom-
parably more interesting and mysterious
in the darkness than ever in the day, and
Katie wondered she had never thosght so
before; but she almost unconsciously
raised her little lantern, and swung it
around her head rs she used to waye he,
handkerchief


Could she believe her eyes,