Year: 1875

~ was tAiiu-Sldcs tdIiltES. sue
was pleasant-faced young woman, GO
ing | think, for the first time after her
marriage, to visit her parents in the old
home, to show them their two fine grand
children At least this was the little
history | built up for her in my own
brain from word that heard pass be.
tween her and her young husband at the
station, as he put her into the carriage
with an affectionate farewell. | always
watch with great interest the farewells
and greetings of my fellow travellers,
and have fashion for thinking out for
myself the whole story of their previ.
Gus lives from the little hints / get in
this way. 1t is TO me as if / were per.
mited to open the second volume of an
interesting romance, and allowed to read
only one short scene in this, and asked
to guess as nearly as possible from this
one scene the previous course of the
story and the character of the actors in
it.


The young child was an infant Of
about three or four months old-very
quiet and good the other was pretty'
restless little girl of three, who could not
be still single moment, and kept the
careful mother busy by her childish
questions and childish prattle. She was
not at all bashful, and soon talked to us
also in such natural coquettish, conde-
scending way, that we were quite in love,
with the charming lassie and begged
her mother not to check her innocent
advances to us.


When we had been travelling together
for two or three hours and began to feel
quite like old acquaintance, while the
train was going at full speed, the moth
er half rose from her seat to place the
little girl, who had left her place again,
on the opposite seat. How it happened
have never understood it was one of
those accidents which seem impossible,
and, in fact, only happens once in hun,
dred thousand times but just as she
stood half erect holding her sleeping
babe upon one arm and her frolicsome
maid on the other, the little girl made
one Of her quick movements, and in an
instant she was gone from our eyes.


What a moment The poor mother
stood fixed and rigid in exactly the same
attitude, her arm still bent as though
around her child, gazing with wide open
fixed eyes at the place whence she van.
ished. She seemed literally, suddenly
turned to stone with the rest of US the
case was almost the same. How long
this lasted | do not know; doubtless it
seemed to us much longer than it really
was. Then the young mother seemed to
come to herself, and made sudden
movement as if she would spring through
the window after her vanished darling,
now far away. l caught her quickly
fast, and held her, while the kind young
lady who sat opposite to me took the
baby from her arms, and we all began to
talk together, no one listening to the
other, about what was to be done for
her. Somehow we managed to do all
that was possible; the guard came, the
train was stopped, and the mother, with
out speaking to one of us. or even look
ing at US left the train, supporting her
self on the arm of the sympathizing
guard, while he held the still sleeping
babe fast in the other.


OF course the train must 90 on
with increased speed to make up for the
moment of delay, SO there is no chance
for us to see more of the bereaved moth
er. Telegraph to us at the next sta,
ton, said one of the railroad function
aries to the guard. Yes, yes, be sure
to do it Immediately" cried a dozen
voices for in some mysterious way the
news of the accident had run through
the train as if by electricity, and row of
sympathizing faces watched the disap-
pearing forms of the mother and the
guard.


1T will take her half an hour to reach
the spot, and tits just thirty FIVE minutes
now to the next station" said the stout
gentleman in the corner, taking out his
watch and holding it in his hand, his
eyes fixed upon it. He had struck me
as one of the most selfish and disagreea-
bic old gentlemen possible scarcely an
swering a polite question from neigh
Dor, and then in the shortest, gruffest
manner possible he had seemed com
pletely absorbed by his newspaper and
his snuff box, not having noticed the
little fairy in any way except to glance
at her now and then with a savage ex-
preston as her clear, childish laugh had
disturbed his reading. Now his whole
soul seemed to be fixed on the watch be-
fore him, and he chided the tardy
fight of time again and again, in
words more forcible than ornamental


There was young would-be dandy in
Al. ooIo,o.I \