OCR Text |
Show fHEEE was the usual grinding of t, iron rails and a burr and pres sure on the ears, as a long train, Inbound from Boston, entered the tunnel tun-nel and made its way to the great terminal at Thirty-third street. As is always the case immediately before or after Christmas, the cars were crowded crowd-ed with persons going to their homes or coming from some big holiday celebration cele-bration and, as is also the case at such times, everyone was in good humor. hu-mor. As the door swung open and red-capped red-capped porters met the heavily loaded travelers, there V7js the rush of a I great, sweeping crowd past Jack Deliver, Del-iver, as he stood a moment waiting to get his direction. lie looked up. It was but ii moment he had paused. He must go with the crowd must follow them. Soon he had traversed the long platform, ascended a flight of stairs .o another train level, and found himself him-self seated again in a great steel coach. Passengers were coming on rapidly. Men. women and children were in the crowd. There were the well-dodo (or apparently so) as well as the poorly poor-ly clad. But in spile of class, or condition, con-dition, or age, the holiday spirit was srill present with the crowd. But for that spirit, of course, there might have been friction and bickering and dissension among the crowd. A man with a sense of humor and i something of a tinge of Irreverence j I once remarked that. God could umlcr-I umlcr-I stand men. He was sure of that. J But he doubted that He could undcr-j undcr-j stand a whole car full of them, j It was" a motley crowd, it Is true, i One wondered, naturally, whence they j came and whlthvr they were g"!:ig. I At last, the car was about full. It j was hut one minute to slatting time. The sound of the testing of air brakes , was hoard. Conductors, brakemcn and ; , porters stood ready when the signal ' . was given, to come aboard. eloe the ; v. s'.ihule doors and take th-lr laces, j Ju-l as the words "all aboard" were j 1 heard along the iine. a young woman : entered the car. She had raced for the t.ain and was out of Im-atli. She was r.ot :'.u-ter--d or perturbed, hew-ever. hew-ever. She stood in the aii" when the train slarti .1 and loe',. d toward , the rear. .Tad: wondered where she would gravitate. Every seat in the car. save Ms, as far as h" could o;. had its quota of : two. She had parsed this. .Tui k Instinctively said to himself: "Wish she'd ciuce here. I'd much I rather sit with a nice looking girl next me than have some crude foreigner, ! reeking with the smell of onions, as ' a seatmate for the next three or four hours." His Intentions were good. He was j merely being honest with himself, i Suddenly the girl turned. A pair of quick, bright brown "jes detected the vacant seat, and the girl moved toward to-ward It. Jin k's eyes were ns quick as hers. In a first glance he surveyed the girl from head to foot. As she seated herself calmly beside him, he could have made an inventory (if most of her wardrobe and belongings. He didn't miss the skating boots and skates, and the fine hockey stick she j I had with her. llovv could he! In-j In-j stlnclively he sensed that the young I woman was the kind whose cotnpan- The Car Wao About Full. j lonshlp he could enjoy. He knew she was a p llned and an educated girl. Iti fitietiient was written In every motion mo-tion of her body, and education and understanding In her features. Site loved pleasure. Ho could see that, too, I for natty sports costume told j that plainly. j The train rolled .in. The tunnels were passed. Suddenly Jack grew I more courageous and venlurcd: "You've hi "ti having a good time, I lee." "I have, Indeed," she replied; and every Ititonillon iind lulled Ion bespoko tint 'lady. Perhaps Jack's appearance be-tolnned be-tolnned a relatlve'y high social training. train-ing. Tim : e was no fear or apprehension apprehen-sion Pi In r voice. "JukI the loveliest lime,' she ronl 1 n : i e d , "a holiday house pnrlv on I'm Hudson, And what could tail li.'en i mill' fan I" ' I e d I hen of llie sknttng, i' I ui. aiilng and 't scorn uf other winter-time pleasures which the girl had enjoyed. "She has had a good time, I should say," he thought to himself, after nr-other nr-other look in which he studied her carefully, almost analytically, "and she has helped to give a good time, too, I'll warrant." The train sped on. Conversation lagged, and both dozed. Cinders rattled rat-tled down upon the car roof with the patter of a brisk April shower. Suddenly the girl turned toward Jack with a startled expression upon her face and the query : "Is it raining?" rain-ing?" Jack peered through the dirty pane. He could not determine. "I believe ! not." he replied. j The train sped on. Conversation I became easier between the two. They j felt as if they could be friends, If j they were not already. The girl spoke more freely and fluently than the I man. But then It's a habit women J have. When there's anything at all to talk about they will relate it in an j Interesting way when there isn't they j can talk about that, too. They have ! the genius ! Anyway, she rattled along, j her eyes lighting up with Interest. Site had had a good time. Jack knew by the incidents she related and the ray of pleasure in her voice as site spoke. "I was expected home in Philadel- phia." she said, "on the train leaving New York at six o'clock. Father and i Brother were to meet me. Perhaps they're still waiting!" she exclaimed, j I hope not." ! "She told of the good time she and j a large crowd of friends had enjoyed ' on the snow-clad hills above Xewburg, ) of coasting parties, and skating, and of dances that followed. She ex- j plained how, missing an earlier train, j she had run over to Brooklyn to visit She Gave Another Look Toward Jack. an aunt ar.I i::,c!e, and how. because of thi.-. sl.e l ad luK-cd still another ! train. Now she was troti'oi. 1. Ceiihi Fa- i tie r and Brother be" waiting yet all ' these beig hours at the station f. -r her? Her besolll heaved V, i ' ll t! sigh. Would !,:;.' .-cold lc-r:" she won- . d"red. of cour-e, they mu-t be an-ri'iyed. an-ri'iyed. but would tlcy understand1 She feared they might not. She be- i came restless. As the train neare I the stutioii she became more so. When the train slowed, preparatory to making Its stop, she smiled at her -traveling companion, remarked something some-thing about the monotony of a tin-sotae tin-sotae Journey being broken by her meeting him, picked up her neat bun-die bun-die of sparling paraphernalia. Including In-cluding her new hockey stick, ant' passed out. As she stood on the platform waiting wait-ing for an elderly couple to precede her, she gave another look back towards to-wards Jack ; their eyes ne t In sort of nnderstandlnr. and she passi-d out to the dimly lighted station platform. "There," he mused, "goes a tine girl, and one I would like to know." They had not exchanged names ar told anything any-thing Inllmu'c about themselves. Propriety Pro-priety had prevented that, and Jack fell sun they both did. In fact that they would never again meet. It Is a small world. Often In Its rev-nlutloiw rev-nlutloiw the "spot" falls on the same actors. One scarcely dare think, let alone say: "I will never see him or her again." As soon say when you cast your dice: "It will never fall with a six up." It will. You cannot say where, but you know that It will fall that way some time again. Jack didn't know this then, but months afterward, as guest at a house party In the Pooonos, be looked Into a' face that seemed very familiar. Simultaneously Si-multaneously there was a sign of recognition rec-ognition ami an expression of gladness. glad-ness. We will not carry the story further. The reader knows what happens under un-der such circumstances, when youth meets youth with a complete understanding. under-standing. There may be tiny differences differ-ences In expression, but the chief Incidents Inci-dents in the chapters are similar. It was the outgrowth of a Christmas Christ-mas Journey, hut It brought tt Jack the beginning of one of his happiest New Year's. CO, 1 1 g 0 . Wfl'itffin Nowspniior Vnloa |