OCR Text |
Show U-cle Viliiam's ' Goiaen Dream m i I L. LC!S RAYBOLD i i'j'ji -iKnt.J My G-i vteve. stcl Genevieve, j The scii. ii? cuiiit- th? season? go I T11K w. ids -f rtit- sinirer came over , r! r r.nliu vi-n distinctly lu L ucie V- iiliuiu. li"H-f "iiSvinctly limn lu uit ; ii tiie uthir u!d ua-ii of the home j clustered ; i i n 1 1 ( the radio. This ;.s I diu- partly :u .hi- fact thai he was yottai r .ban of the others ;iud ; his lu-arinu was qTiile perfect. Hut it was iiKi' due in. his familiarity with! the wuriN uf tlie sun::. Years ago he had sung it with a e'irl whose name reull.v had beeu Genevieve tiroe-sieve tiroe-sieve Gray. There had been a time when he had j hoped that her name would become I lienevieve Whipple, but shifting clr-I clr-I cuiiisiunces aud evens bad separated j rhein and to this day tie did nut know what had become of her. But still the hand of memory weavei The golden dreams of long ago. If one doesn't care much for checkers check-ers or reading or raking the garden, there Isn't a great deal for an old man to do except think. And It pleased Uncle William to think a great deal about this long ago Genevieve. Gene-vieve. She had become his golden dream. He recalled her as an apple blossom sort of girl pink-cbeeked. softly fashioned, sweet. Sometimes, when his niece Gloria dropped In to see him, he scanned her for some resemblance to his old sweetheart, sweet-heart, but although Gloria was young and lively and handsome she was as different from Genevieve Gray as her cropped head, brief skirts aud frank omspokeness were different from the other's ribboned curls, lace ruffles and demure charm. Yet Gloria was very good to Dncle William. She bated his being at .the Lome, but what could a girl do who earned every cent she had Id the world' Even If she married Jim Cor-bin. Cor-bin. It would be a long time before Jim earned enough to run an establishment establish-ment for three people. No, Uncle William Wil-liam was better off at the home. But Gloria ran in whenever she could with bits of gossip about her small affairs, a ticket to the theater, 8 magazine. It was Gloria who came lu Just as "Sweet Genevieve" died away in the speaker. She had some very important impor-tant news this time, although at first hand It didn't seem to concern Uncle William particularly. "Do you remember the Dealings. Uncle William?" she began. "Demiugs," repeated Uncle William thoughtfully. "Demiugs. Let me see. Mieht It be Harvey Demlng'8 boy that went to the city and opened up a hotel?" "That's the one," nodded Gloria. "Well, I met a girl who rooms there and when she heard I came from Cabotville. she remembered that Mrs. Deniing. who runs the hotel It's a sort of family boarding house also came from Cabotville and took me round to see her. And now she's asked me to have, my wedding in her little parlor. If 1 don't. Jim and I will Just go ruuud in the rity ball. But if 1 accept her invitation, why. you can come aud see me married. It hangs on you, you see. How about It. Dncle William? Will you come?" "Very well, my dear," he said In dnlgently. "If you want the old man to come, guess he'll have to. Let me know the day and I'll spruce up the best I can." Any bride Is lovely and any recital of the ceremony solemn and breath taking. But Uncle William, stiff and uncomfortable, his bands folded on an Ivory-headed cane, was 111 at ease and wishing himself back In the home when, suddenly, bis eyes became rlT-eted rlT-eted on the young girl who stood up to take Gloria's flowers as she held out her finger for the ring. He had beeu noticing nobody but his niece, and now he had all the sensations of a blow In the face. The girl it must have been that friend Gloria had spoken spok-en of was the exact embodiment of his golden dream. She was Genevieve Gray in likeness if not In the flesh Itself. ' Uncle William trembled, lookiug at her. He could hardly, wait until the minister closed his book, gave the couple his blessing, and turned away. Just then Gloria came over to hiui and threw her arms about bis neck. "Thanks for coming, darling," she cried. "Now y.iu must meet Rita's mother. Oh. .Mrs. I.aue " But Uncle William was already staring at the stout, gray-haired woman wom-an with the plump, homely face who was walking towards him. "Surely," she said, "yon haven't forgotten the little Genevieve Gray who used to sing in the choir with you! I'm Mrs. George Lane now. and Rita here is about the same aire as your niece. Ah. how we all change with the years! I remember you as a tall, thin boy with a mop of black hair and well, heaven knows what you remember about me:" When Gloria had gone away with her Jim. and Mrs. Deming and Gene vleve Gray Lane were talking about (he wedding. Uncle William turned pathetically to Rita. "I'll be lonesome, lone-some, with Gloria away. Run in and cheer an old man up sometimes." he sussested wistfully "Of course, 1 will," said Rita gently. Aud, if she thought of It and had the spare time, she would. How could she know that she embodied his "golden "gold-en dream of long ago"? |