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"Frightfully common," said Ingersol. Why in the world don't you keep violets? Excuse me; be back in a moment," as he caught sight of a gray hat moving through the main corridor.

After he had chased it the whole length, to find it adorning the head of one of Africa's daughters, he hurried back, picked out the best rose-buds he could find in the tired-looking collection the girl offered him, and it being now 8.30 by the big depot clock, he concluded to take up his stand on the outside walk before the gates. Beyond lay the tracks, along one of which his darling must soon go.

"She can't escape me here," he muttered, as he paced back and forth, holding his basket of fruit and posies in what he considered the most careless of attitudes. Yet he had the feeling that every passenger in the little crowds surging along from the incoming cars, and all the train hands, knew just as well as he did what he was waiting for, and that they were watching him accordingly.

At last, after minutes that seemed eternities, the clock announced a quarter of nine. The gate admitting to the New York train was thrown open, and little groups hurried in to get choice seats. Ten minutes of nine, and Ingersol grew cold all over; five minutes, and he was reduced to a state of despair that could not be put into words. Late comers dashed in; affectionate friends, with kisses and good-byes, blocked the way of others more phlegmatically made up. Ingersol stood close to the gate in dull stolid misery, not all the hustling of the crowd making him surrender one iota of his space. It was only when a policeman touched his arm-"You are blocking up the way, sir" that he appeared to notice that he was incommoding anybody.

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"Yes. Oh dear, here come your friends!" exclaimed Ingersol in misery, as a knot of young women, who carried sympathy written over every feature and gesture, bore down upon them along the platform. "I must get off with you a moment; I have something to tell you. Do come down this way."

"I can't," said Hetty, in real distress.

"Oh! oh!" "It's too bad!" "Dear me! I shall never forgive myself for having breakfast late." "What will you do?. And your brother was going to meet you." And so forth and so on, as they surrounded Hetty.

It was a mercy that they all talked so hard and fast there was no time to introduce him, had she known his name;

"I am waiting for a friend," he said, and a boy pulling his coat tail just at stiffly. this moment-"Mister, you're a-spillin' things from your basket "-made a fresh diversion.

"Can't help that. Stand back!" And the guardian of the people's rights shoved him away, just as the warning bell rang.

It was a death-knell to his last hopethat bell. The basket of fruit and flowers trembled in his hand, and everything seemed to grow dark before his eyes, when a girl rushed by, to run through the gate and down the platform. He seemed to see her as in a vision, her knot of friends screaming after her,

"Don't try; the train is going, Hetty." Hetty? He struck the man in front

"Let's all help pick them up," cried Hetty, recovering herself to race after the pears and plums and late peaches that were running away.

In the confusion he gained her side. "I'll never lose sight of you again until I've told you something."

"Hetty," said one of the young women following him (the same one who had bemoaned her late breakfast), "I must go to my husband's office now. I was to

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"Must you?" cried Ingersol, sharply, looking into Hetty's blue eyes. "Yes," said Hetty. "We will all go there together, Frances. There! that is the last one, I believe," as she gave him a handful. "No; just one more;" and she ran after it, captured it, and the others bringing up their contributions of stray fruit, the basket was repacked and hung, its posy thrust into the side, on Mr. James Ingersol's arm.

"Now come, Frances," said Hetty; "we're ready. Only I must telegraph to brother Mark first."

"Let me do it," begged Ingersol, eagerly, hoping to shake off the other young women; but they followed like a flock of sheep.

"Lost my train," telegraphed Hetty. Will take the nine-o'clock to-morrow (Friday)," addressing it to "Mark Dunbar, Palmer, Massachusetts."

At least I know her name," said Ingersol to himself in satisfaction; "and I'll tell her mine just as soon as I get her off from these howling girls."

Out upon the street to wait for a horsecar, "the girls" still "oh-ing" and "ahing" over the lost train.

"I wish I could throttle that Frances," muttered Ingersol. "If ever I meet her husband, I'll pick a quarrel with him and get satisfaction."

And they all jumped on to a car, Ingersol sticking as fast as a burr to the company, though more than one of them looked their surprise.

He sat, his soul in his eyes, holding his basket of fruit carefully on his knees, and looking at Hetty across the way.

She chatted and laughed, occasionally drawing him in by a little remark, the lovely color flying into her cheek, and then deserting it suddenly.

Here we are. Come," cried Frances at last, signalling the conductor.

Ingersol, on any change being thrown into fresh alarm at a chance of losing Hetty, didn't notice the location as he rushed after her, pretending to help all the young women, in reality doing nothing for any one but her, so that they all dashed up a pair of stairs, and then another, like a group of children, running at last into a small office.

"Oh, Charley!" screed Frances; "she lost her train !"

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"Oh, heavens and earth!" cried Ingersol, dashing his basket of fruit toward the proprietor of the office, who had his legs across a table, while he puffed at a big pipe. "You demon! You've known her all this time!"

"Hulloa, Jim!" said Charley, with a drawl, and taking another bite at his meerschaum, while he dropped his legs to the floor. "Want me to get some more spoons-eh ?" and he stuck his hands in both pockets.

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And you've known her," cried Ingersol, "and wouldn't stir a finger to help me-" a rush of his own unreasonableness making him stop short.

"Oh, they're going to fight!" cried Frances, huddling in between the two, and lifting her long tan-colored gloves beseechingly. "Stop! Stop, mister! whoever you are. You sha'n't touch my husband!"

"Your husband?" cried Ingersol, tumbling back.

"Yes; that's my wife," said Charley, coolly. "Sorry you couldn't have met before. But you never had time to come home with me, Jim, so 'tisn't my fault."

"And she's Hetty's-Miss Dunbar's friend?" gasped Jim, unable to get it even then through his head.

"Precisely. And I went down to the station yesterday to meet Hetty. Frances couldn't. That's the time you were as sweet as a snapping-turtle to me. Eh? Remember?" Charley now advanced and gave his friend a poke in the side, while he winked dreadfully. "Oh! bythe-way, Jim," he said, in a low voice, "didn't I have those spoons marked M. D. for you?"

Ingersol turned to Hetty. "I-I feel rather faint. This room is too hot. Would you mind taking a turn with me down the street?" And he put his hand to his head.

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THE

THE ARYAN MARK:

A NEW ENGLAND TOWN MEETING. BY ANNA C. BRACKETT.

HERE is nothing perhaps more distinctly Aryan than the New England town meeting. But to find it in somewhat of its original character we must go back into the regions not yet traversed by the railroad, which brings not only new fashions for the girls to spoil their fresh prettiness with, but, more unfortunately, stuff to spoil their minds in the cheap literature of the far-away cities, whether in the form of vulgar fiction or sensational sermons. There is nothing much more discouraging than to see this kind of reading penetrating into the remote country towns, and scarcely to be able to find the good old-fashioned village maiden who was a delight to the eyes and the heart, so lost is she in cheap travesties of city fashions and the worst of city sentimentality. But there are yet a few towns in New England where we can see the old customs-not quite gone, though rapidly disappearing-and it was in a town meeting in one of these recently that I spent almost my entire day. There had been for several days a writ

VOL. LXXXV.-No. 508.-58

ten notice tacked at the side of the door of the town-hall calling upon the freemen of the town to attend the meeting which, according to law, was appointed on that day for the purpose of electing State, county, and town officers, all of which were named. As we went down through the village on our way to the building there were several impromptu caucuses on the steps of the drug store, the grocery store, and private houses, and we heard some very forcible arguments being brought to bear to convince perhaps undecided voters, especially with regard to the man who was to represent them in the next Legislature, for it was upon the town representative, and not upon the State or county officers, that not unnaturally the chief interest centred. There are three parties in the village, Republican, Democrat, and Greenback. But of late days the last has taken unto itself a new name, the much-misrepresented one of Labor,-as if nearly all the freemen who were that day to exercise the duty of suffrage in the

INSIDE THE HALL.

town were not really of the Labor partymen who hold the plough in the spring and the autumn, and pile up the hot hay in the steaming days of summer in the unshaded fields, who milk the cows in the dusk of evening, and whose hands grow hard while their hearts grow gentle and faithful in the old sense of the latter word, depending, as the farmer everywhere must, on a higher Power than his own to give the increase after he has done his best. If the Labor party in the village had included all the laborers, its candidate would have been elected at the first ballot. But, as things stood, there was no chance for the Labor candidate, unless, indeed, as has been known once at least in this town, all parties, in despair at not being able to roll up a majority for any one, should suddenly jump to the conclusion that, instead of doing without a representative for the next two years, they would have at least an honest man, and so all vote of a sudden for some farmer who was well known as such, and force him to go to the Capitol, sadly against his will and greatly to his surprise. But how this was to be, no one could yet tell. I said that there were three parties, but it should be added that

this year actually there had arisen another party, who called themselves "Farmers," who, as shown by their votes, numbered thirty-nine at the beginning of the election, and exactly as many at the end. Then there were people who called themselves "Prohighbitionists,"

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but

they were hardly enough to constitute a party.

We skilfully avoided the lobby by walking in the middle of the broad street, and made halt at the town-hall, which was not yet open, though there wanted but a few minutes of noon. We occupied our time by reading notices which were tacked up at the side of the door, one of which called upon all good citizens to vote against any one who would lead the young men into saloons, and another, in large capitals, displayed this significant warning:

BEWARE OF SPLIT TICKETS!

Look out for Tickets headed "Republican Ticket" with the names of Smith for Governor and Brown for State's Attorney in place of the regular Republican Nominees.

Sitting down on the steps, we watched the shoeing of a horse in the blacksmith's shop opposite for some time, for, as there is no town clock in the village, everybody is just as independent about time as he is about anything else. It was already several minutes past twelve by standard time when a gray-whiskered man came sauntering through the covered bridge-so called for identification, presumably, because all the bridges of any length in the town are covered-across the road, and opening the door went in, and began to ring the bell. We climbed to the gallery, as affording the widest view of the proceedings. The hall looks not a little like an old-fashioned meeting

house, having three long windows on a to reappear in a few moments with the side. The walls are white plaster, and required box. Another resemblance to the ceiling was white once, but much use the ancient Greek theatre consisted in a in the long winter evenings with oil- curious sort of wooden triangle of boards, lamps, and the two enormous stoves hastily knocked together, which was which stand at each side of the entrance, nailed to the floor, and was nearly the have modified the original color. The height of a man. It seemed to me that large pipes from these stoves run along the altar in the Greek theatres was not the length of the room in front of the quite so high probgalleries, and after making very abrupt ably, and must turns, finally disappear in a chimney have had a top to which begins near the ceiling. The plat- it; but, after all, form is large, and was set for a scene of we may be misa play, with a landscape, the location of taken as to many which we judged to be partly in the Am- details of those azon Valley and partly in ancient Egypt. times. At any rate, The side scenes represented men-at-arms the chorus went of about the day of Queen Elizabeth. round this wooden These, however, had nothing whatever triangle when he to do with the real, simple, and almost went out, so it touching drama which was to be played, seemed to be the but had in other days formed part of the modern representlittle theatre with which the "summer ative of the altar. boarder" at the hotel used to while away The action then the heavy hours during his absence from relapsed into panthe city. The progress of civilization tomime. The two having made it necessary to change the actors spread out theatre into a skating-rink, the fittings the paper carefulhad been removed to the hall for preser- ly on the table, vation, and so formed now the scene in and arranged the which presently appeared as actors, ac- three boxes decentcording to the old Greek custom, two ly and in order, persons. Enter the town-clerk, who is according to their also the postmaster, and the sheriff, bear- size. They then seated themselves, the ing between them one of those old-fash- clerk behind the table and facing the hall, ioned tables which have leaves to be sup- and the sheriff at his right, with the ported by a wooden swinging bracket, boxes between them. I have let my fanand which were celebrated in all old cy run riot in this whimsical resemNew England households for the diabol- blance, but, after all, there is something ical way in which they would tip over touching in the road which imagination without the slightest warning whenever took, for in the whole business for which the tray of dishes from breakfast was all these simple preparations were made placed carefully upon the leaf. The acwe had before us the Aryan mark, and tion of the play so far was slight. The could not fail to think of those ancient, two actors disappeared, and again came long-dead kinsmen of ours who ages ago upon the stage with two chairs, a came together in the same simple way to large roll of paper, and two common make the laws which they bound themrough wooden boxes with slits in the selves to obey. Wherever the old town upper ends, which were placed upon the meeting is held, there we have the sign table. The principal actor then spoke and seal of the mighty Aryan race, and for the first time, and addressing a boy of their idea of how they would govern who, from his position in front of the themselves and their families. stage, we judged to represent the chorus, said: "Say, Johnny, you just run over to my house and ask the folks to give you another of those ballot-boxes there. Tell 'em to send the biggest one of the two. That's a good boy." The chorus turned round and disappeared out of the door,

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THE CHORUS.

The audience-who were to be also actors-gathered slowly, for a long time consisting mostly of the vote-distributors, who wandered about among the empty settees with an unoccupied air, and with their hands full of slips of paper, mostly printed, but some written. Meanwhile,

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