Frank Featherstone's Fairy.

A trivial thing in all conscience , yet his eyes grow suspiciously moist as he tenderly prest the souvenir of those far away days of childhood to his lips . It was Christmas Eve , remember , and even the most commonplace of us arc liable to sentimental weaknesses unpormissable at all other

seasons . " Poor little Elsie ! How many years ago can it be since you sent me this ? At least a score . It must bc ! I remember , T was a lad at Sawchester Grammar School then .

" You'd used to call me your big sweetheart , ami many is the light I ' ve had with your cousin Ted over yon . I tlarcsay yon married him after all . Well , he wasn't bad hearted , if a bit of a bully , and I hope you ' re very happy . Pretty little Elsie ! How you cried when we were first parted , and I came with my poor old mater to live in

London . Now she ' s gone—aud you re gone—at least as far as I am concerned , for although you promised you would never marry any one but me , I couldn't expect you to wait for ever , and I ' ve no prospects of making a home fit for you , my darling , on my wretched screw . I daresay you'll wonder why I ceased writing—but what was the use ? Best to forget ! Best to forget ! "

Across the fog-gloomed an * he heard thc muffled peal of the bells just commencing to ring in the Day of Peace , and with a sense of strange emotion , altogether foreign to his ordinary everyday existence , he saw beyond the barrier of darkness , his past unroll like a sunlit scroll before him . The days that wero no more became present unto him , whilst his present was utterly blotted out by them .

It was Christmastide ! But ah ! the difference . The sparkling air was keen and crisp , and the sun shone brightly from the cloudless vault of flawless azure over a snowclad world of wonderful whiteness . The hedges were clad in sparkling crystals , and delicate hoar frost hung in threads of diamonds from bough to bough . The uplands

stretched like a bed of purest swansdown to the horizon , and the frozen pools and rivulets shone golden in the noon-radiance , which gleamed through the windows of the quaint old Norman church , turning into spots of vivid fire the red berries amid thc glossy holly , which was twined around the massive pillars . The organ peals forth , and all join in the Christmas song of

praise"Jlark ! the herald angels sing , Glory to the new horn King , Peace on earth , and mercy mild , God and sinners reconciled . "

Elsie is not singing . He turns to her . Her eyes are filled with tears . She places her hand in his . " I can't hel p it , Frank ! " she whispers . Iu his heart wells up such pure devoted love for the little fairhaired maiden as onlv an untainted heart of sixteen knows .

Night bus fallen , bright with wintry starshino , silent , mysterious , out in the ghostlike world of snow . The raftered kitchen at the old farm glows with blazing firelight , and numberless candles placed in tin reflectors against its evergreen bedecked walls , shed a mellow radiance upon the scene .

Merrymaking is at its height , anti heartiest laughter rings from lusty throats . There is the scraping of a fitltllo , thc shrill piping of a flute , and couple by couple of all the company form in line for Sir Roger tie Cover-Icy .

Strange and wonderful are the steps , wildly grotesque the postures of the gaiety infected throng * , as the stout iloor shakes beneath their heavy tread . Elsie is Flunk's partner , and every time her fingers touch his , ho gives them a tender grasp , while his heart throbs wildly with unspeakable happiness , for has she not said she loves him ! and at sixteen all possibilities lie in youth ' s hand .

The candles flicker in their sconces , the ai * m of the fiddler waxes faint , the dancers aro tired . The Merry Christmas is numbered with the bygones .

It is a dull afternoon in February , with a slow , stead y drizzle noiselessly falling over the gaunt , leafless trees and newly-furrowed uplands . Daylight is well nigh spent , only the faintest flicker of fading gold lingers beyond the firs crowning the hill ' s summit . The little village lies buried in soft grey haze , here and there a shaft of ruddy lig ht from some diamond-paucd casement falling athwart the shadows .

Frank Featherstone's Fairy.

" I have come to say good-bye , Elsie , " he says , as they stand beneath the shelter of tho rustic porch over the farmhouse door . He feels her grasp convulsively tighten in his , and although he cannot see , he knows she is weeping .

"Mother thinks it will be for the best , dearest , " ho continues , as she does not reply . " Her brother Humphrey has offered me a situation in his office , and although the salary is small , it is an opening I dare not refuse . "

" 0 ! Frank , " she murmurs , " must yon go ?" " I must , Elsie , there ' s no help for it , you sec . Uncle is rich , and he might take a liking to me , as he has no children of his own . " " I don't want you to be rich , Frank ! I only want your love . " He soothes her tenderly , then pressing her to his heart , kisses her tear-stained face .

" You will not forget me ? " she asks pitifully . " I shall never forget you , Elsie , never . God bless you my darling . Good-bye . " One last kiss , and he turns away with a heavy heart , and walks rapidl y through the drizzling nightfall .

"And so you have not forgotten her ! " said a voice of silvery sweetness behind him . He rubbed his eyes and looked round the room , but could see no one . " I must have been dreaming , " he said .

" You have , " replied the voice , " Such dreams as Lovo and Memory supply to hearts of weary mortals . " Again ho looked sharply round the room , but failed to discover from whence came the voice .

" Wliere and who are you ? " he asked in the tones of a man to whom a practical joke is an insult . " I am present with you , although you cannot see me . Indeed , it was I who caused the past to become a living reality to 3 * 011 . " " Indeed ! " rejoined Frank sceptically . " Then why didn't vou

show all my past ? " "Because I did not desire to cause you pain ; because your foolish quarrel with your uncle , which drove you from his ofiice and ruined your future chances , would have embittered the dreams I gave , " said the voice sadly .

" It was none of my seeking ! " exclaimed Frank , bitterly . " Ho said that I was idle and careless , that I onl y hoped ts reap the fruits of all his long years of hard toil ! " " Did you not Frank Featherstone ? Come , you know in your inmost heart it was so . "

" His harshness killed my mother . I hate him ! I hate him ! " " Hush ! Hato and ill-will cannot live in my presence ; besides , to-morrow is the day when all enmities should cease , and old wrongs be forgotten . " " Such a wrong as ho did me I shall never forc-et ! "

" Humphrey A ' lton has suffered deeply for thc wrong he did . Ho is friendless , childless , and alone . " " He has only met with his just deserts . "

And you , Frank Featherstone ! Have you no cause for blame ?" asked the voice severely . " A great chance was given you , aud by your own selfish indulgence you lost it . " " I saw niy folly when it was too late , " ho moaned sadly .

lt is never too late , saul the voice gently . " I havo marked your strivings to regain the position your own actions lost . Keep on striving . Be resolute ! lie earnest ! Bo true ! And you shall reap your reward . " With thoso last words tho voice faded liko a si gh , and he know that he was once more alone .

" Be resolute ! Be earnest ! Be true ! " ho murmured to ln ' mself as ho crept into bed , whilst over the murk y night chimed tho ^ silver herald of the Dawn of Peace . " Half-past eight , Sir Francis . " With a start Frank awoke , sat up in bed , and turned a bewildered

glance on his surroundings . " Am I still dreaming ? " ho gasped , as his eyes fell upon an utterly unfamiliar room to that in which he believed he slept last night . A manservant stood at his bedside with a cup of chocolate on a silver tray in his hand , and the whole appointments of the apartment betokened a luxury and refinement to which his dingil y dull lodgings were certainl y a stranger .

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