THE HESPERIAN
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MISS KATE
A MEMORY.
The little red station at Kockton was one
of tile moBt attractive places in the town.
It sat very sedately and humbly enough, yet
with a certain air df worldly importance, as
if it knew it had "made" Rockton, just at
the foot of the steep hills of Meyer's quarry,
where great piles of stone stood like grim
sentinels high above the little station. Over
west, across the single track, was a great
jungle of tall grass and elderberry bushes,
and sumacs that grew red as the little station
itself in the autumn. And beyond that was
the creek, winding down to the bridge and
then on to Hodgson's mill, whose steady
whirr could be heard very plainly on sum
mer days by the village loafers in the little
waiting room at the station. It was just
like other waiting rooms on the great P. &
R. railroad. There were the hard, uncom
fortable benches around three sides of the
room, and the walls covered with great red
and green and white posters announcing
fabulous trips for unheard of prices, and ad
monishing the careless not to smoke, nor
spit on the floor. The station was a very
dull, uninteresting place to the traveler who
waited there for trains. All he could do to
amuse himself was to read the posters, to
listen to the humdrum tick-tack, tick-tick,
tick-tick, from the cozy little office, or the
equally humdrum croaking of the frogs in
the creek- Bat, perhaps, as he waited there,
he -might notice that the station was a rather
neatly kept place. And if he were a man
he would fall to wondering how the sweet
faced, charming woman who 6old him his
ticket could manage an important station so
well. If he had talked with the road men
he-would know the station agent at Rockton
as the best on the road, and "a viry
angel besides, sor," Pat, the mail carrier
would have told him. The little girl in the
blue checked apron who came down very
often in summer time to see Miss Kate,
thought then that the Kockton station was a
lovely place to play, and that the 'station
agent was the most beautiful lady of all.
The little girl always came alone, if she
could. She was very selfish and would not
share her lady with the other children. If
they "tagged along" she would almost feel
like running back home, and would wait till
they had got tired and gone away, and then
she would "visit" with Miss Kate, and fix
the flowers she had brought from her own
flower bed in the pretty vase on the shelf.
Then she would sit very still in Miss Kate's
rocking chair, and watch her make the tick
tack "go, and look at her pretty white hands
and her pretty dress, and her smooth, soft,
reddish-brown hair. The little girl thought
everything about Miss Kate was just perfect.
Miss Kate would show her the funny stones
the men sometimes found in the quarry, and
give her story-books to read, and let her
draw with the funny glass pencil. When
Miss Kate was very busy the little girl would
go out on the long platform and count tne
boards, or sit down on the steps at one end
and listen for a train, or if she were very,
very sure no train was coming she would
walk the ties or the rails down to the short
railroad bridge and then back again. She
liked to play alone around the station.
Very, often, though, when the little girl
was there, Dr. Jeffry came in, and then she
would say "good-bye" very soon, and slip
quietly away. She did not like Dr. Jeffry.
He was very handsome and good too, ,her
mamma said, and he always gave her some
candy when he came to see Miss Kate, but
she didn't like him. She toJd Miss Kate so
one day, and Miss Kate smiled and kissed
her, and asked her why. She said she didn't
know just why, but she wished he wouldn't
come down to the station eo often. She
didn't like him. And Miss Kate smiled and
blushed; and the next time Dr. Jeffry came
when the little girl was there, he looked at
her very queerly, she thought, and patted
her on the head, and then began to talk to
Miss Kate, so that she went out on the steps
and cried. He was always spoiling her