A Social Meteor — page 306: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

296 A SOCIAL METLOR. there is Mrs. Clarke. I suppose luncheon is ready. Shall I carry in your wraps?” CHAPTER XXII. . A QUIET WEDDING. On the outskirts of a little village overlooking one of the most picturesque parts of the Hudson stands achurch. Itis small, of rough-hewn stone, and from an architectural point of view possesses, perhaps, not a single point of beauty. It is situ- ated at the base of a hill, and is approached by two roads, one almost directly from the top of the ascension and the other from the village beyond. In winter it is a gloomy enough location; the wind whistles through the tall chestnut-trees and moans itself away in the valley below, or, assum- ing a frolicsome mood, lifts and tosses the snow about, heaping it in grave-like mounds all along the footpath. To be pitied, indeed, is the belated pedestrian who must take his lonely way in this direction, for weird, blood-curdling tales are told concerning it. Goblins and witches still hold their sway over the untutored rustic minds, and stories of the Headless Horseman, narrated by a credulous wit- ness, to this day seldom fail to cause teeth to chat- ter and a closer huddling around the genial hick- Ony Tress uk ny ta (ENN NOVO KS (E@)