[Illustration: Hand in hand, a dark-eyed lad and a fair-haired lassie approached. Page 4. ] REINSTERN [Illustration] [Illustration: BY] _ELOISE O. RICHBERG_ [Illustration] CINCINNATI THE EDITOR PUBLISHING COMPANY 1900 COPYRIGHT THE EDITOR PUBLISHING COMPANY 1900. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS REINSTERN LOVE’S DESTINY _REINSTERN._ On, and on, and on! For interminable hours had we been rushing headlong over yellowish-brown plains, punctuated here and there by willow-fringed streams; past huge water-tanks standing guard over dreary little cabins already cowering before the approach of fierce wintry assaults; past forlorn specimens of unkempt and altogether hopeless humanity, who straggled away toward invisible habitations beyond the horizon, or, swaddled in accumulated filth and ragged shawls, squatted in solemn stolidity by the roadside for a vanishing glimpse of fleeting civilization. From profitless window-gazing, to that supposedly restful twist invariably assumed by the weary woman-traveler; from contemplation of barren and boundless distance without, to closed eyes and anxious retrospection, within; from the sterility of facts present, to the incomparably cruel suggestions of merciless imagination, involving the health, happiness, even the life of loved ones left behind;—till, gradually, Creation resolved itself into a jumble of indefinable sounds and fancies;—a rumbling, jolting, wheezing dizziness: A crash and lurch brought every would-be-dozer to his feet, the train suddenly ceased moving, and apprehensive of danger, we promptly responded to the peremptory call: “All out here!” to find ourselves on a wide springy platform surrounding a station-building quite unlike any previously observed; in an atmosphere laden with the perfume of—was it pine-woods—newly mown hay—violets—lilies or jasmine? It seemed rather a mixture of many delicious odors. Fertile fields and wooded hills stretched away before us; men, women and children in ideal peasant costumes moved gaily about, chatting together, singing, dancing over the velvety sod, or leaping and swinging from the supple boughs while pelting each other with blossoms or gathering the luscious fruit which was everywhere temptingly abundant. Through the shrubbery, glimpses of rock-built and vine-covered homes told of individual prosperity; flowering mosses outlined the roadways; and luxuriant hedges, also in full bloom, divided the grounds one from another; fountains and myriad birds filled the air with happy melodies.