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t ^ ????- ? ^ lsgUED SEMI'WEEKL^^ l. m. oEisrs sons, Ptibiuhtn. } % dfamilg Jirrrspaper: J'or the promotion o)f the {political, Social. Agricultural and Commercial Interests of the people. j TEKs?Mal2,copArVriri ci*^A"Cg' ESTABLISHED 1855. YORKVILLE, sI'cT, TlJE8DAYrJULY^,ltt07- INTO. 53. MVCHTCR I By ETTA A CHAPTER IX. '"Death!" echoed Guy Fleetwood, with a face as white as the island girl's, for, somehow, she seemed to communicate her dark forebodings to him. "Do not say such things, Esther. No trouble shall come to you through me?no sorrow. I swear to cherish you tenderly till I die: I swear to love you for ever and ever!" The wind screamed mockingly around the tall tower, the waves beat mockingly on the rocks below. Did Fleetwood think of his cousin Maud then? If he did, the thought had no power to stay his new, impetuous passion. The two were strangers, they knew next to nothing of each other, yet here in the tempestuous night, at the top of the old lighthouse, they Stood pilgnung meir num. "You have seen me but three times," sighed Esther. "How strange?how very strange it all seems!" "I knew, the moment I first looked upon you, that my doom was sealed," he answered, passionately. "What has love to do with times and seasons? I love you, and all the rest of the world may go. I have laughed at the grand , passion in my day; I have thought it a foolish delusion; and in this way, you see, it takes revenge upon me at last." With the shining black braids and the face like carven pearl pressed against his breast, he might well forget his loyalty to Maud, his honor, his social obligations. "Will you marry me, Esther?" he said, through set teeth. "If you do not, no other woman ever shall!" "Your sick mother in Canada?what will she say to your choice?" faltered Esther Hart. "She may not like it at first," he answered, frankly. "Indeed, I am sure she will not; but time will reconcile her to it, and when she sees you she will love you. Anyway," gloomily, "I cannot marry to please my mother." She was barely eighteen, and very shy, in spite of all her pride, so she questioned him no more, and he volunteered no further information. They went back down the stair to the house. Gran'ther Joe Runnel and Aunt Deb, crooning over the kitchen tire, were startled to see this pair of young creatures hashing suddenly up to them with such a light on their faces as never was on land nor sea. "Mr. Runnel," began Fleetwood, with manly .candor, "I love your granddaughter, and she has promised to become my wife. Give us your blessing." Crippled with rheumatism Gran'ther Joe undoubtedly was, but at these words he bounced up like a rubber ball from his hag bottomed chair. Flight and dismay mingled in his wrinkled face, and seemed to choke his breath. As for Aunt Deb, she uttered a shrill scream. "There! father." she cried, "it's come Jest as I thought it would?It's come, and you and I are ruined!" To this outbreak, which seemed quite as strange to. Esther as it did to Fleetwood, Gran'ther responded, with a furious snort: "You scoundrel! Who be you that's come to rob us of Esther? If I was a strong man I'd throw you over the rocks. No, sir! Esther shall not marry you nor anybody else! Esther is our main stay here. She belongs to us. She ain't a-going to leave us for any stranger." And then, swinging his arm in air, he shouted, at the top of his lungs: "Be off!" It was not pleasant, this sudden transformation of a hospitable host into a belligerent enemy: but Fleetwood confronted the old light-keeper with a calm smile. "Pardon, it is impossible for me to leave the island tonight, Mr. Runnel; ana, ptrmn me 10 auu, n is caucmnj selfish of you to reject my suit for such reasons as you have just given. Esther loves me, and her happiness should be your first thought. You ask who lam. A gentleman by birth, and. I trust, by nature also. I have sufficient means to support your granddaughter in plenty, and I can give you indisputable proofs that her future is safe in my keeping." "Oh!" groaned Aunt Deb; "we're ruined, father, we're ruined! This is wusser than rheumatiz. or blowing away in storms. I thought we had Essie safe out on this rock!" Then, turning on Fleetwood, like an angry cat, she hissed: "Cursed be the hour you entered this house! I wish you had drowned coming over to the rock tonight." "Aunt Deb!" interposed Esther, in shame and indignation; "have you and gran'ther gone mad? what does this absurd talk mean? Not love for me. surely. You have both been kind to me! you have never treated me ill, and yet"?sadly?"I have always felt, always known that you did not love me." "I not love you, and you my dead sister's child?" cried Aunt Deb, with a curious, frightened look on her foxy face. "You're an ungrateful hussy, to talk in sich a way. One thing's sartir."?shutting her thin lips with resolution?"this young man that goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, won't have you! Dad's sot agin it, and I'm sot agin it, and we're your nat'ral guardians at present. He'll have to take .vou over our cold corpses, if he takes you at all." Fleetwood. irritated indeed, but] peaceably disposed, essayed the force of argument with the pair. It was like talking to the wind. Aunt Qeb. with her apron over her head, refused to listen. The old man, stubborn as a mule, would answer nothing save: "Ye can't have Essie! There's girls enough over at Cinderville, but ye can't have Essie!" Talk being useless. Fleetwood gave up at last, but the look that he cast at Esther spoke volumes. This opposition. which neither could understand, I but which plainly had some deep hidden meaning, only added fuel to the ? OF CftlN 0 e t o V. PIERCE H t t V c flame of the young: fellow's passion. ^ Gran'ther Joe hopped out of his chair a at last, and began to hobble up and ^ down the room In a high state of excltement. "Go to bed, girl," he growled to Esther: "I'll watch the light myself for ? the rest of the night, and Mr. Fleet- p wood and I will talk some more to- p gether." K "Fear nothing," whispered Fleet- P wood, as Esther swept by him in that n low-ceiled room; "all will be well." y She raised her gTeat velvety eyes to " his own?that look sealed his fate, b "All for love, and the world well lost!" "Perish friends and honor," thought Fleetwood, recklessly; "perish all my promises to Maud! all the milk-and- tl water afTectlon which I have felt for oi my cousin! Welcome reproach, dis- ft honor, anything?everything, if only Ir I can win this magnificent darling for u my own!" m Esther, with her grand princess air, ai made a slight bow to her lover, and ill went off up the stair to the second sto-ry of the cottage. Close upon her w heels, stealthy as a cat, followed Aunt w Deb. and as the girl reached the ref- w uge of her own little room, that ad- si mirable spinster slammed the low ai door, and fastened it quickly upon the P outside, thus making Esther, for this st night at least, a prisoner. After it which. Aunt Deb skipped back to the T room below, to help gran'tl\er watch tt the beacon. al Guy Fleetwood had further conver- b; sation with the pair that night, but it ai was of a highly unsatisfactory charac- tc ter. Aunt Deb was sharp and relter- ai ating; gran'ther ranted and swore, but m stuck fast to his mysterious hostility di concerning Esther's marriage. jc "Ye sha'n't have Esther?whether ye be rich or poor, high or low, ye sha'n't cl have her!" he repeated, like a parrot, sc At last Fleetwood with an insouciant ai smile on his lips, and a dangerous flash o! in his eyes, said, airily: a "My dear sir, I am determined to marry Esther, either with or without c< your consent! Since you will not, to S the satisfaction of any reasonable per- gi son, explain your objection to our un- lo ion, you cannot expect me to give them respect or heed!" w There was no sleep for him that w night. He sat moodily by the hearth fli which had of a sudden grown so in- tc hospitable, and laid swift, reckless a* plans for the future. ' About midnight E the storm began to subside, the wind ui died away. Up in the high tower the rc beacon burned on, shining across bare hi Porgy Island, and out over the tossing, foaming sea till the pink dawn p< blossomed in the sky. la There had been no outcry from Es- d< tner Mart s cnamoer mrougn me mgim ?.? The girl understood the situation, and di submitted in proud silence; but, like w her lover in the room below, she had s< not slept. She was standing at her ir small window, waiting, with such pa- p< tience as she could command, for deliv- gi erance, when she saw Rube Dexter's st bt at. with Fleetwood in it, put off from Porgy Island, and dance away over the si rough waters toward Cinderville. gl She waved her handkerchief. He saw st the signal and answered it with ardor. Surely he must know that she rc had been kept by unfair means from A bidding him farewell. She watched the a boat till it became a mere speck in ei the distance, then, of a sudden, the oi door of the chamber was thrown back, hi and on the threshold stood Aunt Deb, ti with her foxy face and cunning eyes, u looking in on her niece. "He's gone, Esther!" she whined; ir "you can come out now. Your gran'ther didn't think it was best for you n to see him again?drat him! If I'd a- pi dreamed, the first time he came here, e< what game he was up to, I'd have flung hot water on him, that I would!" Esther Hart's big black eyes flashed T lightnings on her relative. hi "I detest you. Aunt Deb!" was all she li said. Then she swept down-stairs to c< confront gran'ther, who had just hob- <j; bled in from the tower. si He looked at her sheepishly. "You wouldn't go to leave the is- ir land and your pis>r old gran'dad with a that strange man, now, would you, Essie." he coaxed. "Who knows but h what he's got a wife somewhere ei a'ready? He has too many fine airs n to please me. I misdoubt that kind, I d do. He's too suddint! Rube Dexter, h now, wouldn't ask to marry a girl that p he hadn't seen but twice 01* thrice, V would he?" d Oh, the scorn that blazed in her splendid face! b "Rube Dexter!" she echoed, in a h withering tone; "what do I know or p carv about Rube Dexter? Your pow- <? er over me is limited, gian'ther?don't fi be so foolish as to abuse it. I am eighteen years old?a fact that both n you and Aunt Deb should remember. Do you know what she did last night! Locked me into my room, as though I ]j was a disobedient child. She will nev- r. er do it again!" with an ominous ring d lln her voice; "never!" Old Joe knew his granddaughter's [temper. He saw that it would be no easy task to manage her in this mat- b Iter. A pathetic grin overspread his p wrinkles. h "Lord love ye. Essie; don't ye know I yer Aunt Deb is a leetle cranky at 1 times? It makes her raging mad to ti think of losing ye. Then there's Jim? h nobody seems to have thought about s Jim at all," brightening up. "You s wouldn't go for to take that young a cock-of-the-walk without writing to s Jim about it? It would raise his dander powerful to have you choose a hus- I band unbeknown to him. Let's rest v upon it a while, Essie. Mr. Fleetwood h may have been a-fooling ye?men of v his sort do such things often enough, n Ye'd better think no more about him I! for the present." f< An odd smile curled her lips. Ij "You're very wise, gran'ther. I'm b sure I ought to obey you," she answer- a ed, dryly. Neither Aunt Deb nor gran'ther said e anything more to the island girl about g her lover. Life at Porgy Rock went on h n its usual groove, until the noon of ilonday, at which time old Tom Dexer appeared at the light In his cat>oat, bringing supplies and also a leter for Esther Hart. Rolling his quid f tobacco from one cheek to the othr and mournfully winking one eye as hough he knew that this little maneuvre was blighting the happiness of ils son Rube, the old fisherman thrust he message surreptitiously Into Esher's hand. "The landing at ten tonight!" he Uln>pvAMA4 *11 VilrtU 4tma Hex# oho_ kiuapriru, uy nuatii nine umi. ???v fitter Debbie ought to be In her bed." Esther's heart leaped Into her throat. Vhat had her lover written? She fled cross the rock to the shelter of the lermaid's Chair, and there read his ?tter undisturbed: "I shall be at the island landinglace," it ran, "tonight at 10 o'clock. If ou love me, meet me then and there, repared to become my wife. I have rocured the proper license, and enaged the clergyman at Clnderville to erform the ceremony. "Do you love me? Can you trust le? I know the test Is severe; will ou show yourself equal to It? Oh, ?y darling! something tells me that ou will! The last few hours have een to me a nightmare?a purgatory. "Your lover in life and in death, "Fleetwood." Esther Hart sat for a long time with lis message in her hand, staring out 11 the wild, gloomy sea. The breakers ashed over her head. She saw noth?g, heard nothing. Finally she started P, tore Fleetwood's letter to fraglents, tossed it into the boiling surf, nd went thoughtfully back to the ghthouse. Tom Dexter had left for Clnderville hen she reached the tower. Esther ent over to Aunt Debbie's woolheol o o-ront hold nffnlr n? whlnh her jperb figure stood with striking pose, ad set it buzzing in feverish haste, erhaps the cottage had never looked > sombre and cheerless to her eyes as did upon this eventful afternoon, hrough an open window before her, ie rocks of Porgy Island loomed up in j II their native barrenness, relieved y no vegetation save the dogweed nd Aunt Deb's scattered hills of potass. And out beyond that solitude, id the desolation of trap-rock and tutlnous waves, lay a world of verare and bloom?a world of life and >y and love. The hours went by swiftly; a tall ock in a corner ticked them off with )!emn tones. The sun set in purple id gold across the low, black waste ' waters. Night fell on Porgy Rock? still, peaceful night, full of stars. The girl felt no compunction con?rning what she was about to do. he was in no way indebted either to ran'ther or Aunt Deb. She did not ve them, they did not love her. Fate placed few difficulties in her ay. Aunt Deb grew drowsy, and ent to sleep in her chair by the re. Gran'ther betook himself to the >wer, and remained there in the most ^commodating fashion. Breathlessly sther Hart stole up to her chamber nder the cottage-eaves, and there >bed herself with trembling fingers for er wedding. Unlike most girls of her station, she assessed a wardrobe that seemed to .ck nothing. No pupil at Barton aca;my had dressed in better style than o ISmkf bAAna^o hon/luomo rrr*CJ n/1 _ 115111-ACCpt I O llUilUOViilV o ? iughter. She arrayed herself now Ith particular care, then crowded >me traveling bags with her belongigs, put a well tilled purse in her [>cket, donned a long cloak of fine ray cloth, a hat and thick veil, and ood ready for departure. "Shall I ever regret this madness?" le asked herself, with a pang of misiving. "Do I go to happiness or to >rrow ?' At the head of her white bed a nar>w window opened toward the west, s Esther glanced that way, she saw golden crescent sinking, like a broki ring of fire, down the purple slope r the night. A new moon, seen over er left shoulder, and through glass, >0! The beautiful, superstitious creatre experienced a queer creeping chill. "Sorrow!" she muttered; "I am goig to sorrow, not happiness!" Then Guy Fleetwood's blond face >se up before her with irresistible ower. Guy Fleetwood's voice seemJ to jing in her ears: "If you love me?if you trust me!" She loved him?she trusted him. he clock in the room below struck the our of ten. Her dark thoughts fled ke bats before the sunlight. Passion mquered. She snatched up her bunles and flew noiselessly down the airs and out of the house. Almost before she reached the land>g place she found herself in the rms of Fleetwood. "My darling," he cried, as he folded er to his ?art: "I knew you would me?I knew you could not disappoint le! You shall never regret this step, earest. 1 will show you that you a\e not trusted me In vain. Look! itre is Tom Dexter with his catboat. ye must be off without a moment's elav." She yielded to his kisses, his emraces. The die was cast. Her lot and is were henceforth one. In this blond, isouciant face, bending so tenderly ver her own, she must look for her nture heaven. "Speak," he urged, gently; "you do ot fear to come with me, Esther?" "No," she answered. "Bless you. my brave, beautiful darng! Are we likely to be pursued? )oes your grandfather or that sheragon, Aunt Deb, suspect anything?" "I think not." "Heaven be praised!" The next instant she was In the oat, gliding away from the landing lace. Did gran'ther up in the tower ear or see aught to disturb his vigil? t seemed not, for there was no outcry, 'he girl who was in a literal sense a reasure to him, and whom he valued 1 his own way, and the audacious tranger who was robbing him of her, wept, unchallenged, past Porgy Rock, nd tile red beacon, and vanished wiftly into darkness and distance. The lovers sat like statues. Tom )exter trimmed his sail, groaning in *?-? . DnKa'a turaiy over una muu nicia i?i ., opes. Presently the lights of Cinderille began to twinkle in the far darkess. Toward these the catboat flew ike a living thing. It lacked but a E-w minutes to eleven o'clock when the iltle craft glided up to the old wharf y the fish-house, and Guy Fleetwood ssisted the girl to step ashore. The inhabitants of Cinderville kept arly hours. Nearly all the lights had one out in the houses. Fleetwood and Esther left Tom Dexter at the wharf, and turned their steps toward the principal street of the town. Here stood the public house, a church and a little white parsonage. In the latter lamps were still burning, as If in expectation of visitors. Fleetwood and his companion went up a walk of cobblestones and rang the bell. "By this time," whispered the lover, "they have discovered your flight from the island. I greatly fear, my darling, that we shall be pursued. Your grandfather is your nearest of kin, and probably he has full power over you"? I "No," she corrected, quietly; "he ia not my nearest of kin, and he has no power whatever over me." He was surprised at the answer, even then, but before another word could be spoken, the Rev. David Lane, the white-haired shepherd of the Clnderville sheep, opened the parsonage door with his own hand, and bade the pair enter. They followed him into a neat little parlor, lighted by kerosene lamps. Here the clergyman's wife was waiting to witness the marriage. "Will you take off your hat and cloak, my dear?" she said to Esther, in a gentle, motherly voice. The bewildered girl dropped her outer garments, burst from them, as it seemed, like a butterfly from a chrysalis?at any rate, she quite took her lover's breath. She had knotted her magnificent hair in one silken, shining mass at the nape of her milk-white neck and pierced it through with a great pin of solid gold. Her wedding gown was of thick, lustrous silk, like the gray-blue bloom on the ripe grape, in color, and it fitted her queenly shape like a glove. Some nne, creamy lace leu uver me uuisogc, and was fastened at the throat by an arrow of big. luminous pearls. She had put on no other ornaments, although she possessed a generous share of such things. Her faultless face was without a vestige of color. The great, velvety eyes shone like stars. She was regal?she was marvelous! The Rev. Mr. Lane looked at the marriage license and found it satisfactory. Esther slipped her small, tremulous hand into Fleetwood's?In spite of her grand air the Island girl was quaking like a leaf?then the solemn voice of the clergyman arose and filled the room for a few moments, and It was over?she was Guy Fleetwood's lawfully wedded wife. "I wish you much happiness, my dear," said Mrs. Lane, and she kissed the bride as a mother might. "Mine, now?mine forever!" whispered Fleetwood, triumphantly, as he folded the gray cloak around Esther again. Then he put the marriage fee into the clergyman's hand, and stepped forth with his bride into the still summer midnight. The sea was murmuring on the shore; the stars shone bright overhead. What had he done? Deceived and wronged Maud Loftus, indeed, but won, at the same time, the desire of his eyes. Esther was now his wife, and before this supreme fact all other things sank into insignificance. He carried her to the little Inn beyond the Cindervllle church. "I wish, my darling," he said, grave1" T oamM nnnHnnf VDll tn mv own house and present you to my mother this very hour; but that cannot be. It is best that we should remain In this place for a few days, at least." The average American girl looks upon herself as a match for the best of men. It never occurred to Esther that the relatives of her well-born Canadian husband might consider his hasty marriage a mesalliance. She simply said: "I will try to love your mother, Guy; I want your friends to be my friends also." In the still, small hours of that fateful night, in a chamber of the seaside inn, the young husband, tossing uneasily in his sleep, muttered aloud three words, as though they were the keynote of his dreams. Esther, waking suddenly, heard them?listened? heard them repeated, "Forgive me, Maud!" and wondered. Who was Maud, and for what transgression did he, her bridegroom, desire to be forgiven? CHAPTER X. Friends and Foes. "I am here at Rookwood, dear papa, in the very house where you were born, and here I must live, I suppose till you come to carry me back to our Colorado valley. Poor, meek Aunt Elinor Is as kind and lovable as ever. Uncle Philip I find courteous and jesuitlcal?he was never a favorite of mine, and as for Cyril, you know how I regard him. Last night he asked me to marry him, and you need not be told that I promptly declined. He was so rude that a gentleman, the guest of one of our neighbors, was obliged to come to my assistance. We have some very interesting neighbors at Rookwood. I shall make a study of them till you arrive. Do you ask what possession I hold most precious in the east? My black horse Ranchero, that you sent me. as a birthday gift five years ago. He is as sleek and swift as ever. I have just been to Rookwood stables to give him some sugar, and pat his velvet nose, and talk to him about the dear old ranch where we both were born. Ah, dearest papa, for a long time your letters have been very meagre and unsatisfactory. You rarely tell me anything about yourself, and you never mention the ranch save in a vague way. It is plain that you are very much absorbed in cattle raising, or you are growing indifferent to your exiled Mignon, who thinks of you and longs to see you every hour in the day." Mignon Vye folded the letter, from which the above lines are an extract, slipped it into an envelope and rose up from her writing desk just as the ilrtrtr rtnonoil nnrl In fluttered Maud Loft us like a brisk breeze. "Writing to papa?" she said, lightly. "What a dutiful daughter! Did you mention your adventure with that dashing soldier last night? Don't redden so violently, ma chere. If my eyes did not deceive me in the mere glimpse which I got of him, your Ctiptain Shirlaw was too?too absurdly good-looking for anything. And now the pony carriage is waiting, and you are to take the ribbons and shew me the beauties of the Dale." "Ready?ready!" laughed Mignon. "I will post my letter on the way." And ten minutes later the two girls were rolling in a smart pony carriage along the romantic road by the river. I They had gone but a short distance < , when they suddenly encountered an < English drag attached to four pranc- < Ing. turbulent horses. Abel Llspenard ! held the lines, and his military guest, | , Shlrlaw, sat by his side. ( The dwarf, who seemed to be managing the fiery beasts with admirable i skill, made no sign of recognition; but i Shlrlaw boldly claimed acquaintance ( with the occupants of the pony car- \ rlage by lifting his hat ahd dazzling Mignon with his swift, bright glance. ^ "Oh, oh!'" ejaculated the vivacious i Canadian, as the drag dashed by and ' vanished on the river road; "what a 1 pair of eyes! what an Adonis general- s ly! But his companion?the object f who was driving?was it a man or an c enormous frog? And does he belong to r the side-show of some circus or to c civilized society?" t "That 'object,'" replied Mlgnon, 1 laughing and reddening, "is Mr. Lis- I penard, the owner of the gray towers e across the river. I met him by chance r last night in Uncle Philip's library, <! and," speaking very fast, "I think him c un? -mmonly considerate in falling to t recognize me even by a glance, for he knows it cannot be pleasant for me to 1; remember the circumstances." And then she related to her friend v the incident of the previous night. li "Your cousin Cyril will yet give you p no end of trouble, dear; see if he does not!" commented Maud. "It's a pity v that Mr. Llspenard is such a fright, t There Is really no amusement, you a know, In flirting with a monster. Ugh! f he makes my flesh creep! By the way, Mignon, dear, I received a letter from c dear Guy this morning, and," with two o wrinkles coming out betwixt her blue h eyes, 'It perplexes me greatly. He has o shaken the dust of Colorado from his a feet, and Is en route home. The pre- f clous sheet was penned in Chicago; but E strange to say, he did not speak of t coming here to Rookwood to see me on his way; only said that important a business called him to some town on the coast of Maine, where he might be compelled to tarry for awhile. Maine! a a miserable, obscure place, I'm sure! s What can be the business that would s induce him to pass me by for a trip to t Maine?" n Her Jealous tone made Mignon laugh, h "Remember the gypsy's warning she k said, lightly. p "Nonsense!" replied Maud, loftily. "I tl fear no rival. Guy has probably gone I to the Maine coast to fish or?or recu- p perate. Doubtless the wounds inflicted by that Colorado robber are not yet y wholly healed. ^But It was Just horrid of him to pass me by on his homeward tl route. He jvlll be obliged to explain h his queer conduct.' Really I cannot it endure anything like mysteries In con- e nection with Guy." d "Quite right, I'm sure," answered y Mignon, lightly: "I hate mysteries myself in connection with anything." s It was high noon before the two girls t returned to Rookwood, and guests were fi expefted to lunch. As Mignon was n crossing the wainscoted hall of the old p hd&se she heard some one call her E name, and, turning, she found herself t face to face with Cyril Vye. She had e not seen him since the previous night "Pray, let me make my peace with s you, Mignon," he began, humbly. " 'To g L M-A 1 Aim rlAfh n/nrlf h ue WtUi.ll Willi uuc nc 1UTC ux/Mi ffv... w like madness in the brain.' The circumstances under which I offended t ought to plead for me. Impose upon h me whatever penance you please, but u let us be friends?cousins?once more!" n He looked so wretched that her heart h softened. What woman does not pity, s even though she may despise, a reject- o ed lover? y "Since I am to remain indefinitely at Rookwood and under the same roof > with you," answered Mignon, coldly, "I f will make peace upon one condition." t "And that is"? "That you never, never speak of love r to me again!" ti He bit his Up. I "Very well; your hand upon it, cous- t In! I can bear anything better than your anger." ti Reluctantly she gave him her hand. He l-aised it to his lips and left upon \ it a fiery kiss. c "I must bide my time." he muftered, p then dropped the little hand and walk- I ed quickly away. The two girls dressed for lunch with great care. Maud blossomed out in r blue, the color of her eyes. Mignon n was all in creamy white, with a huge I knot of Marechal Niel and Jacqueml- r not roses blending their deep tints in t her corsage. From a window of the b drawing-room they saw Lispenard's e gondola cross the river, and the dwarf t; lilmuolf k/.n un.l ..nmo ulou/lv II n n the garden walk with that handsome p soldier. Captain Shirlaw. a Philip Vye presented both gentlemen b in due form to his niece and her Can- s adian friend?it was plain that he meant to ignore the encounter in the s library, as Lispenard himself seemed r disposed to do. Considering the events s of the previous night everybody behaved remarkably well. li "I have been waiting most impatient- v ly for this moment," said Shirlaw, v boldly, as he bowed to Mignon. r The other guests were a high church a rector, grave and ponderous; a Boston r banker named Berkely, with a hooked a nose and shining bald pate; his daugh- c ter, Nina, a sparkling brunette, who li dabbled in poetry and painting, and wore her hair in the maddest of friz- A zles, and his son. Reginald, an aesthet- || Ic Harvard student, who fixed his abstracted eyes upon Mignon and kept a them there in blank, dazed admiration, t Captain Shirlaw glanced around the a Rookwood drawing-room, espied Cyril f Vye in a corner, and crossed to his v side. b "You failed to keep your appoint- s ment last night," said the young sol- a dier, in a low voice. S Vye stared. <3 "Sir?" r "Your appointment with me. and a brace of pistols, in the garden!" a "I am at a loss to know what you e mean, sir." r "Then you have a strangely defective s memory." The lawyer shrugged his shoulders, s "My dear Shirlaw, you must be what c the French call entre-deux vlns, or, to f use plan English, half drunk. At this t early hour, too! verily, tne army i? a s sad place." r "My dear Vye," responded Shirlaw, r calmly, "it may not be a strictly polite i thing to say in your father's drawing- i room, but it is plain to me that you are t a consummate coward and hypocrite." f After this little exchange of compli- a ments?happily no one had overheard c them?the two turned their backs on s ?ach other, and sat down with the rest < if the party to a lunch table sumptujus with old plate and crystal and t Sevres porcelain and groaning with j ,'oreign fruits, salads, jellies and cold fame. < Elinor Vye, pale and impassive, pre- \ dded at the board. She started nerv- t >usly at every movement of her lord, i ind her plaintive, "Oh, I beg pardon!" i vas more rrequeni man ever mis uay. t "If there Is one person above another ] vhom I pity, it is your Aunt Elinor," < vhispered Nina Berkely to Mlgnon; t 'en passant, have you yet been to i Jspenard's tower across the river? It ibounds in wonderful things?priceless i alence, old St. Domingo mahogany, carved oak presses, Bokhara teapots, narvelou8 tapestries and Oriental i !urios?the accumulation of genera- i Ions of cultured and traveled people, a [*he Llspenards, you know, are Intense- 1 y old and aristocratic. One was gov- \ irnor of this Commonwealth, another ninlster to Russia?your neighbor i Irlnks his tea from a magnificent sam- 1 var that was presented to his ances- i or by some dead and burled czar." t "Indeed!" answered Mlgnon, absent- t y 1 She was wondering at that moment c rhat Maud Loftus and Captain Shir- t aw could be talking about on the optoslte side of the table. i "They were ever a remarkable race," a rent qn Miss Berkely, undaunted; "but o A Dei l^ispenara, me iasi ui ma name, i II the gifts of the gods seem to have t alien." Mignon stared. The dwarf himself t hanced to be seated at the other end " >f the board, with Philip Vye on one i land and the high church rector on the ther. All three were conversing, and s the rector possessed a voice like a s rog horn, the mild hum of Nina r lerkely's talk traveled no farther than s he ear for which It was intended. t "All the gifts of the gods!" echoed dignon; "surely you are jesting. He v * frightfully ugly?he Is deformed." I "How can you say that?" answered t diss Berkely. "Are you one of theab- a urd multitude who can see no beauty t ave in certain conventional lines and h Ints? The man yonder is unique? t lagnificent! Both in body and soul e is unlike all others. You do not a now him yet, and so you cannot ap- p reclate his grandeur. To me he is li he impersonation of sublime tragedy, ii n all the world there is but one Lis- s enard." c Mignon's velvety eyes opened wider et. f "She is very far gone, Indeed," she d bought; "and, oh, horror! to lose one's eart to that dwarf, that frog-man! s t is incredible!" Aloud she stammer- s d: "Pray pardon me, Miss Berkely; I Id not urea.ni uiai mr, uiopcuaiu j our?your"? a "Lover? Is that what you would ti ay?" queried Nina Berkely, as she I ook a cluster of hot-house grapes t rom a silver epergne. "You err. I do ot think Abel Llspenard ever ap- s roached a woman In that character, a le does not love our sex?he simply o olerates us. No marble statue was ver colder." I Mignon did not answer. She was a training her ears to catch the conver- t ation on the opposite side of the ta- c le. s "You are positively the first soldier r hat I have met In Yankeeland," she t eard Maud Loftus say; "and I dote r pon soldiers. Mamma used to take ie to Halifax sometimes. We always e ave a garrison there, you know. And o It is your business to fight Indians r n the far frontier? Pray tell me, have y ou ever been in Colorado?" r Yes, he had been in Colorado and l lew Mexico and Arizona. He had t ought Apaches and Cheyennes and B Jtes and other redskins. "But there are worse creatures than edskins in the west," said Miss Lofus, vivaciously. "I mean road agents. )id you ever meet a road agent, Capain Shirlaw?" ' "Yes," answered the handsome capain. "Delightful! Pray tell me about It. Vhat was his name? Not?no, of <5 ourse it could not have been that irlnce and leader of them all?Black )ave?" Shlrlaw looked greatly surprised. "Exactly! You have probably been eading about his exploits. Often his a me gets into western newspapers, t was down on the Southern Pacific oad. Black Dave, or Tiger Chief, as he desperado is sometimes called, marded a train upon which I happend to be traveling, and attempted to ake possession of it, and clear out the lockets of the passengers. He had ilayed that game before with remarkble success, but this time, I rememier," with a faint smile, "he met with ignal failure." "Surely you did not dare to offer reistance?" said Maud Loftus, proudly ecalling another who had done the ame thing. "I rather think we did!" replied Shiraw, lightly. "Most of the passengers rere unarmed; but we knew there rere rifles in the baggage car, and lone of us cared to part with the small mount of filthy lucre which we carled. So we had a smart scrimmage, nd for once, at least. Black Dave deamped with no booty worth mentionrig." "Did you see the creature?" said a laud, breathlessly; "and what was he Ike?" r "I saw him. It Is said that he usu- J Ily conceals his face with a mask; \ >ut It was uncovered on this occasion, | nd 1 observed him so closely that I < eel assured I should know him any- I rhere in any guise. He was strikingly | landsome, fair-haired, blue-eyed. He t eemed to be a reckless dare-devil, t nd his ruffians obeyed his slightest j gesture?he evidently had them in good t liscipline. His name has become a ter- 1 or in certain portions of the west." I The conversation seemed suddenly to < ittract the attention of Philip Vye. He xtricated his voice from that of the ector, and leaning toward Shirlaw, t aid: t "It is very strange, but I, too, have a s tory to tell about that same border i lutlaw and train robber. A legal r riend of mine has just returned from t he frontier. By a stress of circum- t itances, he was lately compelled to t >assed a night in a town beyond the i ailway terminus. In the wee small 6 lours Black Dave and his men dashed 2 nto the place and proceeded to work C heir own sweet will among the terri- i led inhabitants. There was a melee, t ind in the midst of it my friend en- C ountered the robber chief face to face, t ind recognized in him?well, whom lo you think?" "Not a long-lost brother, with a drawberry mark on his left arm?" gasped Maud Loftus. "No, but an old friend and college elassmate, closely connected with vealthy and distinguished people in :he east. In his horror and astonlshnent, he called out the fellow's real lame?a name which he had abandoned and disgraced?and he tells me that 31ack Dave grew as pale as ashes, Mapped a mask on his face, set spurs ;o his horse and galloped away, and all lis gang after him." . A curious silence fell on the table. It vas broken by fltignon. "How dreadful!" she shuddered. "Yes, my dear," answered Philip /ye, "it Is a shocking story, and you emlnd me that I must write it out in t letter to your papa?It may interest dm, particularly as my legal friend vas his college classmate, too." "By Jove!" drawled Cyril Vye, "the ncident serves, at least to illustrate Ife on the frontier and the demorallzng influence of western air upon eastirn men. Some savants declare that he best of us have a vein of lawless flood In our makeup?circumstances ronceal or develop it, as the case may >e." "I suppose we can all cheerfully inite In wishing Black Dave comfortibly hanged?" said Maud Loftua Elinor Vye had been listening with he others. Her pale face put on a dlsressed look. "Not?surely not till he has had time o repent of his sins," she quavered; 'whoever he may be, let us hope that le may be brought to repentance." "Amen!" said the rector. "Think of such a man possessing repectable relatives here in the east," emarked Shirlaw. "It Is fair to preume that they can know nothing of he life he is leading?" "Certainly not," replied Philip Vye, vith a queer smile. "I understand that Hack Dave has b?en at his nefarious lUHiness dui a snun lime, a icw jcaio, t the most. Some day a final catasrophe must come?an expose. The ilghbred relatives will then be brought o grief." They arose from the table shortly fter. Victor Shlrlaw made his way promptly to the embrasure of. a drawng-room window, where Mlgnon stood n her dazzling young beauty, with the unlight slanting on the ripples and oils of her yellow hair. "Permit me to ask if you have sufered any annoyance since the incllent of last night?" he murmured. "No," she replied, in a sweet butreerved tone; "it is not likely that I hall be troubled again." "Do not be quite sure. A man like our cousin is capable of anything. 1 .m glad that my visit with Lispenard s to continue for a few weeks longer. shall take it upon myself to watch hat fellow." She colored faintly. Was not this oldler, with his rich, brown cheeks ,nd bold, gray eyes, rather presuraptuus? He went away directly with Abel dspenard. The latter had not spoken , dozen words to Mlgnon, but once or wice he had fastened his dark, volanic glance upon her in a way that tarted her not a little. She expelenced a sense of relief when she saw he gondola moving away over the iver. "The ogre has gone back to his towr," she shivered. "Really, he is not such a disagreeable terson, after all," said Maud Loftus, awning behind her finger tips. "His nanners are perfect. That Nina Berkey reminds me of the Illy white duck of he nursery rhyme, bent upon gobbling Jr. Prog up." To Be Continued. A NEW BULLET. ror Uu In High-Power Big-Gam* Riflea. The small-bore, high-power rifle that s In general use today was originally leslgned as a military rifle, the object ?f which is to wound or maim at exreme range; and owing to its high relocity, the trajectory is so flat that he raising or changing of sights unler ordinary circumstances is unnecessary. Sportsmen, seeing the advanage gained by *reat velocity, were luick to adopt this type of rifle. It vas found that by inverting the Jack>t of the full metal patched bullet so is to leave the soft nose exposed, this >ullet when striking hard substances luch as bone, will very often mush oom or expand, causing a severe vound. Improvements In powder have rom time to time increased the velociy of these bullets until they now have i, muzzle velocity of 2,700 feet per second. With this velocity even the softlosed bullet will pass through the anmal without expanding In the least intil some hard substance is struck, vhen it is apt to fly to pieces. The rreat heat caused by friction in the air :auses the bullet to cauterize the veins ind arteries, causing little bleeding and hus making it impossible for the huner to track his game by the blood. It s stated on reliable authority that this 'ear In Nova Scotia over 40 per cent if the game hit or wounded escaped, lome to die a lingering death in great igony. To overcome these objections to the irdinary bullet, Mr. G. Hi. Hoxie, 4440 Michigan avenue, Chicago, III., has indented a new fonn of bullet. The bulet consists of a Jacket with a filling f lead in which a steel ball is seated, n another construction a steel wedge p used in place of the ball. Behind he ball is a chamber formed in the illlng. When the bullet strikes an obect the ball is forced Into the cham>er, expanding It and tearing it open. The wounds made by the improved >u!let are four or five times larger.? scientific American. America now leads the world in he manufacture, sale and use of auomobiles. This is the declaration of l French expert, who has been keepng a record of the automobile buslless. Five years ago the United States milt only 314 automobiles of all classis, while at the same time France miit 9? 711 marhines. Last year the reduction In the United States was 10,000, In France 55,000, In England 18,000, in Germany 22,000, In Italy 19,100 and Belgium 12,000. In nine years n the countries named there have ?een manufactured, sold and used 550,i00 automobiles, representing more han J 1,000,000,000 of money. i JEB STUART'8 LA8T BATTLE. , The Story of a Brilliant Charge by Cueter. "The most brilliant charge I ever i witnessed was made by Custer at the i battle of Tellow Tavern," said an old Confederate cavalryman at the recent reunion in Richmond. "It was near the beginning of what historians now call the Wilderness campaign. "I was with Jeb Stuart, Gen. Fit* Lee's division, Wickham's brigade and Phil Sheridan's troops were hanging on us like a pack of hungry wolves, nipping us at every turn. We had I been marching and fighting pretty steadily for more than two weeks wltn mighty little time for rest. "We left Hanover Junction about 1 o'clock one night and reached Yellow Tavern before 10 o'clock the next morning. You know Sheridan was not one to let grass grow under his feet when there was any fighting to be done, and when he was matched against Jeb Stuart It was nip and tuck. "We hadn't more than halted at the Tavern when up comes Sheridan and tries to drive us out. It was a pretty tough struggle, a hand-to-hand fight, and we fell back from the Tavern, but held our position on the telegraph road leading to Richmond. I was with the battery on the extreme left wing, and it was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon when orders came for the whole division, excepting the First Virginians, to dismount, but hold their positions. "It did seem good, I can tell you, after so many hours in the saddle, to stretch out on the ground and take a smoke; that Is, all who had anything to smoke. There was just one pipeful among that whole battery, and the boy who owned it passed it down the line and each man tooK nis turn pumng at It "When It was gone we all began to speculate on what deviltry Sheridan would be up to next and how Jeb Stuart would head him off. It wasn't long before some fellow wished for a drink of water. "You know how It is, when one man wishes for water the whole company begin to swear they are dying of thirst Jack Saunders and I took a bunch of canteens and started over the hill to a spring that he had seen that morning during our scrimmage with the Yanlu. "I was on my hands and knees over the spring when I heard Saunders's grunt of surprise. He was staring through the trees. "Only a few hundred yards away was a considerable body of cavalry. Making sure that it was our right wing, I wondered to see them mounted and in ranks. Just then the voice of an officer rang out: '"Cavalry! Attention! Draw sabre. "The entire line moved forward at a quick walk, and as the officer wheeled his horse I saw his face. My Qod, It was Custer! "The situation came to Saunders and me like a flash. We threw down the canteens and started back to the battery on a dead run. "'Trot!' Custer's voice rang out again. The next instant he shouted: 'Charge!' "With wild cheers his cavalry dashed forward In a sweeping gallop, attacking our entire left wing at the same time. We saw our battery taken. our line Droicen ana our men ruuuuig like sheep. "Saunders and I had but one thought, to Join our fleeing company. As we reached the telegraph road above the din of the battle I heard Jeb Stuart's voice. "There he was making a stand with a handful of men around him. Thank God, I had sense enough left to join them. "It seemed but a moment before Custer's troops were cortllng back as fast as they had gone forward. They had met the First Virginians. We greeted them with the rebel yell and the last charge in our weapons. "Jeb Stuart cheered us on, ah, how he cheered us! I gave them my last shot and was following with my weapon clubbed, when I saw a man, who tu1 been dismounted and was running out, turn as he passed our rally and Are his pistol. "Jeb Stuart swayed in his saddle. It was only for a moment, then his voice rang out, cheering his struggling troops. "The enemy rallied Just across the road and fired a volley into the little band gathered around Jeb Stuart. His horse sprang forward with a scream of agony and sank down on its knees. As we lifted the general off, the young officer who was helping me, exclaimed: " 'My God, general, you are wounded! Tour clothes are soaked with blood! You must leave the field, sir!* "'No,' Gen. Stuart answered; 'I will i???~ until vlnlnrv is assured. Get ixui ica?o ui.ii. ? .v.? ^ ? ? me another horse.' "When I returned with the horse he was seated with his back against a tree, and when he tried to get up, weakened by loss of blood, he sank back again. " 'Go,' he commanded us. I am done for. Fltz Lee needs every man. I order you to go.' " 'We cannot obey that order, general,' the young officer told him, and I'll never forget the look that came over his face when he faced the general. 'We must carry you to a place of safety, however the battle goes.' " 'It must not go against us,' Stuart replied, and the thought seemed to put fresh vigor In his body. 'You must put me on my horse and keep me there. My men must not know that I am wounded.' "We lifted him on his horse, and mounting our own, we held him in his saddle. When the tide of the battle turned, supported between us, he made a last effort to rally his fleeing troops. ".'Go back, men!' he cried. 'Go back, men. Go back and do your duty!' "We felt him sway In his saddle. The young officer turned our horses' heads to the rear and he carried our fainting general from the field, still * * * * *?- t ?_u * t? V*? uo/MIp noicung mm upugm m uie That was Jeb Stuart's last battle and Custer's most brilliant charge.?News and Courier. W Cardinal Merry del Val, who came so prominently to the front during the French church dispute, shows his modernity by playing an excellent game of golf, as well as by his ability to send a rifle bullet through a ten-cent piece at 20 yards. .W It Is estimated that the street beggars of London collect $16,000,000 annually.