Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-07-31

FIR At. POINT. WISCONSI
These were distinctly visible by
the light of the moan and STARS: and
when ! zaw ho~ ,!svp Gnvy Wefo,
and how she had fallen here and
there, a terrible fear seized me; and
forgetting the pain and stiffness of
my wounds, | ran forward as fast as
ever | was able.
Suddenly, | became conscious
there were double tracks. She had
succeeded IN reaching the village,
and had returned ID the plain, where
she had lost the path, owing to the
darkness.
'"rhis had been what / most fear
ed and yet il seemed as if hand of
ice grasped my l.eart, as / stopped to
examine the way she had gone.
There We're her half-obliterated foot
prints, leading into the open field,
with the pine forest and frozen lake
beyond.
81 stood up and shouted her name
till it seemed as if every one at the
poor-farm must have heard my cry !;
but there was no answer.
Il followed the faint footprints as
best L could, till they entered among
the pines, and there / found her,
leaning against tree, clasping the
trunk with both arms.n
"Oh, Margie. how glad / am that
you found her! She had not forgot
ten what you told her-she had kept
walking
- Yes; and think when she clasp
ed tho tree, she thought she had
found me, and believed she was
holding me close to her breast, for
she was pressing her lips to it, and
smiling just as when we parted, and
it was the smile she never gave to
any but me-"
"And she knew you, Margie? =? She
was not afraid of you out there in the
pines?n
'-Ah, miss! Lucy was as cold as
the snow, and almost as white.
She's dead = and the echo answered
dead"
IN TWO CHAPTERS.-CHAP. II.
at was an awful thing, Miss, to
stand there In the lonesome pines.
with nobody for companion but
my lifeless sister, and so late 1t night
too, when every star seemed to shine
with supernatural brightness, and
the trunks of the trees to be turned
into horrible ghosts and hobgoblins.
"But l had found her, thank God !!
/ had found her and / dropped upon
my knees IN the snow and cried out
for help from on high, and for
strength to bear the iGoliZed burden
home.
''I united the little blue hood, and
as 1 did so felt there was still warmth
beneath the chin. o, how the blood
leaped through my veins then /
was as strong as a giant, anu snatch
ing her in her arms, 1 flew through
the snow as if had wings.
"There are some things we cannot
do twice. Sure / am that / could
never do again what ] did that
night. 1t was all a dream until l
reached the roads and then / fell, eX-
hausted. But / soon rallied again,
for l knew, even if Lucy was yet
alive, every thing depended upon
my speed.
"At last we reached the house
where doctor HveGS and he took us
in and acted the Christian part to-
ward US. We put Lucy in bed, and
applied such remedies as the doctor
directed, and-she Tired"
when Margie said "She tired" a
shadow fell upon her face. There
were no tears of joy like those upon
my cheeks and the voice, which
had been eager and rapid, fell sud-
denly with a sorrowful cadence.
"Yes, she lived" Margie went on,
after pause land although her
feet We're trost-bitten, and the shock
to her whole nervous system very
great, she recovered in few weeks
all she had lost, and was more beau
tiful than ever.
Perhaps L have not told you how
pretty she was. You see Lucy had
not rough skin, and brown complex
ion, and homely features-not
bit of it. Her face was fair and
transparent, with soft, peachy
bloom upon her cheeks, that set off
the blue eyes and small mouth.
"She had always looked like an
angel to me, but nobody else seemed
to mind her good looks, until after
the doctors family took ier into fa-
yor. Then she grew SO plump and
blooming, that roses would have
paled beside her blush.
"They would have sent me back
W viz pun iolHii ohiy that ieSiotCu
SO stoutly. To be sure there was not
much in me to love, especially then,
when the great welts that the keep
er had made with the leather thongs
were still swollen and purple, and L
stiff and awkward from their hurt.
Beside every body seemed to think
because | had been lashed, and be-
cause L had run away from the poor
farm | hiOh tom npra1 tyirt
whom nobody could trust.
~ think the DOCTORS wife pitied me,
for she was a good kind woman-but
then she was so under her husbands s
thumb, she could not help me. They
said they would keep Lucy to mind
the baby, but / must return to the
f rm until better chance opened to
me, and the keeper was coming for
me early i'll the morning.
My mind was soon made up. |
would never, aeUer fall into that
mans power again. l might as W ell
die one way as another, and | felt
certain | should die under his lash
if they carried me back to that dread
full place.
1--WE went to bed, Lucy and and
while she was chattering away about
her newly found friends, and the
baby, and the new dresses she was
to have, l tried to think over what |
could do and where 7 could go to es-
cape the tyrant. | did not forget |
was leaving Lucy behind. Life in
any shape UiM her | could have
endured. / could be lashed for her
sake, hut not for my own. Would
she miss and mourn for me, as | for
her?