The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1870-01-20
!. sTAUNTON, Virginia THURSDAY. JANUARY 40 1870

.rashing4to and FROM search of her, shcs is:
no doubt standing in the shadow Of q hem
lock and Quietly laughing at me. 's9s2a so
I. yielding his canjeetnre, be once more
piled his, skates, aaaS7euS rapidly aaes down
the riyer.-keeping. CLOSE alongside the bank
and scanning every spos oyefshaded BY she
Butno Kate Clinton was there, either in
moonlight or shadow, nor wasthere any score
made by skates up9a the inshore iees
It now. occurred TO him, that he might dis;
cover where. she. had gone by getting upon
the track Of her skates, aud following it up
With this ntcEt, he hastened to the spot
where he had left her standing. g I'll; oS''
On reaching it cold thrill shot through
his frame, as if the blood had suddenly be
come frozen within his veins. In addition to
the two sets CT skate tracks, leftoby himself
and the young lady in their up aud down
excursions; he now saw a third. whose bold
scores upon the ice showed them to have
been from the feet Of man! There were
confused curves and zigzaggings, as if there
had been struggle, Or some slight difficulty
at starting, but beyond that point, there were.
two sets Of straight continuous burrows. run.
ming parallel, and side by side, as if the
skaters had gone away with joined hands !!
The direction was down the riyer-to-
wards home Alta glance Frank Hill recog
nized the thin, tiny score left by the slender
steel blade on the feet of Miss Clinton
But the man who had gone skating SO close
by her side-who was he 49, .,.,.s
A painful suspicion shot through his brain
q +lot eho ofto
the house, they had passed man upon the
ice, who was also On skates They had brush.
ed SO neal, him as to see who he was, and in
the. moonlight had beheld countenance
bearing a most sinister cast It. was the.
face of Charles Lansing, whom Frank knew
to be a rival sutton for the hand of Kate
Clinton. !. sa-.se "a gsiggs5ai 80 eai7
This man had made his appearance in the
neighborhood some three months before, COM
ing no one knew whence. In fast, there was
nothing known Of him, except his name and this
might easily be an assumed one. He put up
at the principal hotel Of the village, appear
ed to have money, and to be a gentleman Of
birth and education. Was Charles Lansing
the man who had come to Miss Clinton. upon
the ice and carried her away with him ? Tt
could be no other. for Hill now remembered
having heard the ring. of skates behind. as
they were coming mp the river from The place
where Lansing had been seen. shortly after
they had passed him $3.50 ,4s7,
The first thought CT Kate Clintons lover
was one Of Almost. painful nature. tt was,
in fact. bitter pang Of Jealousy. Had the
whole thing been pre- arranged, and she viii
lingly gone away With this stranger. who.
though a stranger to others. might be better
known to her? Lansing, if not what might
be called handsome man. was, good looking
enough to give cause FOR jealousy. ~
1t was fearful reflection of Frank HILL
bat fortunately. it did not long endure. It
passed like spasin, another, nearly as painful
taking it's place. He recalled a. rn'nor that
had feen for some days current in the neigh
borhood of a strangeness observed in the be-.
havior of the hotel guest. that had caused
doubt about his sanity And more forcibIy
me back to Frank Hills mind what he had
heard that very morning-how lansing
lad presented himself at'the house Of Miss
Clinton's s father had acted in such strange
manner-uttering wild speeches and threats
against the Young lady-that it became nee
cssarv to use force in removing him from the
premises. a1
+ Could this bethe explanation Of the dis
appearance Was the maniac now in the
act of carrying out the menace he had made
l--snme terrible mode of Vengeance under the
wild promptines Of insanity?
| The thought came quick. for this whole Sc
ries of surprises and eonjectures did rot oe-
lenpv three seconds of time. Ard with the
| last Frank Hill threw all his strength into a
ipropuisive effort, and shot off like an arrow
down nc nc river. ~ ,..,..,
A bend was soon passed beyond when
|there was a stretch of clear ice extending for
/ mile. A vay at the father end, two forms
Iywere di,iy d;sccrnable, end upon the still
frosty air could be heard the faint ringing 9!
skates at intervals repeating their strokes,
Frank Hill had DO doubt about one Of
! these being she of whom he was in search,
and nerved by the sight, he threw fresh vigor
| into his limbs and few over the smooth sur
| face like bird upon the wing. s.. s..z,.
On, past rock. and tree, and hill, and farm
houses sleeping in silence, on 10 long sweep
| ing strides, his eyes flashing, but fixed upon
the two forms, every moment getting more
clearly discernible az the distance became
lesseped by his speed
And now he was near enough to see that it
| was Lansing. ,.a ,.t :.
The latter glanced back over his shoulder
recognized his pursurer, and taking fresh
hold on the wrist Of his apparent unwilling
partner, he forced her onward With increased
velocity. p" |i@ "a
| She had looked back and saw who was
coming after The silver light Of the moon.
falling upon her face, showed an expression
| of sadness suddenly changing to hope, and
raising her gleved hand in the air, she sent
back cry for help. .1z
It was not needed, That wan face, seen
| under the soft moonlight, appealing to Frank
| Hill for protection, was enough to nerve him
to the last exertions Of his strength, and he
| kept on without speaking word, his whole
thought absorbed by the one great desire te
| overtake and rescue her. ea..4.......,s,
| From what? From the grasp of "a maniac
4 as the behavior of Lansing now proved him
| to be.
| Mereifnl Heavens! What is that SOUND
heard ahead, and at no great distance III
Hill did not need to ask the question. IL
knew it vas the roar of water he knew thai
a cataract was below. And near below, fol-
on sweeping around another curve of the riv
er, the black, smooth water could be seer
rushing rapidly forth from under the field o
1 ice, quick whitening into froth as it STRUCK
against the rocks eresting the cataract.