Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1871-02-23

and Lille, like the rest, strolled away
by themselves.
Now whether it was Lilies remarka-
bly, good spirits, or the Juice
of the grape that completely de-
stroyed Mr.. Rutledges self-possession.
it is difficult to say; but certain ii is
that that young man took advantage of
the occasion, and the comparative Sc
clusion afforded them in their stroll. to
make, III the most unmistahable and
unwarrantable manner declaration of
love to his fair companion; and as II
his passion, which had been so long
| bottled up, rejoiced at its escape from
| bondage, he poured forth the widest
rhapsodies on his love for her COM
/ pletely ignoring the existence and prior
claims of the absent one-a course of
conduct which could not fail to i'm
press unfavorably the well-regulated
mind OF the one to whom his words
were addressed
At first, unable to stem the torrent
of his passionate language, Lille stood
silent and amazed, or apparently SO :;
but at length, when he paused to take
breath, and for moment gave her an
opportunity, she did not hesitate in her
reception of this unexpected onslaught
Stamping her pretty foot upon the dead
leaves beneath her, she said, passion
ately:
"Mr. Rutledge, I am ashamed of
you. To take advantage of my kind
ness to you, when you know that 1 am
engaged to another would not have
believed it of you. Now, Sir, you can
go back to the party, and say I am 60
ing home by the train. I'll not speak
to you again-never."
And so saying, she turned from his
side, and hurried off in the direction
whence she had heard the sound of the
whistle. Rutledge ran after her few
steps, called to her, begging her to for
give him, and then, as she continued
rapidly on her course, returned to the
yacht, intending to tell their friends
that Miss Gordon had concluded to re-
turn by the train, and that he should
accompany her. And with that design
we will leave him for the present.
Lille hurried on precipitately, little
needing the nature of the course she
was following, or the many obstacles of
root, rock, and dead limb that obstruct-
ed her way, SO fully was her mind alb
sorbed with the occurrence of the pre-
cedlnG moments.
While her face burned, and variety
of sensations, occasioned by the mad
advances of poor John Rutledge,
troubled her mind, she thought little
of her surroundings, and was only re-
called to herself-to lose herself more
completely at the same time--by sud
denly tripping over tangled root, and
being plunged headforemost into a
gully worn by some little brook, now
dried up and sunk into the earth.
The hole, or pit, was not deep, but
Lille had lost consciousness /; and
when John Rutledge passed within a
few yards of the spot ten minutes later,
on his way to the cars, he little mag
ined that the one he sought lay bruised
and senseless within reach of the sound
of his footsteps,
Hurrying over to the railroad station,
he discovered that train had just left
while another would not go out until
late i'll the evening. He pushes his in
quiries, involving description of Miss
Lille. in every direction; but it was
not for some time that he finally learned
that no young lady had taken passage
on the train on that occasion.
When he had satisfied himself of this
fact, beyond question, he became
really troubled % to Lilies where
abouts. 1t was Just possible that she
might have stopped at some farmhouse,
and accordingly he spent considerable
more time searching and inquiring
among these, but with no result-she
had not been seen. Then he became
really alarmed, for the land about was
marshy, and extended to great dist
ance in all directions, and he feared she
might have lost herself. How his search
resulted will be told in the sequel.
The Yacht sailed without them, every
one commenting on the extraordinary
freak of Miss Lille Gordon, and won
dering what MIR. George Hartley would
think of the matter when he should
hear of it, which they were sure he
would. though one and all of them as
serted they would be the last ever to
communicate such disgraceful and
improper proceeding-"fo for the sake OF
her poor mother, you know.
And SO the yacht sped on its home
way; the sun sank slowly down; the
blue sky turned gray, and then black,
and became studded with stars, as IS It's
wont; the moon rose up in richest full
ness; and this last, shining fairly In
the face of the silent figure lying out
there alone in the Jersey marshes, at
length, with its own peculiar influence,
brought her again to life.
Slowly she raised herself to her feet,
numbed and aching, and, passing her
hand through her hair. asked herself