The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1875-10-27

n 11EtuAaA
and beautiful.
A sumner days sun was sinking
beyond TIE horizon line of the wide
expause Of prairie. A light breeze
came murmuring over the undula-
ting grass.
This Is perfectly i-ligbtiul,' ex-
claimed Alice. rem 'vms Der hat
The wind fairly lnt- The hair from
nv brow" IL
IF yoa wore q cbignon, you would
be o DESTROYS to AVOID that effect,
laughed her brother. "Imagine Arab
and me scampering yer the prairie
in chase Of that article
Alice smiled.
II were a eynie, | would say
that a cbignon i a FL emblem Of civ
ilization-a sham; but as ! am not Q
cynic. | will enjoy my present free
dom in t~hankfulness."
Il say, Alice, hadn't We better re-
tura2 They generally wan me at
the Ranch about this time"
I'm excuse your further attend
ancs, Tom, but | am determined to
20 as far as the river. I've discvy-
cred a new species Of running vine
among the trees there"
Tom refined in bis horse and hest
tated
why, Tom, said Alice, you are
% afraid that anybody will run
away with me, | hope" and she
shook her riding whip v~aliantly;
"and it's possible for me to run away
with anybody, for there are not a
dozen living souls 10 as many
leagues
She r~e-arranged the folds Ct her
dark green habit, and with a grace
FOL, mock Obeisance 10 Tom, darted
away. Tom, unlike most brothers,
admired his sister more than any one
else on earth. These two were aI TO
each otner-alone 10 the world-and
their mutual love was Infinitely greet
er on this account. Tom stood still
for some time, looking after the re-
ceding figure, until the red horizon
reminded him Of his duties at the
Ranch.
Reaching q clamp Of trees on the
bank % the narrow stream, Alice
halted, and gazed around her, Amid
all the gorgeous coloring ot the scene
there mingled that unde6nable spirit
Of sadness which never fails to ac-
company the death of a day. Per-
haps this was in unison with Ter
thoughts, for a grave expression came
into her eyes, and the half smile
erased TO play around her lips.
Her thoughts had gone back two
years-back through months Of drea-
~ waiting and self-reproach. The
figure Of the man she had loved
seemed 10 come between her and the
sunset, with the reproacbful look be
had won at their parting.
Guy Philips and she had met, s1d
become engaged. He had loved Der
p~assionately, aud she had returned
his love with equal !ervor-they bad
different ways of sbOwin@ IT, Guy
would have been content to gaze at
her from morning 10 night. and a
smile or 4 word would have been
sufficient for him. Alice was not sat
sized with this. She wanted her
lover to be more 'lover like"-less
Indifferent, " as she phrasea it. They
were at a fashionable summer resort.
and Alice firted fast and f%uriously.
Guy bore this with admirable pa
tience.
"A male imitation of Chaucer's
Griselda," she murmured, impatient
is. "Wil nothing arouse himg"
There was a certain self-styled
Spanish marquis al the hotel. He
was pretty well known to be an IN
s~crupulous gambler. At one of the
balls, Alice selected him as partner
IN two successive wal.zes.
Something must come of this
she thought as she wbirled around
70 the strains OF the "Blue Danube"
Something did cone Of it. Guy
Philips spirit was aroused. After
the dance, be grasped Der wrist, and
led her out upon the balcony. He
sternly commanded her never to
dance a round dance with any other
than himself. Alice had not bar
gained for this. She wanted more
warmth, even jealousy, in her lover;
but she would brook no infringement
on her liberty of action. She repli-
ed haughtily, there was a stormy
scene, and they parted.
When Der brother Tom proposed to
go to Texas, and to invest some
money in a scheme for raising cattle,
Alice had volunteered to accompany
BIN; and she was glad of the chance,
for accustomed scenes and people
had become painful to her.
Sitting in her saddle here, with The
Texan prairie land around Der. she
reviewed the past with bitter sorrow
She was awakened from Der reverie
by the sounds of approaching horses
hoofs.
On the opposite side of the river.
which the drought had narrowed to
o small, turbulent stream, Alice saw
a band Of horsemen. They were ap.
preaching. She drew back amid the
trees, ard watbed them. As they
came nearer, she saw they were Co
mancbe Indians. They reached the
opposite bank, and stopped TO par
ley. Their attention seemed fixed
on some object in the distance. Alice
looked in the direction indicated by
their gestures, and saw the dusky
forms composing a herd Of buffaloe:
outlined against the glowing sky.
The Comanches evidently resolved
20 pursue the flying herd. To Alice.
great relief, they dashed away, leav.
ing only three Of their number on the
river bank
Looking closely at these three
which she could easily do, as th,
river at this point was extremely
earrow-she noticed that one of them
was 9 white man. He was very
pale, and bis hunting shirt wa:
blood stained. His hands were
bound together with thongs, and be
hung upon bis horses neck as if toe
weak to sit upright. Without doubt
be was a captive, and the two Indi
ans had been left TO guard him. The
Comanches had their backs tnrneG
towards her, and were following with