The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-08-06
THE LIGHT HOUSE AT AVON
DALE.

| DAA6s
A wet east wind came blowing across
the moore, that stretched eastward from
blew nobody good, but was full Of
miasms, snl heavy with the odor Of
decaying nature. I sat by the window
and looked out upon the dreary autumn
landscape, almost hidden now by the
shadows of the dreary autumn gloam
ing.
Mamma moved the lamp upon the
table, so that its rays fell upon the win
dow near which / was sitting, and oui
upon the gravel walk beyond, lighting 8
small space with the radiance of day.
I gazed out Iistlessly. A figure came
out from the dark shadows, into the
lighted space. The erect figure of a
man, and he stood, mOtionloss, looking
| up at the window, the blaze of light
falling upon his handsome, daring face.
I bit my lips to keep back a scream,
and my heart thumped so loudly feared
mamma would hear it. The man out
side smiled, and made o gesture which
signifed "Come out" but / turned
mr. face away, determined not to betray
my knowledge of his presence. Why
did he haunt me so, when he knew, how
T had determined to forget him-when
he knew how absolutely necessary it
was that should put all thoughts of
him out of my mind, now and forever.
Mammals voice broke the oppressive
silence. 'I hope this is not the fore
runner of the eduihoetia1 storm, she
said, shut I almost fear it is. 1t will
be an unsafe time for ships to cross the
lake, if the storm comes on with its
usual force. Rollin will be here Thurs
day night, he wrote, and this is Satur-
day. I hope the storm will blow over
in day or two. should not like to
have youf wedding postponed on any
account. 1t is an evil omen"
"My weddingp yes, I was to be
married the following Friday to Rollin
Weatherbee, heir of the Wetherbee
estates, and the .Wetherbee pride and
blonde beatty. I had been Engaged to
him two years. and all that time it had
been understood that I should wed him
on my eighteenth birthday, and the
day drew very near. I had loved him
very dearly, I thought, and was very
proud of him. But three months ago,
few months after our arrival at the
Merideth House, where we had come to
remain until after the wedding, met
With a little adventure, which had
altered the whole matter, so far as I was
concerned, and put my foolish young
heart in tumult. was out for gal
lop, on my pony Sinbad, when gale of
wind came up, and my hat was blown
from my head. I felt it going, and
threw Up both hands, just as Sinbad,
with snort, gave a leap which unseated
me; and I toppled over his side, and
down upon the ground, and lay stunned
for a moment, while Sinbad galloped
away. I was not seriously hurt, only
stunned, and soon rose to my feet, and
brushed my taDgle of brown hair out of
my eyes, to see Sinbad struggling to
free his bit from the iron grip of
mans hand. A young man, with a
1.-the, erect figure, dressed in hunting
suit, that well displayed the tiger like
grace of his person. He held the
frightened animal until he ceased to
plunge and rear, and then led him to-
ward me, touching his cap lightly as he
neared me, and looking me through
with his dark eyes. ST beg pardon"
he said 81 saw the accident that beiell
you, and was just in time to catch your
beast by the bit as he plunged by. I
hope you are not seriously injured"
"Not at all" answered. "On1y a
little bruised. Thank you for saving
me two, mile tramp home, to find
mamma frightened to death at the re-
turn of Sinbad without me-"
He assisted me into the saddle, and
walked by my side, on toward Merideth
House.
81 am going to see you safe home,
unless you forbid it." he said. you
may have received injuries that you do
not know of, and do not think it safe
for you to ride home alone. You are
very pale, assure you, and your hands
unsteady at the rein."
/ did feel nervous and weak, and was
rot at all unwilling the young stranger
should walk at my side; he looked so
handsome. with his gun slung caro-
Iessly over his shoulder, and his rather
reckless face turned up to me. He
walked by my side to the house, and,
at my urgent request, cine in and re-
ceived mammals thanks for what he
had done. He bowed with princely
grace, saying" "Breece Roger, ma
dame, is highly honored in having the
opportunity 10 90 you OF your daughter
a service" And then he left us. with
one last glance of his dark passionate
eyes.
The very next day he came back,
bringing my scarf, which was lost when
I fell from my horse. And after that
he came off and on, whenever he could
find a pretext or excuse, until mamma
became annoyed at the frequency of
his calls and, fearing that he was not
a S uitable person for an associate,
made inquiries of the man who had
taken charge of the Merideth House all
the years we were absent. What he
told her did not help the matter any.
Breeze Rogers, man Yes, know
him. His father was old Squire