Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-03-02

frenzy raging JuSI then lOf DuIruSneS, anu
thought, of all things, she should like
some great punches of the soft, brown,
velvety things in the vases tomorrow.
Il believe if | rose early" she said,
q could be there and back before elev-
en-
"Why eleven?" said Mallory, lazily.
"Oh, have an engagement at that
hour" she replied, bending her head
little, that he might not see the color
creeping up.
81 am at your service" he said
VIII you come along Netty?" she
asked.
At five O'Clock in the morning, and
on foot? Not step. That hour in the
afternoon, behind a pair of bays, would
suit me very well.''
Young Vary thought it would suit him,
too.
every well, Mr. Mallory If you will
come at eight, tomorrow, | shall have
my bulrushes and be back in good sea-
SON"
Well not fail, " said Mallory. And
to that end, l assure this company that it
is the witching hour of night, when the
sweetest sound the ear can hear is the
slamming of the big house door" And
with that they all departed.
AS eight o'clock in the morning came,
| Miss Alice, with her shears hangi ng at
| her side and her hat tied on was looking
up and down the road impatiently. She
quite forgot her freak with the old clock
the night before. 1t is very indeco-
rOus way to serve me-, she cried. "Ten
minutes past eight! And I shall not wait
another moment. | will have my bull
rushes, Mallory or no Mallory. And if
am a little late, don't care; it will seem
as though body were not SO very anxious :;
and don't knOW-I'm afraid-I'm really
afraid [ was gushing, last night, and do
so despise a gusher And he may only
want-may only want to engage me to
watch with old Miss Steeres, tie night
she takes ether for that operation" And
thereat the little body was off for Lenders
Lake, with precious small idea Of the
exact whereabouts of that pretty sheet
{ I've a tongue in my head, suppose, )"
said she.
| AS Miss Alice continued, her ideas grew
still less. She feared she would lose her
way, and not be back at all !; she wished
she had waited for Mallory; but she plod-
deG on after her best sense Of locality,
tore her gown with briers, lost her veil,
broke her parasol, came near breaking
her ankle, and at eleven o'clock by her
watch sat down and cried-hot, bitten by
flies, tired out, and lost.
When she had finished crying, she
looked up, and there, glistening double
through her tears, lay Lenders lake, blue
as sapphire, in the hollow of the hills.
Her courage came back at once. If she
could not keep her appointment, she
could show by the bulrushes that she had
intende1 to. She forgot fatigue, and was
off for the edge Of the lake, not so easily
reached after al, and, with triumphant
handful of the brown velvet wands and Of
great, blue flags, was presently homeward
bound, having found the highway, and
staying only to ask at the door of little
hut for cup of water.
Nobody answered her rap; the door
was open-she pushed it wider and
peeped in, but started back at the sound
of a groan, and a quick, sharp sob, per-
feet storm of sObs. A moment Miss Alice
hesitated but she was no coward where
pain was concerned she took heart of
grace and walked in, and found the
a bor
boy, her grandchild, bleeding to death in
her arms. "Oh, " she exclaimed, 81 never
knew you lived here. What is the matter !
How did he do it?"
with the ak! with the ak! just now!''
cried the woman. And | can't stop it,
and Pm all alone, and | can't leave him,
and he'll die-eh, he'll diep'
"Oh no, no!' said Alice. "What
have you done? Only cold water? Let
me see. Lay him down. Get towel -
for she remembered still her school les
sons in physiology. And, before the
woman knew what had happened, Alice
had rugged a tourniquet with the handle
of a hair-brush, and was checking in
some degree the flow of blood with which
the boys vitality was ebbing. "Now
don't let it slip, and I'll run and fnd the
doctor, if | drop. Perhaps some team
will overtake me. Dent despair-the
child sha'n't die" and she kissed the
brown old woman, and plunged out,
eager as though it were her own little
brother. q know just where the doctor
is" she called back.
She knew nothing of the kind; she only
knew where he had been. She gone to
Lenders lake with Mr. Mallory" Aunt
Huldah had said, looking up and down
the road, with vague idea that her look
ing would excuse the culprit-'' for bull
rushes, heard them say"
The doctors ejaculation would have
Mortified Aunt Huldah if she had heard
it; but, bidding her good morning he
had turned about, determined to have
nothing more to do with Miss Alice Trues-
dell. And then a sort Of rage had flashed
up and swept over him, and he vowed to
himself that he would reduce the little
rebel, and sprang into his chaise and