River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-05-17

Olive saw her mistake too late. She
/ had never imagined that anything so
awful as this would ever come into her
/ humdrum working life, any mote than
/ you or | now dream, in the monotony Of
our lives that we will ever need TO plan
so rapidly as Olive Harland did, in that
second before she spoke.
do You love mel' she asked, looking
up at him, her heart beating wild
/ tattoo.
More than my life! All, God! that
/ you must diel'
Il will never lie again and will love
/ you always if you will listen to my plan;
will you!''
Yes. if you say that you love me.
/ You are beautiful and | cannot die with
out your hands to smooth my dying pill
/ low
Olive thought sharply, as she
talked Not half mile away Squire
/ PrestOn's house CLEANED white through
/ the shrubbery, and Olive knew that at the
/ furthest they would reach the place IN
/ ten minutes at their present gait; but
| that she must shorten that time she knew,
| for her nerves could not stand this terri
/ BILE strain.
Will YOU race with mel" she asked.
:. do love you, and the one who reaches
that big white gate first shall name our
wedding day"
No: that will not do" he said sus-
piciously; but Olive was running as for
/ dear life, and he stood alone.
Only for a moment. On, on, ever on,
went Olive, and close behind her came
the horrid pulse of the madman's feet.
She reached the gate first, but could not
open it. She tried TO climb over but he
caught her.
You shall not thus elude me, The cried.
See, now you shall de- A knife shone
out in the sunshine, and Olive felt herself
growing cold.
Our wedding day. she painted He
paused, looking at her. Squire Preston
will marry Us, and l name this tor our
wedding day-COme"
She held out her hand to the man, and
together they went up the graveled walk.
Cousin Egbert was reading. Floy was
curled up in hammock, fast asleep, and
Mr.. Preston was smoking lazily. They
stopped in the shade of the porch.
"For Gods sake" cried Olive, speak
ing swiftly in German, "bind this man
He is crazy"
Did YOU mention our business to the
squire, my dearln The maniac looked
down at her with horrid smile; but
Olive sprang away from him, as DIR.
Preston held him fast.
By quick sweeping movement he had
pin:oned his prisoner, as he spoke. and
now was answering the question.
Eyes, she spoke to the squire. Come
with US" The man appeared dazed,
and suffered the men to lead him quietly
away. Floy sat rubbing her eyes, hardly
Weakened vet. so short had been the little
scene enacted before her.
Olive Harland did not faint. She never
had tainted in her life; but she did an in
finitely worse thing. She had a long run
of fever before she recovered from the
reaction of that short, terrible half hour
strain on her nervous system. There
were long weeks of delirium before she
knew even her mother, who came at once,
when Mr.. Preston telegraphed- Olive is
i'll
1t was the second day after the crisis of
the fever, and she lay watching Floy, who
was tanning her, reading and pretending
to crochet all at once.
"What did they do with him?" she
asked, with a shudder.
"Dey locked him up in lie smoke-hOuse
cellar, wild the key crown down de well,
sang FlOy. "Then they took him TO an
asylum, or somewhere way off, and you
are never to speak or think of him in all
your life again; Cousin Doctor said so.
believe handwriting does show character
and Egbert was right when he Judged
YOU to be a sclf-rcliant and plucky little
piece"
Olive was too weak To wonder AT FlOy's
incoherence, and only smiled lazily, as
she went to sleep.
No need for me 10 tell the sequel. of
course those DAYS and weeks of Gonzales
cence during which time DIR. Preston
learned to love the "plucky little piece"
whose self-reliance he admired because he
lacked that desirable quality. | suppose
Olive loved him out of sheer contrariness,
because he dared to say what she should
or should not talk or think about. No
mortal had ever done so before.
But, for my part, Notwithstanding Egg
bert's gentleneSs and tenderness, and Oh
ives docility, during those weeks before
she was quite well again, never could
quite forgive Olive for marrying him be-
cause he did not go to the station to meet
her that hot August day.