Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-05-30

| WOODS were a fraud, he accepted the
| further advice of a woodman i'll the
green solitude to 60 on to Loring' $
Folly" as pretty bit of wood as
| you're like to see, and the birds they
takes to 1t kindly; only the old man
Loring. you see, he built mill there
where the brook be, and he thought
/ he'd coin money there, but the brook
1t froze up in winter and dried up in
summer, and the mill fell to pieces
but the birds don't mind SO, cur
sportsman kept on leisurely toward
Loring's Folly and, crawling through
tangled thicket, his rifle discharged
itself into his side. Somebody gath
ering ferns in the glen paused to listen
to the reverberations of the report.
which seemed prolonged far up the
wooded height, and then went slowly
on, saying, echo. sweet echo, with
| thee let me die till suddenly the del
icate notes We're succeeded by a cry of
fear, as she approached the PROSTATE
figure of Mr. Erskine. That gentle
man was naturally insensible when he
was taken up by some brawny wood
cutters and carried to the nearest
dwelling. He was never himself
enough, throughout the day and night,
to wonder why he was lying there help
less, why there were unfamiliar faces
about him; but by the following morn
ing it flashed upon him that he had been
] out, or had meant to go out, shooting
or had he dreamed it? Had he
oversight himself? for,the September
sky was full of no early light. Then
he let his glance escape from the
dlamond-shaped panes of the muliloned
windows to the great mirror with its
remnant of gliding, to the quantity
carved chairs with the cushions that
had once been gay, to the wide fire
side with its glittering dogs, behind
which handful of embers glowed, and
back to the bed upon which he lay.
with its high, curlously wrought posts
and its hangings of faded luster. Had
he been lured away into some enchant-
ed prison? And was that a woman,
or some cunning piece of sculpture, in
the big armchair "a woman fallen
asleep us if after long vigils, with her
dimpled chin upon her hand-a very
fair woman, he thought, with mobile
mouth, and a shadow beneath the
closed eyes, cast, perhaps, by the long
brown lashes; and maybe. a line too
many about the brow; but very fair
woman for all that and how unlike
Miss Linda, And then he essayed to
lift himself up. and a sharp pain drew
him back, and the spell broke, and the
sleeping beauty in the antique chair
came to life with a start and SILVER !;
ana Just at that instant the door opened
softly, and a medical gentleman en-
tered. Mr.. Erskine must have expert
enced some sensations similar to those
of SigiSmund, III CalderOn' $ romance
of Life a Dream" when he Weakened
in sumptuous palaces" Not that
there was anything but the reminis-
cence OF luxury in this new situation ::
the linen upon which he lay was
darned, the carpet upon the floor was
patched; everything was dim and worn
with age and use everything except
the appaIition in the armchair, with
the great sleepy brown eyes looking
straight into his.
"And how fares our patient this
morning." said the newcomer.
He has been very quiet since you
left him. But perhaps he can speak
for himself. | think | had dropped
asleep
You are not used to yigils, little
girl; YOU are pale Yourself. Ahn'-
turning to ErSkine)-" patient
looks as if he would like to ask ques-
tions. So, SO, Bst not to-day-not
to-day: they'll keep
That was no tedious convalescence
Of Mrs. Erskine's in the quaint old
room, into which the sunset stole,
rosy, red and gold, and touched the
faded roses of the chintZ into a mo-
ments youth, and lent "A magic light
to the soft eyes watching beside him.
What tender hand was this which
smoothed his pillow or bathed his aCh-
ing head, how divine. after the heed
less touch of a hired nurse, And
what a tuneful voice was this that
read from the poet and the novelist,
and filled their pages with new reve-
lations, What delicious twihghts
were those, when the young moon
glanced in through the easement mo-
ment, and they let their fancies wan
der into the future, BETRAYED by its
beams, and told each other 4" fairy
tales Of science" and grew contiden-
tial and personal, and found that they
loved the same creeds, and often an
ticipated each others thoughts When
he had first been allowed the priyi-
lege of speech, =" should be happy to
know all about it," he said. If it
were in the days of witchcraft,
should believe myself under some en-
chantmeut, AZ least. should like 10
know wLo it is that works these