The Red Cloud chief., 1877-12-06
BREAD UPON THE WATER,
BY WILL S

8 DAspe~h
BREAD UPON THE WATER.
BY VIII s GRIBBLE.
She came slowly from the shadow of
the grand old cedars-came out into the
opal sunshine of the September day.
And Vivian st. Roy, from his seat upon
the veranda of the Catskill Arcade,
where he had passed the summer
months, watched her, and saw the grace.
full movements of her 1.-THE, girlish form
noted the regal poise of her dark, dus.
ky head, and wondered to himself why
fate had been so kind te her and fortune
SO unjust. For she was fair-surpass-
ing fair to look upOn-this i'll clad girl
who came like a phantom from the
shadow of the cedars. with her deep,
dusky eyes and purple black hair.
She went straight down the mountain
path-down toward the murmuring
lake, that lay like a sheet of shimmering
silver embedded amid q group of emer-
aid arches at the foot of the mountain
Her hands were clasped tightly across
her heaving bosom, while her dusk, soul.
full eyes were turned toward the azure
sky. And thus Vivian st. Roy under
stood it all; the girl was going to her
death-her doom.
He flung aside the paper he had been
reading, and dashed down the mountain
path, following in her footsteps, not
twenty PAGES behind.
She reached the bank, and then she
paused, while the broken fragment of a
prayer parted her ~quivering lips, then
the hands were thrown above the dusky
head, the waves parted, and she went
down. Vivian st. Roy had come too
late.
He saw her body rise to the silvery
surface, trembling like an aspen, and
then disappear. 1t was time for action
and he must act He threw his coat to
the ground and then plunged into the
lake. Again her form fioated like a Wis.
ion before his eyes. He dashed forward
with his arms Outstretched, but she sank
again, and he clutched only the empty
air.
1t was life or death now. Scarcely
daring to breathe, st. Roy waited, and
at last the form rose again. In an in
slant he was beside it, and with a grip
as fierce as grim death itself, ne grasped
her throat just as she edied round before
the fatal death descent.
He bore her to the shore, laid her gent
ly upon a bed of early autumn leaves,
and then, with all his might, he Once
again began to battle back that enemy,
death. For an how h. -~.hod steadily,
and then the dropping eyelids quivered
and moved, and the mild, dark orbs
looked straight into his.
why did you save meP" she gasped
b%rokenly, sobbingly. "Why. oh, why,
did you not leave mt to my fate?"
did you want to diep"
want to djeP Did I want to die?
Yes, oh yes! Why did you rescue me 7"
She walled out the Last words with a
bitter sob, and buried her face in her
hands.
"Why did you want to die?" Vivian
asked, bending over h .rquivering form.
s.Are you friendlessp
Il am friendless-I am homeless!"
she sObbed wildly. MY parents died
long years ago. I am alone utterly
alOne!"
what is your name?"
"Nisma-Nisma Balfour. am moth
ing but a child-Only fifteen"
He looked at her in wender; q strange,
strange name, and a stranger girl For
a moment not a word was spoken, and
then st. Roy broke the silence.
"If you could get a home would you
r to 60 to it?"
"Yes-Oh, yesI"
She sprang from the ground and stood
beside him, while he took q note book
from his pocket, extracted a leaf, and
wrote
"ELIsE-The bearer is g homeless waif
and knowing your heart is always full
of pity for the unfortunate, l send her
to you, knowing you will gladly obtain
her a situation and a home.
Your brother, Roy"
take this" he said, when he had fin.
ished. "and carry it to the address des-
ignated upon the encyclopedias. Elise
Fielding"
Stay" the girl broke in, holly, I'm no
fool cannot read"
"Very well, then. Here are ten dol
lars, which will be sufficient to defray
your expenses and buy you q decent
gown. Good BY"
She took the note and money in q
dazed sort of a way, and then caught st.
Roy's hand and pressed it passionately
for a second; the next, her little form
was speeding over the mountain path,
and Nisna Balfour went out from the
old life into the new-the life that lay
untried, all untrisd, before hsr. Andso
they parted. =
a*as ass& $3.50
A beautiful woman. That wa what
the world called Valena CharlewOod.
She had burst up0nit with all her hebe-
like loneliness, and many a crowned and
loyal head had knelt beneath the scepter
-;o,dod hv her hoautv and her will. Yet |