Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-05-23

beneath this apparently idle gossip.
believe discretion will be the better part
of yalor on our part" ~ .-e-
Louise from under her long lashes,
shot whitening glance at the man who
loved her, but did not deign an answer
She could not make out this man. She
believed that sometimes she half de
spised him.
II believe i shall take the stage for
Ashdale," announced Redmond the
next afternoon, looking at his watch.
Have little business there to which
wish to attend"
Louise flashed quick glance from
her large dark eyes.
What going to leave us to take care
of ourselves % said Blanche. 1--WE
want you to help bouy US up when the
water rises" a
80! [ shall return tonight I have
no idea OF being absent from such an
interesting adventure" he replied.
"That is, if can possibly see the gentle
man [ am seeking just five minutes.
Good-afternoon, ladies'" and he bowed
himself out of the room gracefully.
There! [ am not surprised at this
action on the part of Redmond Clarke, "
said Louise He will not come back
here tonight. I say, as I have said be-
| fore, he is coward"
| Why, Louise. this move of his has
nothing to do with the superstitious tale
we have just heard.
| 81 believe it has" The secret desire
to think and believe high and lofty
things of his name, drove her to sudden
anger at any suspicion of the opposite.
"Who ever knew of those blue-eyed,
| blonde-moustached men who had a
spark of true courage and she looked
anything but feeble character herself
as she paced the floor rapidly, her eyes
flashing Indignantly with the intensity
of passion to which she had wrought
herself. sa
"Take care" said Blanche warming
ly, in a low voice. You remember
Hamilton Belmont saved my life at
the risk of his own. He was none of
your heroic-looking men,"
You will find that Redmon Clarke
is not a second Hamilton Belmont. If
[ could know for a certainty that he
ran away from any danger, threatened
or real, | should never again allow him
to touch even my finger tips | should
feel so Inundated that such man had
ever dared to ask for my love-"
Don't judge too harshly-too hasti-
ly," said her friend, gently She knew
that Redmond Clarke and Louise Rand
were fitted to make each other happy
could the latter have the mists
of doubt cleared from her willful eyes.
Clarke had really intended to return
to the Cocasset House as he promised,
but the gentleman whom he sought
was absent, and the last stage left be-
fore his return.
Ashdale was primitive, unambitious
town. Its only connection with the
great world was the regular stage. Its
hills and valleys had never yet echoed
with the shrill whistle of the locomo-
tive.
He paced backward and forward on
the piazza of the quiet little hotel where
he was to pass the night, under the
poetic skies of a fine evening, thinking
of Louise Rand. Her naughty i'm
periousness had a charm for him. He
smiled to himself as he thought, "She
will thoroughly believe now what she
suspected when left her, that should
not return tonight" He was prouder
than she. There was depth beneath
that indolent exterior she had not sound
ed; and because she had doubted him
she whom he loved-he would not
deign to inconvenience himself to gain
her approval. A man with less in
herent haughtiness would have acted
differently. The smoke of his fragrant
cigar curled upward and dissolved in
the moist thin air. He removed it
from his mouth for moment, thought
fully. "She has no reason for Judging
me. Thank Heaven among all my
failures cowardice has never been Justly
attributed to me-" His memory went
over one or two deeds of daring in the
past of which he never spoke. "She
may one day find out" he thought, as
he replaced his cigar.
He retired early and was soon in a
deep slumber. 1t did not prove re-
freshing. A feverish, restless dream
wreathed in and out of his brain. He
saw Louise suspended over waste of
waters cIinging 10 something that
threatened every moment to snap with
her weight, and she be engulfed forever
Then the scene shifted, and he saw as
plainly as if it were reality the building
where he had left her enveloped in
fame, and amid the cries of frantic
men and women, Louise in her white
night robe at window where the
flames were rapidly closing round her.
reaching out to him with wild shrieks
for help. He woke with the agony of
the scene. Precipitation was starting
from every pore. He sprang out Of
the bed and threw up window. The
night was sweet and fair as when he
retired, with the added glory of the full
moon, in the fuller light of which the
stars were paling their modest bright
ness. Over the. fair landscape were
flung lengthening, sleeping shadows of
tall trees, shrubbery, and home-like
cottages in their inclosure.
The scene Gained, sobered him, but
did not dissolve the hurried impression
of danger Was his dream a warning?
He tried to smile and put it away as the
offspring of a diseased Imagination.
But the vivid horror of the scene stood
before his vision with too much of reali-
ty, and he turned to dress with quick,
nervous haste. The moon shone direct
ly into his room End its light was all-suf-
ficient. He was only four miles from
Woodville. He could walk that distance.
He could not rest with this horrible i'm
preston upon him-something might
be even now happening. He let him
self out noiselessly at the front door, and
commenced rapid walk The church
clock tolled the hour-twelve. He
would reach there in less than an hour.