The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1879-08-01

On training. day! Before every body!
Yes, she would do any thing for him.
II he wished their engagement thus pub
licly proclaimed, she was willing. 90
she told him . Yes" and her mind
went back TO the training on the last
Fourth OF July. when he rode At the
head OF the " milishy," so straight and
handsome that her heart fluttered at the
thought that he was now her lover.
Suddenly there was low noises
which made the horse start, and Captain
Tart turn uneasily In his saddle. A low
I fiendish laugh, and q mu.iered I" The
devil!n were all they heard afterward.
Then there was rustic In the bushes,
and Captain Tart put spurs TO his horse.
The fleet creature darted on to the turn
ing, when they rode down the turnpike
like the wind till they reached Farmer
Washburn's great red house, where
light was burning in the kitchen for
Lyddy. She was all a-tremble when
her lover lifted her from the horse; but
she saw no fear nor tremor In his eye or
in his frm-set lips.
"Why, Lyddy DEAR" he said, folding
her tenderly to him, and soothing her
with his great rough hand, +" didn't you
know who that was in the thicket! Why,
Lyddy and he paused and choked
little" that was-that was she
looked up at him in terror" that was
my mother"
Then, before she could fairly enter the
hospitable door, he had leaped to his
saddle, and was gone. The horrid fright
had shattered their love dream, and
spoiled the beautiful evening which
should have been the sweetest Of their
lives. Ali il had done much more, but
they did not know it then.
The next morning, before Lyddy's
shaken nerves had half recovered their
tension, her mother entered her cham
Der and reused her from the uneasy
sleep into which she had only just fallen.
Lucifer-matches were then unknown,
and the flint and matlock we're their on
" substitute. II those failed, there
was no resource but 20 ride,
sometimes for miles, to the near
est house and beg some fire.
Farmer Washburn was too rheumatic
this morning to ride, aud the hired men
and the two of Lyddy's brothers who
were still unmarried aud at home had
eaten cold breakfast, and were pillow
ing the q medder," and could not leave.
The fire was out, and Lyddy must get
up and ride a mile aud q half as fast rs
she could to get some Goals.
Lyddy rose mechanically, and was
dressed and on her horse, with the foot
stove fastened securely beside her, be-
fore she remembered that the nearest
house, her brother Isl" Washburn's,
was to be reached ten minutes sooner
BY passing over section Of the "'Lish
Woodland" road than by the main high
way. At the turning she hesitated;
then, ashamed of her foolish fears, she
refined her horse resolutely into the
wood-road, and was soon near the scene
of the dreadful adventure of the night
before. She could not help hurrying
her horse little AS she approached the
spot; but the bright rays Of the 6 o'clock
sun streamed through the trees and
showed only the innocent underbrush
below; so she rode on more quietly.
Then her thoughts turned to her lover,
and the caresses he had given her. II
all seemed 10 her, in the bright morn
ing, like feverish dream; and guilty
blush suffused her pure face rs she
thought how he had embraced her, and
Of the sweet words that he had whisper
ed in her ear.
Suddenly q shadow fell across the
sunshine, and she was rudely reused
from her tender reverie by the appear
ance OF the woman whose demoniac
laugh and ejaculation had chilled her
blood the night before. she was bag
gard and unkempt, and had apparently
been wandering all the night. As Lyd-
dy looked at her, she could see that
Aunt Betty" from some cause or 9TH
er, was almost. If not quite, frenzied,
and she was about TO put her horse to
his speed, when the woman checked
her BY motion Of her hand.
"No, Lyddy Washburn," she said,
In q harsh, angry voice, "you needn't
run away from Tart's mother. She'll
do We no harm, though she heard all
the billin' and cooin' last night, and she
knows ye'vc stole her darlin' away from
her--her darlin'! her darlin'i" and she
wrung her hands wildly. He's all
I've got, and little We know, We pink
faced girl, how love him--the straight
est and handsomest man in all these
parts. But, mark ye, Lyddy Wash
burn"--and her voice took on an un-
earthly depth and sternness, "them red
cheeks o. yournll be white, an that
shiny hair thin an gray, before yen
take my boy away from me. ! feel it
know i'll"
t" You may be sure" said Lyddy
Washburn, her horror showing in her
strained and excited voice" you may
be sure, Betty Taylor, that as long Is
you live shall never marry your SON"
"Wont yep-wont YEP" said Aunt
Betty, in kind Of devilish glee. "I'll
be SO year come Michaelmas, but the