The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-10-09
TRI-W EEKLY EDITION
clever feller enough, I'd ought to be
,Willin' to trust you to himP'

,willin' to trust you to hint"
So, upon this balmy August evening"
Breeze Bolton was waiting for her low,
er, and still, like the. traditional hero
of song and story, she came notl"
81 DECLARE" said the girl, quickly,
81 won't wait any longer. Harry
ought to know that the woods will be
too dark to-. go up to the Mountain
Point after O'clock. If no lcared to
walk with HE Cf, indeedl All, sly little
BreezeD he would have been here long
ago!"
And in a momentary flash OF pique
she tied Oh her scarlet ribboned hat,
locked the house door, and went out
into the dim, delicious fragrance of
the twilight woods.
Down the laurel shaded path across
the wild ravine where the aZaleas bios
sOmed 50 hlxuriantly in summer to the
river shores she went, pretending to
sing softly to herself, yet secretly chat
ing the while at what she fancied the
unwarrantable neglect Of her lover.
Until, all at once, as it were, she
found herself on the line of the new
railroad, its steel veins glistening
werdly in the purple twilight, its
brown embankments forming curious
contrast, to the fresh green of the woods
and meadows that surrounded it on
either side.
She glanced up at the sky, her only
horologe. A single star had sparkled
it's way out of the violet gloom and
hung brightly above the horizon.
Past eight, she said, aloud. "The
train must be along soon. l should
like to see it lush paSLl''
A h,f 81, o4o
ed over the cliff and gaZed more i'll
tently at some dark object below.
81 thought so," she murmured.
cit is something Oh the trackl "A
mans body lying gacross the rails. Wild
Abner, most likely. Well," with a
slight shudder of repulsion, "let him
lie there. He has courted this sort OF
death many and many a time-now let
him meet it.''
For Wild Abner, one of the rude
hunters of the neighborhoOd, was d
notorious drunkard. and Of all the sins
in the calendar, Breeze could least tol-
crate that of imebratlon. Nor did the
ings, Wild ADner had once aSpired to
he her husband, detract from this esti-
nation of hers. She hated the man,
as she would have hated Kissing cop
perhead snake, and there was something
III her untamed Indian blood which
suggested to her that it would be best
to leave the senseless wretch there to
await his doom.
But then there dawncd in her heart
a sWe1ter and more wonlanly light Of
mercy. -.-.
God forgive mel" she cried aloud,
"what is this thing that would have
done2"
And, hurrying down the steep pine
fringed declivity, she tlew>to the rail
road track, and with cry Of terror,
dragged the senseless form off the rails
INTO the deep gully beyond, where tall
ferns waved their banner-like head and
sweet wild lilies bloomed AS the
train rushed shrieking by, she saw the
white, marble-like FACET was that Of
Harry Bakel
YES" he said, when revived by the
cold water OF the nearest spring he was
able so sit up, with his back propped
against the rock. 81 had hurt my foot
badly,--I'm afraid it's a sprain, Breeze,
darling,-. ut l thought l should be
able to hobble home in some way. But
when L was Oh the railway track, u
oluStSll StlLLlilCoo oCClllCu W Colllc Of0l
me, and can remember nothing more,
until L saw your sweet face bending
over me. Oh, Breeze, my guardian
angel, you have saved mel"
And when Breeze comprehended how
near she had come to the sin of murder,
the murder of her own lover, too, a
dreadful pallor crept over her face, and
she breathed an inward thanksgiving
for the Divine Mercy which had pro-
tecLcd her from SO direful a crime.
She saw Wild Abner the next day.
Like the afflicted wretch of Holy Writ,
no was at last "clothed and in his
right mind"
"l've turned over Il new leaf Breeze ;,
he said with rugged fervor, "I've got
engaged to little Ietty Simpson, down
at the grist mill, and, Heaven helping
me, / mean to be q different man.
j ust you see!''
81 wish you all good luck, Abner,"
said Breeze with simple Kindness.
"Eyery man has his chance in life
given to him, and L believe that this
is yoursl"
And once more in her heart she
| thanked Heaven.