Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-06-27

mystic beauty OF its own, when the
moon clave a white way across the
cleaning waters, and the pale phosphor-
escencc tracked the swift. silent motions
of the fish. On a breezy or stormy day
the pier head, q mile away from the
shore, was q coign of vantage around
which the winds eddied briskly or
Numbered magniticently, the foam
topped waves seething and roaring
among the timbers underneath.
A day rarely passed on which 1 did
not visit the pier; often l remained
there from morning until afternoon, or
from afternoon till far into the night,
calling to mind, as far as [ was able,
| all that my favorite poets, from Virgil
to the laureate, had penned about the
sea, anti comparing the descriptions
with the living moving waters; turning
then to the sky and longing for the
pencil of a Turner or the quill of a
Ruskin to put upon canvas or into
words the colors, the texture and the
movements ofthe'unenduring clouds"
In a little while it seemed as though
the pier belonged to me. I stayed on
it for hours, hanging over the wooden
rail until 1 could almost touch the
waters with my hand; or wandering the
length of it, 'lonely as q cloud" and
never meeting but n living creature.
This was the man who occupied q tiny
hut on the pier head, whose function
was to light at dusk the huge lamp
which flung a red glare overthe waters.
He was an ill-favored man, short and
lean, with a hooked nose and crooked
eyes, who reminded me of a waNen
murderer / had seen in the Chamber of
Horrors at Madame Tussaud's. In the
not very robust state Of health in which
| was at that time the sight of this man
always affected me uncomfortably; and
when saw him coming I ran down the
steps of the landing stage in the center
OF the pier OF kept my gaze fastened on
the sea.
One afternoon, toward the end of
October, when for three weeks | had
held almost undisputed possession of
the pier, l was surprised, nay startled.
to see approaching from the shore the
figure OF u woman.
The height, shape and general lines
of the form told me that she was a
woman, and presently the gait, the
poise OF the head, the carriage of the
figure told me that she was q lady.
There was excuse for my feeling of sur
prise: but l do not know that fought to
have been startled. Startled, however,
l was-that much [ remember distinct
ly-and in that state of mind l re-
manned while the lady, with slow, even
and graceful steps, drew near to me.
AS she approached I could see hat she
was followed, at a distance of two or
three PAGES, by q female attendant.
She came nearer and / saw her dis
tinctly. She was tall and slight and of
a singularly elegant figure. Drawn
half over her face was a thin lace veil,
which intensified the palor Of her COM
plexion. She was dressed in black from
head to foot and wore a rich silk
mantle, very slightly edged with sable,
which, fitting to perfection, lent addi-
tional grace to her figure. She was
beautiful, with a beauty that. L had
never seen before; pale almost to white
ness, with clustering black hair, and
eyes large, deep and lustrous, and of
the blacklist black. AS she came to
where l was sitting 1 stood up to let
her pass, and she went on without no.
ticing me. The expression on her face
struck me as s%ingularly sweet and ten
der; but the eyes were the striking
feature, and the ray Of strange, half-sad
light that passed from them haunted
me when she had gone. The maid fol-
lowed-a woman of a rather heavy
~countenance and strong but obstinate
shoulders, who looked straight before
her and seemed to have no eyes save
for her mistress only. l watched them
as they passed and went slowly down
the pier. The mistress never looked be-
hind at or spoke to the maid, and the
maid always walked at the same dis
lance of two IL three PAGES from the
mistress. l waited, hoping that they
would return; but they stayed long,
and |, who had been fasting since early
morning, at length went home. I was
on the pier the text morning and again
in the afternoon, and looked curiously
for the unknown visitant of the pre-
vious day, but she did not appear.
Meantime my thoughts were busy and
| asked myself again and again. who
was she-and what had brought her to
S~outhbeach? Hers was a figure that
would have been noticeable anywhere
q should have singled her out, l
thought, from the crowd that had
f%requented the beach flew weeks past
aid wa therefore, of course, especially
noticeable on the narrow pathway OF
the deserted pier. 1t did not occur to
me that she was invalided like myself:
indeed, there was nothing of the in
valid in her appearance; but why, then,
had she come to Southbeach, q place
recommended solely by the salubrious
vigor of its atmosphere, which, in all
other respects, seemed unworthy Of her:
Three days passed, and 1 saw her
again. This time she was before me
on the pier, and as L entered it from
the shore l saw her coming in the dis
lance. Saw her. L say, and yet it was
with the eye of the mind rather than
with the eye of the body, for she was
half a mile distant; but 1 knew her in
an instant. AS she came near I had an
intense desire to hear her voice, but
knew that l should not dare to speak tc
her. A happy accident. however,
favored me. The little kitten belong.
ing to the solitary lady at the end Of
the pier had followed her toward the
shore. She had, perhaps, spoken to it,
or fondled it, as it gambolled-where ]
had often seen ton the light-keeper's
| thraSh0l1 at .nv ,o+o II hod ottonboI