Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-06-27
and I plucked up courage to addr,,s

that time, and l gathered from her
looks and manner that the lady was
some three or four years my senior, so
that, in every way, 1 felt myself her
inferior.
1t was not without an effort that l
lifted my hat and said, timidly. that l
had carried the kitten in safety to its
home. She thanked me: her voice was
low toned and musical. and the dim,
soft light of her eyes shone on me while
she spoke.
She was so kind and gentle in her
manner that in a moment or two |
found myself talking freely and with
out effort. and l turned and we walked
on together.
We paced the length of the pier and
back again slowly, and perhaps for the
space of an hour, but to me it was the
shortest hour l had ever spent. And
yet we had spoken only of things in
different. We had. I soon discovered,
a common interest in the sea and sky.
She loved them both, she said, but only
in their quiet moods. Happily the day
was one of preternatural %softness; the
waters scarcely trembled as they lay
outspread beneath us, and the azure
sky was tleckled with cloudlets woven
of gossamer. I asked whether she in
tended to remain in Southbeach, and
she answered with some reserve that
she had visited it under medical advice,
and did not know what would be the
length of her stay. At any rate 1 was
rejoiced to think that she wouldnnot
leave Immediately. 4,
My interest in this pale. 1ovely
stranger deepened daily. We met
frequently, and it was a sweet pleasure
to me that she had quietly accepted me
as a friend and allowed me to share
her walks on the narrow wooden path
above the G a. We met nowhere else,
though | know the house n the Cliff
where she had taken rooms. / was not
long in coming to the decision that she
was the most extraordinarily interesting
creature l had ever seen. She had read
widely, and had the rareyift of drawing
upon her books in conversation. My
own reading had been to some extent
on similar lines with he's; we had both.
for instance, dipped pretty deeply into
theology; and religion and religious
literature, as I discovered, had an in
tense fascination for her; chiefly, how
ever, on the metaphysical and specu-
latiye sides. Her affections were with
the Church of the Middle Ages, at the
period of the dawn of Romanism; and
she wandered and wondered often amid
the a of medieval mysticism.
1t was in this correction that she
once disclosed her inner self to me
morefully-and yethow slightly!-than
she had ever done before. 1t was even
ing, the first evening thatwe had walked
together, for she had always returned
to the shore with Mermaid at dusk. l
had looked for her all the afternoon,
and was leaving the pier disappointed
when [ saw her coming.
The moo ''with sad steps" climbed
the sky, and the multitudinous stars
shed q quiet light upon the sea.
The maid was with her, but walking
at Il greater distance than usual in the
rear. / had noticed, from the first, that
the relation betweenthe beautifulyoung
mistress and her maid was neither a
friendly nor an intimate one. The
maid, l thought, had a stolid andsullen
air, and seemed devoid of that regard
for her mistress which I thought would
have been a natural feeling in one who
stood in the position of protectress to so
tender and gentle a Icing. My fancy
had created for the lonely visi-
tant of the pier a history of mingled
pathos and mystery, but it rested on q
basis unsubstantial as air, for she had
never spoken of herself except in
phrases involuntary and remote. This
evening, when we had reached the end
of the pier and had stood for awhile
watching the lights flash upon the water
from a vessel anchored in the distance,
noticed that she was paler than usual,
and that her eyes, whose restless, visit
full glance always affected me strangely,
had an anxious and troubled look, also
q certain indescribable something I
had never seen in them before. | pre-
vailed on her to sit, and we placed our
selves Oh a bench beneath the lifeboat
which, swinging in chains overhead.
formed a sort of eNtempore roof.
[ wanted to speak to her, but I knew
NOT how to begin. Presently, of her
own will, she turned and said quietly:
"You have noticed something strange
inme."
1 replied, in a confused and hurried
way, that | had sometimes feared she
S'tAACu ouiAAO ticdFy IlOuUlc Will HCI
that had shrunk from speaking Of it;
but that [ longed, if it were possible, to
be of some service to her.
"You are right" she said, sadly, 'in
supposing that 1 have a trouble, and
indeed it is a heavy one; but you can
not help me-no!!" she said with a ges-
ture and accent almost despairing, when
| made rs though [ would offer some
help u counsel, sit is not possible. My
life is as it is. l can not help myself,
and no II else can help me-"
Then her voice sank to a frightened
whisper, and the fear in her eyes height.
ened. as she said:
"Have you not seen that I an
watched:?"
l cast an angry look in the direction
of the maid, who was pacing the pier a
a little distance from us; and my com
+ panion also glanced that way andwhis
pered:
eyes, you have seer it; 1 knew vol
had. Everywhere and all day long
am watched and followed. l can no
) escape; they have woven a web arount
me-"
She trembled and was full of excite
ment; a condition that co~ntrasteG
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