Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-05-09

s ssd,n, I assure you they would make YOU
And as fo IN t soca.among educated people.
reaiiy must. There mover we're snci,
sn1ngs, and I'll prove 1t to you.O
taough he had adopted the foolish device
y. ..s ing to strengthen his case by a mere
v%icsions ~ Elsie was 80 strong in her con.
MN az his weak point. She said, sinply:
us Joe Quilliam that has told me about
tne many q time. Oh, and I believe him.
What can an ignorant fisherman know
aDont such mattersW
Graham!0" e"A et1S' Hai'
.; rais harsh classification Of his.intended
VIE With an awkward common lout Of a
4s saiean was exceedingly Objectionable,
Lasn many others, he considered, himself
sasS.y superior to every woman in his own
RANK OF life, but he looked upon the women
on q lower rung of the social ladder as
ln luc superior to the men. Somehow or
osner these two opinions had never been
DIought into ju%xtaposition in his W mind:
! h : oney mad been, perhaps he might have
len he. able to reconcile them, conflicting
beautiful girl belonged to the same class as
tnaS rough fellow, Joe Quilliam, was enough
10 make one shudder. Robin hast.
ened to repudiate it. $50
zoe Quilliam is all very well in his way.
no aoubt," he said; "but-" -
Inc shadow emerged from the far side of
powerfql-looking fisherman, in knee boots
ana a blue guernsey. He had a pleasant,
open lace, though its expression was half
saa and half angry as he advanced toward
Sne couple on the edge of the cliff.
L evident alarm. n Ryan thicl orro,,0 D.L:.
What does it matter" he asked.
Listeners W. hear any good of them.
rule.0
Jaw, Pm hero plainly enough, an you
Mr.. Graham," said Quilliam; .sbut this /
know, that it wasn't my own DOM at all,
an, l thought it better to keep quiet than
to be disturbin' Elsie by sneakins of-any
way, until you began for to speak o. me,
and md then it was best to come out for
Elsie gave him a timid little smile of
thanks. -
THAT was-very thoughtful of you, Joe,"
she murmured.
And now l want to come to a plain un.
'~erstanin' with you, Elsie," Quilliam went
on. tits not for me to deny that I haven't
heard what you've been sayin' between
yourselves, for l have-an' it's vexed me
more than enough. AM first of ali let me
have my say. about the boaganes, which
this learned gentleman here comm from
England where they know so much, though
they live in towns for all that, says is all
nonsense. Tut! any fool with eyes and
ears in his head-and that's not much to
that he has heard-aye, am seen, too, by
the hundred. It's only this very night-an,
it's solemn truth Pm tellin' you-as 1 sat
watchin' for theM Mary Jane, which is about
due, I saw a great black thing rear itself
out of the water just inside o. the tideway
ter'ble moan, an then sank again, am
saw no more of it; am on'y for my bollan
cross here, Td hal run for the glen, for Fl
was somethin' dreadful"
This horrible picture wrought upon Ell.
sizes imagination to such an extent that
she uttered a slight scream, whereupon the
fisherman, hastily d~isengaging the fish
it to Elsie, who took it eagerly. He shot a
triumphant glance at Robin, but Robin
was unequal to the occasion-.-he could only
laugh contemptuously. To put himself in
! opposition to this ignorant fellow; and run
the risk of failure, was what he wished to
avoid at all hazards; unfortunately, how
ever, it was forced upon him in a very un-
pleasant way. n
"May be, you'll remember last Hollan-
tide Eve, Elsie," continued Quilliam.
"Anyway those ribbons round your neck
will help bring it to your mind. It was fol
am so stupid at talkin' that I hold my
tongue foolishly.. Surely, Elsie, you knew
l was madly fond of you, aud your sweet
face, and your pretty ways-surely, surely.
Aw, but it's a poor, plain, awkward fellow
that l am to think of such as you; an
likely enough il it hadn't been for the ould
proverb, Black as the raven is, he'll find a
mate" which l kept repeatin' IL repeating
to myself continually, l would never have
foun' the courage to look up to you, beauti-
full thing that you are. There's one here,
though, that's not SO backward at all; am
one or the other it must be, am It's for you
to decide this very night. Heaven help
thee, my Elsie! am Heaven help me, too, if
you turn your bach npon me this night:
but if SO be-well, I'll take ship in some
ocean-goin' vessel, an never trouble you
more, SO you needn't fear at all, but just
give your answer straight"
And he stood like a soldier on parade,
though the quivering about his mouth
| looked strangely pathetic in that brown,
| weather-worn face.
Here was a horrible catastrophe! 1t had
been a lovely picture: Elsie with herpretty
face and dark eyes and flowing black hair,
| with tire still water glistening at the base
of the bluff precipice whitened with sea-
birds, and the heather all around her, and
the stars shining overhead, and the rivulet
deep down in the ferny glen. And suddenly
| there had come into it discordant ele-
ment. the rudely-clad fellow with his awk-
ward speech and ungainly ways, and all it's
beauty had vanished. Robin Graham was
at once Disguised and indignant; disguised
at being brought into rivalry with a rough
fisherman, indignant at this isherman's
impertinence in aspiring to Elsie's hand,
and in placing him in such an undignifed
position. 1t is needless to say that this last
consideration had the most weight with him.
But how was he TO extricate himself from
this unpleasant dilemma? That he and Joe
Quilliam should be matched against one
another for Elsie's hand would be a life
long disgrace, ave SHOULD he prove sue
%cessful; to be rejected in the presence of his
humble rival would be simply intolerable;
and to withdraw from this disagreeahe
contest would be construed into an acknowl-
edgmento of defeat. Clearly, he could neither
advance nor retreat, nor ever remain where
he was without encountering disaster. 1t
was difficult to discover the least of the
evils presented for his selection.
Meanwhile, Elsie stood silent between
the two men. Holding the bollan cross in
her hand, she kept glancing from one to the
other, and then down into the picturesque
glen where she had spent her simple life
among the bracken and the heather and the
gorse. There were boaganes there, no
doubt, for they loved the peat-smoke and
the moorland flowers, and they revel in the
habblinp brook and the sparkling waves.