Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-26

A"t oION IL W .jOu!
Eyes, indeed"
The child brought not only her own,
but the crayon of her sister.
".They are we'll done; well done, little
maid, but you have grown older since
this was made"
eyes, more than ayear."
CA year, indeed" said he half medi-
tatively.
'My sister Patty looks every day at
hers, and sometimes 1 do hear her say:
81 wonder if I shall ever see him
again"
"Hush, Ruth, the gentleman cares
for nothing Of that sort, }" said Martha.
sBut l am Interested"
AS they sat by the fire, later, chat
ting, and while Martha was meditating
upon which of the two spare rooms to
put the stranger into for the night,
there was heard without a sound that
rose above the moaning of the wind.
"What is that?" asked Martha.
The strangerh fastened to the window,
and even as he did so the sound grew
louder and more significant. 1t was the
yell OF maddened men, and now as the
curtains were tossed aside, they saw a
yellow light through and beyond the
thick falling snow flakes. The light
grew brighter and brighter.
cit is the army" said Martha.
(Which one?" asked the mother.
"The British, I think. Look, they
are burning Neighbor Keeler's house.
They will come here. They have threat
ened before. They will burn the house
and they may kill us. See there, over
the hill; they are coming. There, they
have set fire to the hay rick. Mother,
be calm. They shall not hurt you, I
will not let them,' and the girl turned
with flashing eyes and flushed cheeks
and seemed to be going to seek for a
weapon. But she was stayed. The
stranger, whom they had forgotten,
had gently restrained her. She looked
at him in%quiringly, and he said: s'They
will do you no harm"
hill, and there were two big fellows at
the front. They wore the uniform of
the British army: They were, indeed,
on q tour Of devastation and ruin,
just as they reached the stone fence
that inclosed the yard before the
house, and were about to surmount it.,
the stranger went out, and stood with
the snow whitening his bare head. He
lifted his arm, and the two big men
stopped, as did those behind them, and
after the stranger had said a word or
two to them, they turned and went their
way. When he returned to the house
his manner was as calm as it had been
an hour before. To their thanks he
simply replied: sYou deserved pro-
lection. You have earned it."
Then he babe them farwell, though
they expressed much astonishment
thereat, and pleaded with him to stay.
81 must hasten on my Journey" he
| said. "Before I go, however, I would
ask if Mistress Martha can produce the
counterpart of this?" ind, thrustine
his hand into his bosom, he drew forth
a beechnut.
81 knew it. I did know it," said little
Ruth; but Martha made no respone,
only turned for a moment so that her
face and her bosom were turned from
him, andwhen she again faced him she,
too, held in her hand a beechnut.
81 am very glad" he said. s'When
we meet again you may then not know
me except by this same token"
He said this somewhat sadly, and be-
fore another word was said, departed.
A moment later he mounted a horse
that had been held in waiting for him
in the highway, and galloped forth into
the snow and darkness.
When the buds were bursting into
blossoms some five months later, and
when Martha was reaching her dim
pied arms up among the lilac flowers
one day, she turned suddenly and there
behind her stood a tall young man in
the uniform of an American officer.
His hair was black, his face pale and
unshaven, and he was plainly laboring
with excitement or trouble. He said
nothing until she had first spoken.
"Yoa have come again. she said,
with tone half tremulous, half cold.
"This time a supplicant. l see you
know me now. | am my natural self,
but for these clothes. Protect me, mis-
tress. 1 beseech you'll"
"Protect you?"
eyes, for unless you do in an hour
shall be captured. I cal escape no
further"
"Why should 1? You saved us that
night; you-.you-no, I will not. You
betrayed my girlish, foolish confidence
twice, and may thereby have cost us
our country's cause. From my words
the day you drew my picture you
learned enough to enable your army to
defeat us at White Plains. From my
foolish speech the night you rescued us
you gathered enough to foil the plans
of our people, and caus thereby my
brother to be brought home dead. ]
trusted you then for what you assumed
to be. They have told me whom 1 did
then harbor."
''Then you know my name?"
eyes"
'Well tell me-"
She leaned forward, and her face
was white as her neck as she whis.
pered.
EYES," he said, 81 am he"
"Then you must go your way"
"You forget. I only did my duty,
and 1 never asked you for the words
you spoke"
'.And 1 must do my duty now"
my pursuers will be after me n
moment"
"Do not ask me to do this. T can
not"
He returned and saw the cayalry