Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-01-02
DARK DAYS
BY HUGH CON w \ Y q.
.Author of "Cdlled Back, -
CHATTER III.
THE WAGES OF SIM"


rang the bell impetuously. The door was
opened by maid servant. | inquired for
Mrs. Farmer, knowing that Phlippa had
passed under this name to all except her
hostess. To my surprise | was tol that she
had left the house, on foot and alone, some
little while ago. The maid believed she was
not going to return. MS her luggage had that
morning BEEN sent for.
The first effect of this intelligence was Ia
cause M to blame my haste. | must Eava
missed her; no doubt pa ssed h,r ON the roal.
No; such thing was impoasill e. 1 o way
was n narrow one. The moon still gavi
some light II lad met Philippa must
have seen he. She must have seen mo, and
would then have stopped me. She could not
have gone the way | came.
But where was she! In what direction
was | to seek her? Argue the matt as |
would-loah as [ was to allow myself to be
convinced, | was bound to decide that she
must have taken the path to Rolling. There
was no other She had gone, even as | was
going, to meet Ferrand. She may have
started, intending to come to me- but at the
last moment desire to see the man once
more-I fondly hoped for the purpose of
heaping repruachcs on his hcad-hal mas
tered her. Yes, whatever her Object might
be, she hal gone to meet him. And my
heart sank as conviction was carried to II
10y the remembrance that coupled with her
refusal to permit mo to fetch her was an as
sertion that she had something to do before
she came to me. That, rs | now read it,
GOULD bc but one thing-to meet this man!
Never again, if l can help it, shall his
voice strike on her earl Never again shall
their eyes meet Never again shall the
touch OF even his finger contaminate herl
Let me follow, and stand between her and
the scounlrel If they meet he will wound
her to the heart. Her pride Will rise; she
will threaten. Then the coward will try
another line. He will plead for mercy; ho
will swear he still loves her; he will bait his
hook with promises. She will LISTEN hcsi-
tate; perhaps yield, and find herself once
more deceived Then she will lie lost to me
forever Now she is, in my eyes, pure as
when first we met Let me haste ON, over
take, pass her meet her betrayer, and, if
needful, strike him to the ground.
As l turned from the house | became
aware that q great and sud len change had
come over the night. 1t scanned to me that,
even in the few minutes which had spent
in considering what to do, the heavy clouds
had banked and massed together 1t was
all but pitch-dark; dark that | paused,
and DRAWN. from my pocket the lantern
with which Williams foresight had provd-
ed me- managed after several trials to light
it. Then. impatient at the delay, | sped up
the road.
was now almost facing the wind. All at
once, sharp AMI quick, | felt the binding
snow onmy face. Tho wind moaned through
the leatless branches on either side of the
road. The snow flakes whirle ma lily here
and there. Even in my excitement | was
able to realize the fact that never before
had | seen in England so fierce snow
storm. or one which came on so suddenly.
And. like myself, Philippa was abroad and
exposed to its full fury. Heavens! she
might lose her way, and wan Ter about all
night.
This fear duickened my steps. forced
my way on through the mad storm For the
time all thought of Sir Mervyn Ferrand and
vengeance left my heart All | now wanted
was to find Phiippa: to lead her home, and
see her safe beneath my roof "Surely,"
said, as | batted along, "she cannot have
gone much further"
kept a sharp lookout-if, indeed, it car
be called a lockout; for the whirling snow
made everything, save what was within
few feet of me, invisible | strained my
ears to catch the faintest cry or other sound
I went on. flashing my lantern first on on,
and then on the other side of the road. NJ,
dread was that Philippa, utterly unable t.
fight against the white tempest, might b.
crouching under one of the banks, and if s.
might pass without seeing her or even at
tracing her attention My doing so Oh
such a night as this might mean her death
Oh why had she not come as promised
Why had she gone to meet the man who ha
so foully wronged her After what ha
happened, she could not, dared not love him
And for u dreary comfort | recalled til
utter bitterness of her accent last nigh
when she turned to me and said, Basil di
YOU ever hate manr No she could ne
love him!
These thoughts brought my craving 70
vengeance back to my mind. Where wa
Fernando By all my calculations. takin
into account the time wasted at starting.
should by now have mot him. Perhaps h
had not come, after all. Perhap, the loo
Of the weather had frightened him, and h
hal decided to stay at RoIins or the nighr
Iraged at the thought! If only know tina
Phlippa was safely housed. nothing, in m
present frame Of mind. would have suite