The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1885-04-15

at his head, with all the advantage OF
position and sun, for she was above |
h m on the bank, and the glare was in
his eyes. I" But what if shoot first
not your horse, but you?" 4 g q i
"fhen you'd have to do it-that's
all, }" said he. "rm no good for beef
and I'm no good for much else, 1t seems
to me. And I'm hanged II Iwouldn be
ten times sooner shot by as pretty a
hand as yours, than" 'f1
"Now, for that gallant speech, sir,
you shall be spared. The idea of a
man who can say things like that being
no good at all! am afraid you have
had much practice, though you are
young. am sorry you are young; else
/ should ask you to advise. For am |
an unhappy woman, for all may seem.
Alas would were the only unhappy |
woman in Spain this dayr'
"YoungP Ay, in the shoulders. But
/ always was old in the head; always,
from child. can advise anybody,
none better, through thick and thin"
al want counsel. You see / know
how to defend my life and my honor;
but there IL nothing more ] can do.
have no papers, sir. And yet to Esca-
Iona l can not and will not CO."
He pushed up his cap and scratched
his forehead. t'WhyPh asked he.
"Did you ever hear Of the Count dc
Cabra, that bravest Of men, who was
killed at Sornosierra but seven months
ago? All, il he were alive-but forgive
me; must not waste a soldiers time
with q woman's troubles; he would
have no time for fighting, not an hour.
am Countess de Cabra wido 3 Of that
brave man. / have neither father, nor
husband, nor home, nor child, nor
friend The accursed Frenchmen and
Corsicans = they have destroyed all. l
have Just seen my dead husbands castle
at Cabra sacked and burned; seen it
with my very eyes. 1t is a marvel es-
caped-I don't mean with my life only
that is nothing; but the French, they
are devils, ogres, iiends. | have ridden,
ridded, ridden, night and day, My one
last hope is to reach the Spanish lines,
to tell General Cuesta my story, so that
he may know 1t when he takes revenge.
Think, sir, OF widowed wife, mother,
who has lost her all-eyen her tears.
God has brought me through thou
; sand perilS thus far; come from be.
yond Madrid, where the usurper rules;
think Of that; and would an English
soldier, chance-met, show me less pity
than God himself has shown to a poor
woman like me?"
Dicks experience Of tho sex, large rs
it was, did not include woman OF this
KIND. Her beauty, her tragedy, her
, eloquence, her romance, and a certain
fascination about her, fairly took his
breath away. He did not know what
,, to do. Doubtless he was in the land Of
romantic adventures; but this was be-
! yond any he had ever dreamed.
, "My lady," said he, $50 far as one
arm can hep you to vengeance on the
cowardly French brutes, this shall. But
meanwhile you'd best come with me to
Escalona. You won't get much TO eat
: there; but you'll be safe, and that's the
great thing"
: "Safel As II cared for safety-and
: among the Portuguese scum; beg par
don OF your uniform, sic, but net of the
: Englishman inside. swear to you by
all the saints in heaven that will not
turn back. | will 90 on or / will die;
but go backward from vengeance
nor
"Madamv' exclaimed Dick, 'it is i'm
possible. It musn't-it can't be. Do
you know that the French army Is not
! many miles beyond that river; and
their foragers don't pay heed TO which
bank they forage on, as our bellies
l know? You're as safe 10 fall In with
0 their scouts IL you 20 farther as you
, sit there. Can't be, indeed-it sha'n't
l be. You must be my prisoner, Count
ess. It's for your own sake"
: Then" She turned her horse,
: and was OF. before Dick had fairly
seen she was no longer there. ..t
And prudent man would have let
her go, and, when he returned to his
quarters, held his tongue. But TO Dick
! Blackthorn 1t was horrible TO think Of
what would happen should she fall into
/, the hands of French marauderS. Ho
had seen something already Of the
fouler side of war, and none OF its
glory. He ceased to be soldler-or,
: maybe, became one; at any rate, he
urged his horse up the bank and was
al, or her, as if at q fox-hunt at home.
I. The chase was sharp for burst over
J the brown turf, and, in the dust, he al
most lost sight of her. But the burst
: was soon over In less than six min
: utes he was beside her with his hand
on her Birdie.
"You are my prisoner, madam" !"
q said he, with all the sternness he could
! assume. .......
i "And your enemy" she answered,
4 while her eyes flashed, and her tosom
: heayed. An Epglishman, and you
|, rob woman Of her one hope-her
!, onel would sooner meet the French
. They are devils, but they are not En-
: glishmen; they are not towards, after
y all" .lI Z.
! "Cowardsl'' cried he.
!. ayes; towards. Who but coward
, would treat woman as you have
7 treated meP" ... .. ....
: Reason In her charge there was none.
But who looks for reason In a woman
4 who Is held back from precipice
against her willp And her words had
!. stung Dick Blackthorn so that he al
| most began to think himself the thing
a she called him. II man had said
a that word! But spoken In n voice
from which angry scorn could not rob
= the sweetness, and with such flashing