Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1885-04-02
BODY siss' SO she tried to explain thi.


verse. SAPiaiu I'M
She said she was aob. no ban,-
one loved her little chamber whara -
could be "all %still"; she loved ~ hams
the white moon look in so k;ndlv ~
On ner at night, aud she felt Il uor,a (.
good to die there "all still and WHIT ,
In the spring, however, a cbanc,
came over our Helenore. Her AZ,
content gave place gradually to a strane.
~reseiessness. She was no longar .br
faithful, attentive little band.@a;a :,
mad learned to love and t,nst CIR,
seemed to be irresistibly draw .nns
from au her indoor occupation
II a bird sang near the bonsa
she would drop her work AMI
run eagerly to the window ~
II she heard her own name called. !,
she were sent down town ON An errana
was nnaecountably long in return
ing; and finally, one afternoon -
. LOOK little Ned out for his accus.
Toned airing, she was gone for hours
wandering across the fields, and bring.
ing MN home at dusk lying back fast
asieep IN his carriage, with q wreath OF
Violets like a halo round his colder
chubby hand. lie
She received my surprised reproof in
Suiien silence, and l waited in vain for
some account of her absence.
she grew more and more stranoa and
restless every day, fretting and c6a6ng
over her light tasks like some cageJ
animal, until finally / questioned 5ar
nHelenorc," said l., kindly, "what is
II Una ais you? Tell me, and / will
try to help you"
Al hrst she frowned darkly and would
not answer; but when / land INV hand
gently and c~oaxingly upon her head
mad noticed she loved to have me do 90
she yielded and her tongue was
locsed. was
oh, madam, do not be angryl" she
cried. We have gypsy blood in ms,
mine moder do say-and oh, / would be
goln "-stretchins 'lt her arms toward
the distant fields with n swift and elo.
quent gesture of longing. ooh, let me
gol i must go"
was both shocked and disappointed.
and l told her so and tried to reason
with her.
Where would you go'" I asked.
Ihere are no gypsies near that YOU
could Join, and you would soon starye
and die alone; aud besides, how can Won
Leave poor baby and me2 Do you not
love us, Helenore?"
"Oh, l do! Idol" she cried, passion
ately, throwing herself down upon the
hoor; and | do try not to hear them
call. | put mine fingers in mine ears
but ! hear them just the same!"
Who calls you, Helenore? ?" | asked.
All things ut-o2door-the birds and
bees and the winds. They call me al
ways, always. They say 'Helenore,
Helenore, GOMEZ And | must go" she
cried, springing to her feet and looking
wildly around.
l feared she was losing her mind. and
was much alarmed about her. We tried
to divert and amuse her in every way
possible, and for a few days she really
seemed to be more quiet.
But n morning we missed her. The
afternoon previous, n hand-Organ grind
err and a woman, evidently his wife, en-
tered our grounds, and Helenore went
out to hear them play; and we noticed
that she stood conversing with them in
her own language for some time after
ward.
They had been hanging about the
neighborhood for several DAYS, and
somehow We felt sure that she had gone
with them. Our suspicious were con
frmed by a farmer living a mile or so
above us, who said he met them Just at
dusk, as he was returning home from
the city--a man and woman, and our
Helenore. he said he recognized Hell
enore at once and spoke to her, but she
made no answer.
We learned, furthermore, from her
mother that Al organ grinder and his
wife-old acquaintance of the family
had been in the vicinity for a week past
and had put up a night or two at her
own house, and she doubted not that
they were the same persons we had in
mind. She made light of her daughters
disappearance, saying, with a shrug of
her tat shoulders, that, "she would be
back soon enough" and seeming to
think that in any case we were well rid
of her.
But we missed her and we mourned
her, and | did not try to fill her place.
Ny Every latest" as Jack still called
her, seemed to have proved a sad fail
ure.