Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-04-23
than God himself has shown to a poor
l;l-o

than God himself has shown to a pool
woman like me?''
Dicks experience of the sex, large a:
it was, did not include q woman of this
kind. Her beauty, her tragedy, hel
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 adventure; but this was be.
yond any he had ever dreamed.
''My lady," said he, $50 far as one
arm can help 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"
'.Safe! As if I cared for safety-and
among the Portuguese scum; beg par
don of your uniform, sir, but not of the
Englishman inside. swear to you by
all the saints in heaven that l will moi
turn back. will go on or l will die;
but 90 backward from vengeance
non'
'.Madamr' exclaimed Dick, sit is i'm
possible. 1t musn't-it can't be. Dc
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
know? You're as safe to fall in with
their scouts if you 90 farther as you
sit there. Can't be, indeed-it sha MT
be. You must be my prisoner, Count
ess. It's for your own sake"
Then She turned her horse,
and was off. before Dick had fairly
seen she was no longer there.
And a prudent man would have let
her 90 and, when he returned to his
quarters, held his tongue. But to Dick
Blackthorn it was horrible to think of
what would happen should she fall into
the hands of French marauders. He
had seen something already of the
fouler side of war, and none of its
glory. He ceased to be soldier-or,
maybe, became one; at any rate, he
urged his horse up the bank and was
after her, as if at fox-hunt at home.
The chase was sharp for burst over
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 bride.
"You are my prisoner, madam,
said he, with all the sternness he could
assume.
"And your enemyr' she answered,
while her eyes flashed, and her bosom
heaved. IAN Epglishman, and you
rob woman of her one hope-her
Onei | would sooner meet the French.
They are devils, but they are not En-
CrliS t.J oft
all"
"Cowards!" cried he.
Eyes; towards. Who but coward
would treat a woman as you have
treated me?"
Reason in her charge there was none.
But who looks for reason in a woman
who is held back from a precipice
against her will? And her words had
stung Dick Blackthorn so that he al
most began to think himself the thin
she called him. If a man had said
that world But, spoken in a voice
from which angry scorn could not rob
the sweetness, and with such flashing
of eyes as the lightning itself could
not surpass, it was not to be borne.
He hung his head for moment, and,
when he raised it. it was to meet such
a look of agonized appeal that his
heart seemed to melt away.
"Do you know your way to the
Spanish lines?" asked he
Il must hold by the river, 1 suppose.
Do you know?"
&" Not a hang. Do you know how
far?"
"No. How should know?"
And you're all alone!'
"All alone" she sighed.
Poor Dick Blackthorn had been in
many scrapes, but never in one ike this
in all his days. Discipline had to be
Observed; and what account could he
give of himself for absence. when the
presage of coming battle filled all the
air? 1t might. for all he could tell,
take days to reach the Spanish lines.
And though many good soldier is
missing after battle, who would be
found missing Before? He might tell
some lie; but then a Blackthorn was
always safe to be found out if ever he
on lie. But then, how, as a
man, could he leave a woman like this
to make her way alone? 1t was not:
How could he force her back-that
question had been settled long ago. On
one side honor and duty; on the other,
beauty in peril.
He possessed single COMA Six
pence with hole in (which Kate or
Nellie or Susan or Mary had given him
for love and luck; he forgot which, but
he had kept it for her sake, all the
same. Suddenly he tossed it in the air.
''Heads, go back-tails, go on. Hang
oil
out of three. Tails this time. Now for
the third. Heads, by all that's blue!
Go back, that means. No; it was tails,
turning tail, you know, for go back;
and heads for going ahead; that's 60
ing on. Which was it, Countess? I'm
hanged if know
Il know nothing of lamentations,
said she. ''AM rerotr, sir. You have
meant WE'LL"
On she rode.
'.Was it heads, or was it tails?" he
brooded. .'Yes; it aoas tails. Woman
wins"
The coin was not made by mortal
mint against which, when twirled by
Dick Blackthorn' thumb, woman
would not have won. But he had done
MS best. And, having done his best,
ne threw all doubts away. and gave
himself up to the hour, only wishing
hat his Portuguese uniform were not
lutte so threadbare and stained. Why
had he not pair of epaulettes9 He
vowed TO win them before they had rid
len a league. 1t is not every day that
,ne champions beautiful Spanish
Countess, heroine of romance besides,
through the perils of war in an I'M
land. She was gracious to him,
Is, indeed, she had every cause to be.
As the sun sank and their shadows
enlightened, all sorts of moss in the