Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-02-20

| into account the time wasted az starting,
! should by now have met him. Perhaps he
/ had not come, after all. Perhaps the look
of the weather had frightened him, and he
| Lad decided to stay at Roding or the night.
/ raced at the thought! If only l knew that
| Philippa was safely housed, nothing, in my
present frame of mind, would have suited
me better than to have met him on this
lonely road, in the midst of this wild storm.
Il Philippe were only safe
| Still no sign of her. l began to waver in
my mind. What if my first superstition,
| that had passed her on the road, was cor
rect? She might be now at my. cottage,
wondering what had become of me. Should
| go further or turn back? But what would
be my feelings if [ did the latter and found
when I arrived home that she had not made
her appearance ?
l nailed, irresolute, in the centre of the
road. lnStinctively 1 beat my hands to-
gether to promote circulation. l had left
my home hurriadly. and had made no pro-
vision for the undergoing of such en- ordeal
as this terrible, unprecedented snowstorm
infiic ed. In spite of the speed at which l
had Travelled, my hands and feet We're grow
| ing numbad, my face smartel with the cold.
| Heaven help me to decide Alright whether to
| go on or turn backi
| The decision was not left to me. Suddenly
close at hand, l heard wild peal, a scream
of laughter which made my blood run cold.
| Swift from the whirling, tossing, drifting
snow emerged a tall gray figure. 1t swept
past me like the wind; but as it pass ed me
| knew that my quest was ended-that Philip
pa was found!
She vanished in a second before the ter
ror which rooted me to the spot had passed
away. Then turned and, fast as L could
run, followed her, crying as L went, Phil
ippa! Phlippa!'
| l soon overlook her; but SO dark was the
night that was almost touching her before
I saw her shadowy, ghost-ike form. threw
my arms round her and held her. She strug-
gled violently in my grasp.
"Philippa, dearest! it is I, Basil,n 1 said,
| bending close to her ear
The sound OF my voice seemed to calm her,
or l should rather say she ceased to strug-
| gle.
"Thank heaven, have found your said
Let us get back as soon as possiblen
| "Back! No! Go on, go on!n she exclaimed
''On on, on, up the road yet awhile-on
| through the storm, through the snow-on
till you see what [ have left behind mel
| On till you see the wages of sin-the wages
Of SNIP
Her words came like bullets from a nit
railleuse. Through the night l could see
her face cleaning whittier than the snow or
her hood. | could see her great fixed, dark
eyes full of nameess horror
dearest, be calm," said, and strove to
take her hands i'll mine.
As | tried to gain possession of her right
hand something fell from it, and, although
the road was now coated with snow, me-
tallic sound rang out as it touched the
| MAchanioaliV | mir
up the fallen object.
As I did SO, Phiippa, with a wild cry
wrested herself from the one hand whose
numbed grasp still sought to retain her. and
| with a frenZied relteration of the words.
1.-The wages of sin!" fled from me, and was
lost in the night
Even as l rushed in pursuit l shuddered
as the sense of feeling told me what thing it
was had picked up from the snowy g. ound.
| 1t was a small pistol Cold the tni1rh of
The metal must have been, it seemed TO burn
me like a coal OF fire. Impulsively, thought
| tessly, as I ran I hurled the weapon from me,
far, far away. Why should it have been in
| Philippa's hand this nights
ran madly on, but not for long. My
foot caught in stone, and fell, half stun
ned and quite breathless, to the ground. 1t
was some minutes before [ recovered N yself
sufficiently to once more stand erect Phil
| ippa must have obtained start which, cou-
pied with her frenzied speed, almost pre-
Guided the possibility of my overtaking her.
Moreover, a strange, uncomfortable i'm
pulse swayed me. The touch of that de ably
weapon still burned my hand. Philippas
words still rang in my ears. "On, on, on,
up the road yet awhile" she had cried.
What did she mean? What had been done
| tonight?
Inut retrace my steps. 1 must seeL I
must know! Philippe is flying through the
co i, dark, deadly night; but her frame is
bu, the frame of woman. She must 50 on
@row exhausted, perhaps sink senseless on
the road Nevertheless, the dreadful fea rs
which are growing in my mind must be It
| at rest; then can resume the pursuit. A !
| all cost I must know what has happened
| Once more | turned and faced the storm.
Heavens! anything might happen on such
light as this! | Went On and on flashing
my lantern as I went on the centre and each
side of the road. | went some distance past
that spot where I Judged that Philippa had
swept by me- Then uddenly with cry of
horror L stopped short At my very feet, in
the middle of the highway, illumined by the
di k of light cast by my lantern, lay a
whitened mass, and as my eye fell upon it
I knew only too well the meaning of Phil
| inpa's wild exclamation, ''The wages of sinl
The wages of sn?"