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

most conJlnuany, DIN ana lndlsulnct. When
the short winters day was over, and the
long dark night had fairly begun, my rest
| lessness turn d into fear. | walked out of
my house and paced my garden to and fro
l blamed myself for having yielded so light
ly to Philippas ish-her comman |, rather
| that | should on no account fetch her
| But then, whenever did | resist WISH
much less a command of hers? Oh, that
Lad been firm this once!
| The snow storm OF the previous evenin o
| had not lasted loDg-not long enough to
thoroughly whiten the world. The lay had
heen fine and frosty, but I knew that the
wind mad changed since the sun went down.
1t was warmer, a change which I felt sure
presage a heavy downfall of snow or rain
| There was a moon, fittul moon; for clouds
wer flying across it, dark clouds, which
guessed would soon gather. conference and
volume and veil entirely that bright face
| which now only showed itself at irregular
intervals.
The minutes were passing away. I grew
nervous and excited. Why does she not
come? Ny hope had BEEN to see my poor
Girl safely housed before l started to execute
my other task. Whv does she not come!
Time, precious time, is slipping by! In the
lance up the road. "Why does she delayg
l eroaned. Even now | should be on my
way to Roding, or I may miss my Or "
| Heavens! can it be- that she is waiting to see
this man once more? Neveri never! Perish
the thought!
But, all the same, every fibre in my body
| quivered at the bare supposition of such a
| thing.
could bear the suspense no longer. For
the hundredth time | glanced at my watch
| 1t wanted but ten minutes to seven o'clock,
and ct that hour had resolved to start from
Mr.. Wilson's on my way to Roding Yet
now dared pot leave my own house. Any
moment might bring Philippa. What would
| she think if [ was not there to receive and
welcome hers
Five more precious moments gone! |
stamped in my rage. After all, l can only
do oDe-half of my task; the sweet but not
the stern half. Shall ], indeed, do eithers
The train must now be close to Roding. Iii
an hour everything may be lost The man
will see her before she leaves the house. He
will persuade her. She will listen to his
words; Tor did he not once love her? He
must have loved her After all, he broke
the laws for the sake of possessing her, and
cursed thought!-she loved him then; and
she is but womani
So I tortured myself until my state of
mind grew unbearable. At all hazards |
must prevent Ferrand from meeting Philip
pa. Oh, why had she not come as she prom
ised? Could it be she was detained against
her will? In spite her uninterested man.
ner l distrusted the woman l had seen last
| night 1t is now past seven O'clock Phil
ippas house, from which [ had reckoncd my
time, was nearly three miles away. l must
give up my scheme of vengeance. [ must
go in search of Philippa. II [ do not meet
her must call at Mrs. Wilson's, find out
what detans her, an, Il naedful bear her
away by force.
By this time my steps had brought me
| back to my own house. called William,
and told him 1 was going to walk up the
road and meet my expected guest. If by any
! chance should miss her he was to welcome
her on my behalf, and tell her the reason for
my absence.
BEST take a lantern, SIR" said William;
"moon'll be hidden, and them roads is pre-
cious rough"
Il can't be bothered with that great horn
affair."" I said, rather testify.
'Iaka the little one-the bulls eye-that's
better than nothing" said William To hui
NOR him put it into my pocket.
! | ran al the top of my speed to the house
al which | had last nj INT left Philippa Il
took me nearly half an hour getting there
| rang The bell impetuolsly. The door was
| opened by maid servant. I inquired for
Mrs Farmer, knowing that Philippa hal
! passed under this name to all exc pit her
hostess. To my surprise l was tol that size
had left the house, on foot and alone, so1he
little while ago. The maid believed she was
| not como n TatIlrp her a DO had hat
morning BEEN sent for.
The first effect of this intelligence was to
cause m to blame my haste | must have
missed her. no doubt passed her on the road.
No; such thing WAS impossible. re way
| was a narrow on T. soon stiii gave
some IIgnu. nau met rnlnppa L mus
have seen he. She must have seen me, Oh
would then have stopped me- She could not
have gone the way l came.
But where vas shea In what direction
was | to seek her? Argue the matter as
wouId-loath as l WIS to allow myself to be
| convinced, I was bound to decide that she
must have taken the path to Roding. Thera
WIS 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 reproaches on his head-had mas
tered her Yes, whatever her object might
be. she had gone to meet him. And my
heart sank as conviction was carried to it
| by the remembrance that coupled with her
refusal to permit me to fetch her was an as
sertion that she had something to do before
she came to me. That, as | now read it,
could be but one thing-to meet this man!
Never again, if l can help it, shall his
voice strike on her ear! Never again shall
their eyes meet! Never again SHALL the
| touch of even his finger con animate her!
Let me follow, and stand between her and
the scoun lrel Ii 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 tor mercy; he
will swear he still loves her; he will bait his
hook with promises. She will listen; hest
| tate; perhaps yield, and fin1 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, YER
take, pass har; meet her betrayer. and, if
naedfu strike him to the ground.
As l turned from the house | became
aware that a great and sud len change had
come over the night. It seemed to me that,
even in the few minutes which had spent
i'll considering what to do, the heavy clouds
Htlli DdIiA6u anu In9SS6tt Jog AUllSF. IL WIS
ali but pitch-darl1; SO dark that I paused,
and drawing from my pocket the lanteln
with which Williams foresight had provid-
ed me, managed after several trials to light
it. Then, impatient at the delay, Tsped up
the road.
was now almost facing the wind. All at
once, sharp AMI quick, [ felt the blinling
snow on my face. Tho wind moaned through
the leafess branches on either side of the
road. The snow fl lles whirle mally here
and there. Even in my excitement l was
able to realize the fact that naver b fore
had l seen in England so fierce q snow
storm, or one which came on so suddenly.
And, like nys If, Philippe was abroad and
exposed to its full fury. Heavensl she
might lose her way, and wanle about all
night.
This fear quickened my stems. forced
my way on through the nal storm. For the
time all thought OF Sir Mervvn Ferrantl and
vengeance left my heart All ow wanted
was to find Philippe; to lead her home, and