Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-10-09


her handwriting. And if he took it as
message and an appeal, as n token of good
wishes. and friendliness, and the hope of
better fortune Or if-and here she fell
a trembling, for it was n little cold in
these early hours-if he should take 1t as
confession, as an unmaideEly declara-
ton? oh, she did not care. 1t was all
she could think of doing and do some
thing she must. And she remembered
with timid and nervous JOY her own ac-
knOwledged influence over him-had not
Maggie talked of it thousand times p
and II he were to recognize this message
in its true light, what then "Rondld!
ROndld p her heart was still calling, with
something of tremulous hope amid all
its grief and pity.
She was out and abroad over the moor
land long before ony one was astr, and
searching with an anxious diligence, and
rs vet without success. White heather is
not so frequently met with in the North
as in the West Highlands, and yet in
Sutherlandshire it is not an absolute rari-
ty: many u time had she come across a
little tuft of it in her wanderings over the
moors But now, search as she might,
she could not find the smallest bit, and
time began to press, for this was the
morning for the mail to 20 south {: if she
missed it, she would have to wait two
more days And as halt hour after half
hour went by she became more anxious
and nervous and agitated ; she went rapid
ly from knoll to knoll. seeking the likell-
est places, and all in vain. 1t was ques-
ton of minutes now She could hear the
mail car on the road behind her soon it
would pass her ana 90 on to the inn,
where it would remain but brief while
before setting out again for Lalrg. And
presently, when the mail car did come up
and 60 by, then she gave up the quest in
despair, and in kind of bewildercd way
set ont for home. Her heart was heavy
and full of its disappointment, and her
face was paler little than usual: but at
least her eyes told no tales.
And then. all OF II sudden, as she was
crossing the Mudal bridge. she caught
sight of little tuft Of gray away along
the bank and not far from the edge of
the stream. At first she thought it was
merely patch Of wthered heather, then
a wild hope possessed her: she quickly
left the bridge and made her way toward
it and the next moment she was joyfully
down on her knees, selecting the whitest
spray she could find And the mail cart
1t would still be at the inn the inn was
little more than half mile off could she
run hard and intercept them after all,
and send her white-dove message away to
the south To think of it was to try it,
at all events, and she ran as no town-bred
girl ever ran in her life-past the doctors
cottage, along the wide and empty road,
past the keepers house and the kennels,
across the bridge that spans the little
burn. Alas there was the mail cart al
ready on its way.
".iohnnie Johnnie ~ she called
Happily the wind was blowing toward
him: he heard, looked back, and pulled
up his horses.
ait minute have letter for you
to take, she called. though her strength
was all gone now.
And yet she managed to get quickly
down to the inn, and astonished Mrs.
Murray by breathlessly begging for an en-