Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-09-11

ern and went down the sands until she
stood where the waves, rising and fall
ing. almost touched her feet a poor.
sorrowful little soul. who stood and
gazed over the troubled waters with
great sad eyes, out Of which shone a
world Of grief and longing. Not until
the red and gold in the sky had faded
and the'pale gray veil OF night lay over
all alike did she turn away and climb
painfully and slowly back over the
ROCKS. Reaching the last point from
which she could look down upon the
spot where she had been taught life's
sweetest lesson, she paused, and a
long. sobbing sigh escaped her lips.
lIhe wind, murmuring among the
rocks. seemed to take it up and repeat
it again and again. while far below, at
her feet. The waves chanted their
mournful dirge.
Under the water-pitcher in the cave
lay a scrap of paper containing these
words:
''The boat came in tonight. Good bye,
sweetheart. Look for me again when the
The note was never found, but lay
and rotted in its hia,ng-pface. Slowly
and YEARLY passed til: days to poor
Marie. Daily she stood within the
little owe gazing seward; and, ale
though after a time the storm of de-
spair which had at first taken posses
sion of her soul passed away, vet her
heart was sad within her, and the poor,
lonely child would stretch her arms
out to the robber-sea and cry aloud>
20. Philippe. love, come back to me,
Philippe. l al not live alone"
-Four long weeks passed and Marie
again sat in her favorite corner of the
hearth; opposite sat her grandmother
and a n old gossip from the village who
often looked in of an evening for half
an hours chat with Mere Pouteaux.
On this occasion she had entered burst
ing with news, her old eyes almost
sparkling, and her whole body shaking
with excitement. She hardly waited
for the usual question, whats the
news, neighbour" before she began:
"Ah, who would have thought it? Such
a thing has not been said of us OF
Dillette since l wa a babe, when they
caught Victor Roux and Maitre Simon
of Cherbourg at such tricks and
hanged them, that they did,"
What for? What about? I dom,
understand" cried la Mere Pouteaux.
"What for? Why, for smuggling,
of course"
At this, another pair of eyes sought
the old gossip's face, another pair O.
ears listened anxiously.
This afternoon three gendarmes
were here poking about and asking
o.,oto,, 80 <l1 NAV, 1rho r,o,o h,,,,
mending their nets on the sands.
They wrote down the names of those
who were away, and aftcrward one o.
them, who is cousin to my jean wife,
nephew. told Jean that they were or
the track OF a gang OF smugglers, who
they say, put in here nearly every
month when the moon is in its las
quarter. They say, too, that they hide
the Struggled goods in a cave near here
before taking them on to C%herbourg
He a Y they are sure of their men thu
next time they come in. and their or
ders IRE to take them, dead or alive
Then the old dame hurried off to take
her news elsewhere.
|. The affair caused great excitement
among the inhabitants of the LITTLE
hamlet. The men left their nets, anc
might be seen at all hours of the day
standing in groups on the sands dis
cussing eagerly the '.ifs" and ''buts'
of the case, and many ameaning glance
was cast up to the little white cottage
on the cliff.
Marie was half distracted with fea'
and anxiety. How could she let he:
uncle and Philippe know of their dan
ger, or what could she do to proven
harm from coming to them? A hun
dred ideas and plans presented them
selves, each one seeming more i'm
practicable than the others. At last sh'
made up her mind not to fly upon an,
one of them, but to wait and watch an,
then to act as it seemed best when tn
time came.
Every night as soon as it was darl
she crept down to the shore ant
crouched behind some projecting rock
where she hoped to be able to dlscove
anything unusual which might be il
progress. She felt no rain, nor cold
nor wind; her nerves were strung t.
the highest pitch. But when the wan
ing moon rose and the danger was pas
she had hardly strength left to clambe
home.
One dark night a six-oared crew
landed its crew under the shadow o
the rocks below Gillette.
Marie, from her post above. hear
the sound, and, in a moment. her plal
was formed. She waited until tn
men had dispersed among the rocks
and then crawed down to the shore
Sometimes a whispering told her how
near she was to discovery. Once
stone, dislodged by her foot. rolle'
down the path, and a rough voic
called:
.'Who goes thereP" :.
Marie's teeth almost met'in her Iii
to suppress the cry that arose.
..It's nothing" answered anothe
voice. ''they can't be in before q hal
an hour yet"
She waited a moment. and then crep
on again, this time on her hands an
knees. o, would she reach tn
, shore? On. on, and now at last sh
felt the soft sea-sand beneath hel
There was no longer any fear of rollin