Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-05-01

was hail. was time he came back. 1t
"Ail in the the 'e da wn 81 ne ne did come;
"'I Az. you ring for lights?"
us voice seemed to sh nike a ,;ttla a. IN
ouLew n!aself into an arm-chair at the
osaer end of the room.
.frai haS,s the matter?" I said. 81 am
d, w;sh You've overtired yourself, Edward.
Yes that's just what It is, he replied,
hurriedly. ~ am oyertirad and ! feai
quite faint. just ring, Mary. will vouf,.
Llans' ana ne ordered some champagne,
MneTea0 was rather astonished, for he
fa ivy IooK anything after dinner.
we ooeh seem rather dull" he said, ex.
Tvs my fault for having been away from
you so long. I was an idiot to 90 out. I
can't NJ, get on without my wife,"
.lhen J. wonder you did stop out so
,ong,. said. You could have come
OaeS ages before, if you had wanted to do
lost my way" he replied, land wont
1uTSner than | ~intended.n
inen the waiter came in with the cham-
a tray.
BY the light from these last I thought
i Ta~ 81 iookad very, very, tired. I dis
ana ne went On drinking glass after
grass ana talking in a rather inconsequent
way I'LL the bottle was finished.
! was rather cross at having been alone
an t1e evening, perhaps: and perhaps his
London business had tired him as much
as his walk; but there was a cloud be-
tween US, the first since our marriage.
Until now there had always been between
US such a perfect sympathy md rapport.
He seemed far off from me as he sat
there, talking. I felt sure that all that
champagne could not be good for him.
Il woke to find myself sitting up in bed,
trembling with horror, my heart beating
unanimously.
what is it?" said Edward, in a very
wide-awake voice. "Whatever is the mat.
81 nave had such a horrible dream!n !
replied, as soon as I could steady my
voice. "Did / say anything. Edward?''
mo; You only gave a blood curdling
scream. What was your dream about?'j
"Oh-it was a nightmare" 1 replied, ly-
ing back on the pillow and holding my
talk about It. D;l / wake you?@ ""A' ~
"No, I'ye not been asleep. DON'T throw
your arms up again, Mary, but try and
go to sleep. You WON'T dream it again,
that's certain; nightmares never come
twice."
l closed my eyes obediently, but only to
SoAJu1O up dSNIA duu again INC plCUuFe
that dream had shown me. This is what ]
saw over and over again, through the hot,
still, moon-white hours:
First u broad grassy field, through
which ran a dark smooth stream. There
was q wooden bridge over it, and
q shelving ledge Of rock and went
Sheet. Then It broke into yellow foam and
hurried on. It looked deep. There was a
wood behind me; just before me was a
footpath. I saw everything in the clear
moonlight. Along the footpath came
presently two figures, and one Of them was
a figure I knew. 1t was Edward; looking
strange, in some i%ndefinable way-but still
Edward Enthusiastically. Walking about a
yard from him was a girl, dressed in a
muslin gown. Her head was bare. and IN
her hand she held u white sun bonnet. AT
the end of the bridge they stood still and
faced each other, aud the girls face was
turned toward me. 1t was a pale face,
with red lips and a high nose. A high
bred uncommon docking face. The head
was set well back on the shoulders, and thG
rounded figure was thrown Lack in an at.
titude of defiance.
Never" she said, and her big eyes
flashed in tho moonlight; you've deceived
me too often. I'll never see you again
Why did you not marry me when you had
the chance?"
II wish 1 had. Oh, winifred, come te
me; it is not too late yet. You see
held out his hands to her.
Then their voices sank till I could only
hear O vague murmur. Then her voice
rang out again, clear and sharp:
"No, Mr.. Norreys; 1 tell you, no! There
are other men in the worldly, and in
Calveriey, too-who have better end
higher notions of keeping faith than you
have"
th sn9yH Ss said. 'na' S0o1l marry one o.
Eyes, and you will soon know how sim
cerely I mean it,"
.Then, by heaven, he shall marry a
ghost!" Edward cried, and caught her in
his arms. There was a sudden splash-a
choked cry-and something white went
over the shelving wall down those seven
feet into the smooth brown water.
Then came the browning horror of the
dream. He turned round with a look on
his face OF such fear and agony as l have
never seen before. I knew that the girl
was drowned. And | seemed to tear my
way through wood and bramble back into
consciousness, and into that still bedroom
at the Calverley Arms.
had dreamed? Well, in those first mo-
ments of waking, so vivid, 50 utterly real
and life-like had been hat vision that ]
felt that to tell him the dream would be
like charging him with the deed. wished
he had remained with me last evening.
And why had he wanted 50 mach to stay
at Calverley, and why had he seemed SO
strange when he came in? I stopped these
questions resolutely. Why should I try to
connect Edwards actions with thnt idiotic
nightmare? And then l fell to thinking OF
ali l had ever heard of dreams thai had
come true, and wondering whether other
prophetic dreams were half as real-seem-
ing as this one of mine, to which no inn
portance was to be attached. And the
east ouickened, and the birds woke.
turned and looked at my husband by the
chill light. He was asleep-looking very
tired and ANXIOUS, but with no change on
his face such as But what was :
thinking about?"
Then came common sense, Inc whis-
pered: "You little simpleton, you DOM
deserve SO good a husband. Your love is
a bad sentry if it can not keep H'at such
mid summer madness as this"
BY the time the full sunlight had tllea
the room l was almost ready to laugh at
myself for thinking twice about such non.
sense; but | was, all the same, SO much
ashamed of the vague imaglnings tina!
dream had engendered that l would not
for worlds have told Edward a word about
it. 80.
=. 80 Luon yfn q kShIAE