Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1886-12-09

it, and fling It into the depths of the river
Dale.
The Idea delighted me. / wrapped a shawl
round my head and shoulders, and. holding
the packet tightly In my hand went out. AS
passed the door Of the large conservatory, j
saw by the light Of the moon the shadow OF
mans figure; but he did not appear to see me
as fastened along.
How fair the landscape was the moon shin
ing upon the turf and upon the leaves OF the
trees which rustled gently In the wind The
calm brooding silence OF night lay around me
as walked on leisurely. There was no need
TO hurry now. had the packet In my hand,
and the river Dale was shining In the distance.
At length l reached the bank, and stood for
some moments looking down at the water that
would be the grave Of my hopes, that would
roll over the proofs Of my birth and my for
tune, sacrificed for the sake Of my love-
Presently l sat down upon the grass and
tried to realize how Sir Adrian would look II
he knew all. How his blue eyes would
brighten, yet reproach me! How his face
would change from grave to glad, and back
to grave again. Never shall forget the
beauty, the serenity Of those few minutes
spent by the banks OF the river in the moon
light, with the papers In my hand.
Then found heavy stone, and fastened
II IN my apron; the weight was quite sufficient
to sink much larger parcel than the one
held in my hands. | walked with IL slowly to
the waters edge, | kissed IL Farewell to
name to fortune, TO every hope in this world,
for my loves sake-for my loves sake, fare
well And as i raised my arm TO fling the
parcel into the stream, cried, 'For my loves
sake!" And then-shall l ever forget the
horror of that momentl-a hand seized mine,
and took the parcel from me.
What are you doing, Graciar exclaimed q
voice that chilled my heart. 1t was Sir Ad
rian.
| staggered back white, trembling, and
faint. For some moments ! could not recover
myself; and then broke into a wild passion
Of tears.
'Oh, give IL to me, Sir Adrian ~ implored.
II pray you, for Heavens sake, give II TO me !"
II must know what IL Ia, Gracia; / cannot
let this 90 on. | have a suspicion that II Is
something connected with yourself and must
satisfy myself"
In my despair sank upon my knees at his
feet
II beseech you, give II TO mel" | cried.
|
sake shall 20 mad If you touch III"
He looked at me.
II could refuse you nothing that was reason
able; but in this instance must be master;
must know what this Is"
| When ! heard his tone, when i saw the ex-
preston on his face, knew all was over, and
sank sobbing upon the grass.
Il am grieved TO distress you, Gracla," he
/ At -
tears; but | must protect you against your
| SELF
BY the light OF the moon saw him unite
the parcel and take out the great stone and
throw II away. j saw him take out the papers
and scan them. ! could hear the rustllng Of
page after page-the certificates, my fathers
letter, and finally the will. Then ] became
unconscious. II seemed to me that the moon
and the stars fell to earth, that the river rose
and swept me away.
When my eyes opened at last, saw neither
moon nor rver-only the face of the man |
loved bending over mine, with a look In his
eyes 10 have won which | would have laid
down my life.
''Gracia," he was SAYING ''Gracia, my noble,
generous darli.g! Gracia open your eyes ana
look at me-"
Then sat up gazing at him with aim won
derIng eyes.
"Gracia," he said passlonately, what have
you TO tell mel j know everything. You
would have deprived yourself OF name and
| fortune. Wby--tell me whyf
And answered him
"For your sake. could not bear that your
loss should be my gain"
When the words had passed my lips II
seemed TO me that the river rose again and
carried me away. When ] came back to life,
there was no river in sight, my love with the
bonnie blue eyes had disappeared, and was
lying in a room that was strange TO me. The
village doctor was standing by my bed, and
Mrs. Paterson and Kate Fisher were also IN
the chamber.
"That is better" said the doctor; NOW we
shall dol'
The sun was shining brightly into the
room. Whittier had Sir Adrian Comet Where
were my papersi started M with a wild cry
when j remembered them.
'Husb :" said the doctor. "You need not
fear! You have been unconscious for several
hours. 1t was night when came; 1t is morn
Ing now. You must be quiet and rest"
/ closed my eyes and tried TO sleep; but it
was impossible My senses were once more
rs clear as ever. ] remembered all that had
happened by the river. Sir Adrian knew my
secret now.knew the story that the papers
told, and why wanted to destroy them. Now
what would be done. They told me to rest,
but could not; nv head was burning, the
blood coursed like liquid fire through nv
veins. Soon every one would know that
was Gracia Dacre, daughter and heiress Of the
Squire; but Sir Adrian would lose Heron's
Nest.
1t was terrible fever while II lasted. In
my delirium 1t seemed to me that the river
was bearing me away down to the sea.
fought with 1t, struggled with It cried out TO
the waters not TO drown me. Then they grew
perfectly calm, and was floating down the
stream.
1 can hardly tell when the fever abated.
The harvestmoon was shining on the night
when Sir Adrian caught me by the river; II
was the middle Of October when one morning
i opened my eyes to sense and reason, and
saw the sunlight hckering on the wall
| heard afterwards what had passed; aud
think this is the best place to tell IT,
Sir Adrian had raised me In his arms and
carried me to the house. to her ladyship's
boudoir, where the terrible charge had been
brought against me. He laid me on the couch
and then went in search of his mother. She
came, and they stood one on either side Of
me.
Mother" he said "do you know who this
Is, this girl who has been nameless and friend
less against whom you brought q charge of
theft, whom you have ordered from the only
shelter she has ever knowni Do you know
who she isi'