The Iola register., 1886-01-01

l 90 waste their time in looking for th(
, man. Is his very existence was problem
atical It was but . fancy Of my friends
and not worth thinking seriously about
: am not sure but what after hearing
this they did not think the whole affair
was an imagined one, and 90 relaxed
their efforts.
Once or twice Carriston, happening
to be in the neighborhood of London,
came to see me, and slept the night al
; my house. He also had no news to re-
port Still, he seemed hopeful as ever.
The weeks went by till Christmas was
over and the New Year begun; but no
sign. word or trace of Madeline Rowan.
II have seen her." wrote Carriston,
several times. She is in the same
place-unhappy. but not ill-treatel.
/ Evidently his hsllucinations were still
in full force.
At first intended that the whole Of
this tale should be told BY myself: but
upon getting SO far it struck me that
the evidence of another actor, who
played an important part in the drama,
would give certain occurrences to the
reader at first instead of at second
hand, SO l wrote to my friend Dick Fem
ton. of Frenchay, GlOucestershire, and
begged him. if he found himself capa-
bic of so doing. to put in simple nsrra-
tive form his impressions of certain
events which happened in January,
1S66-events in which we two were
concerned. He has been good enough
to comply with my request His COM
municatiOn follows.
PART IL
TOLD BY RICHARD FENroN. ESQUIRE, o.
FRENCHAY, WORCESTERSHIRE.
l.
As my old friend Phil Brand has
asked me to do this. suppose l must
Brand is a right good fellow. and q
clever fellow. but has plenty of crotch
cts of his own. The worst 1 know of
him is that he insists upon having his
own way with people. With those who
differ from him he is as obstinate as
mule. Anyhow. he has had his own
way with me. This custom, so far as
am concerned. commenced years ago
when we were boys at school together.
and have never been able to shake OFT
the bad habit of giving in to him. He
has promised to see that my Queens
English is presentable; for, to tell the
truth, l am more ut home across cOun.
try than across foolscap. and nv fin
gers know the feel of the reins or the
trigger better than that of the pen.
all the same l hope he won't take
too many liberties with NV stvle. bad
though it may be; for old Brand at
times is apt to get-well, bit prosy.
To hear him on the subject of hard |
work and the salctity thereof ap-
proaches the sublime!
What freak took me to the little God.
forsaken village of Midcombe in the
depth of winter is entirely between my
self and my conscience. The cause,
having no bearing upon the matters l
am asked to tell you about. is no ones
business but mine. Twill only say that
now l would not stay in such place at
such time of the year for the sake of
the prettiest girl in the world. let alone
the bare chance of meeting her once or
twice. But ones ideas change. lam
how good bit older. ride some two
stone heavier, and have been married
ever so many years. Perhaps, after all,
as look back can find some excuse
for being such an ass as to endure for
more than fortnight all the discom-
Forts heaped upon me in that village inn.
A man who sOjOurns in such hole
Is Midcombe must give some good rea-
son for doing SO. My ostensible rea-
son was hunting. had q horse with
ne. and a secOnd-rate subscription pack
,f slow-going mongrels did meet some-
where in the neighborhood. SO no one
Gould gainsay my explanation. But if
lunting was my object, l got precious
little of it A few days after my arrival
| bitter. biting frost set ina frost as
black As your hat, and as hard as nails.
let still staid on.
From private information received
10 matter how. when. or where-I
new that some people in the neighbor-
lood had organized party TO go skat-
ng on . certain day at Lilymere. fine
heet of water some distance from Mid
ombe. guessed that some one whom
particularly desired to NEE: would be
here, and as the skating at Lilymere
vas free to any one who chose to take
he trouble of getting to such an out-of- I
he-way place, hired horse and an ,
pology for dOg-cart, and at ten in the
morning started to drive the twelve ,
niles to the pond. l took no one with
ne. l had been to Lilymere once be-
ore, in bright summer weather, SO
ancied knew the way well enough. !
The sky when started was cloudy; {
he wind was choppiEg round in a way !
'hich made the effete rustic old hostler I
redict change of weather. He was {
ight; before 1 had driven two miles
ght snow began to fall; and by the I
ime l reached a wretched little way Z
ide inn. about mile from the mere, I
film Of white covered the whole coun- s
y. I stabbed my horse as well as I q
ould. then, taking my skates with me, y
'alked down to the poud. 5
Now, whether I had mistaken the "
ay. or whether the threatening fall of p
low had made certain people change s.
leir minds, don't know; but, to my p
nnoyance and veNation, no skaters II
ere to be seen, and. moreover, the II
ncut. white surface told me that none n
I'd been On the pond that morning. t.
bill. hoping they might come in spite n
the weather, put on my skates and Ia
ent utsde-edging and grape-vining q
l over the place. But as there was no e.
.rson in particular--in fact. no one at II
Ito note my powers. / soon got to
red. 1t was. indeed. dreary, dreary W
ork. But waited and hoped until Pl
e snow came down so fast and furi- bl
isly that | felt sure that waiting was in 81
lin. and that l had driven to Lilymere te
r nothing. tn
Back went to the little inn, utterly si
sgusted with things in general. and IN IN
cling that to break some ones head II