Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1886-05-08
Alison uttered i scream Of hor.


Alison uttered Il scream Of hor-
"Decoived by the mist, he must
have walked too near the edge
continued the old man. Heaven
graft tIirtsitmay not be SO, but
fear it,. Was, he mad, to attempt
to crosstbeplateau sucllhnight?"
Catching rphis hat, MIR. Watkyn
went out.swiftly. Mrs. Reece then
grabbed her daughters hands
They were icy cold.
.sAlison, what passed between
you ant Thomas last night7"
"Dollt ask me, mother. Let me.
follow Mr.. Watkyn. | cannot rest
indoors Oh, ut cannot, c;l.lllot be
as lie fearsf,
"NotSoneistep until ron tell me
what passed, y s;lid.llermotlier firm
". "Ilere's more in allsth than.
meets ssfeseye.''
"He asketlsIne ;giNe talking: ill
| TO Mr. ssctlH alSQu
.sAndsyonsrefnsed. Well?"
HeAold me must choose he.
tweenN:theln," continued Alison,
bursting into tears. ooh, mother,
IL was all my folly, I'LL my temper;
he could not see that, and when he
went away he said he went for
good."
Mrs.sReece drew in her thin lips
sternly. She was thinking.
Sand what does it meaa about
your giving him note for the
dressInakerso | do not understand.
You had nothing to write about"
TheSgirl had got her hands free
and flung them before her face to
deaden the sobs. Bit Mrs. Reece
was Il resolute mother at tilncs,and
she extorted the confession. Ali
son had improvised the noGe and
sent Thomas around the long way
to DELIVER it, and so keep him from
passing by the willow walk.
"Oh, child, child" moaned the
dismayed woman. al he has i'll.
deed fallen over the Scar it is you
who have given HIM his death"
Audit proved TO be so. In tax
ing the two miles round between
the cottage and the farm u high
and perpendicular precipice, called
the Scar, had to he passed. The
tableland, or plateau Oh the top,
was wide and perfectly safe road
by daylight, since a. traveller could
keep dis lar from the unprotected
edge sas he pleased, but OH a. dark
nightior in IL thick fog it WAS most
dangerous. Deceived by the INST
of tlle previous night, Thomas
Watkyn must have drawn near the
edge iilwttingly and fallen over it.
FThere5he lay, Oh the sharp rock,
when.tbe poor father and others
went:fo look for him, his Geatli
Hike flee upturned toward the blue
sky.
aSIsak.to me, Thomas, speak to
n,e!,, NJ; q ;ttsd IL IsOn quite beside
herself with remorse aud grief, us
she knelt by him, wrlnging her
hands. "Oh, Thomas, speak to
me! L loved you all the while"
But Thomas neither spoke nor
moved. The voice that had noth-
ing but tender words WAS silence
now; the heart she had so grieved
might never beat in SORROW ORGY
again.
No person had seen or spoken
with him after quitting her the
previous night, save the dress
maker, little Industrious Miss Ford.
She had answered his knock her.
self, she related, aud he put the
note into her hands, saying, Miss
Reece had asked him to leave it in
passing. What a thick mist i is
chat has come on" he remarked to
her i'll his pleasilnt chatty Way
AYE, it is indeed, slr," she ans
wered. and shut her door as he
walked away.
For many weeks Alison Reece
lay very ill with brain fever, hover
ing between life and death. Some
people said it was the shock that
made her Ill and took her senses
away; others thought thai she must
have loved the poor young man to
distraction; no one, save her moth
Ell, knew it WAS the memory OF her
last interview with him, and the
scheming to send hiA OIL the
route that led to his accident, that
had well nigh killed Ter. But the
young are strong in their tenacity
of life, and she grew better by
slow degrees.
One warm April afternoon, when
the winter months had given place
to spring, Alison, leaning OH the
arm Of her mother, went to sit Oh
the porch. She WIS very feeble
yet. 1t was the first she bad stt
thcre since that memorable even
ing with her ill fated lover. There
She remained thinking and dream
ing. They could not persuade her
TO come in, and So wrapped her i'll
Il warm shawl.
Sunset came Oh, and was almost
us beautiful. curious, perhaps, that
it should he so, as the one he and
she had watched together more
than six months before. The bril-
liant beatss shone like molten gold
in the glowing west, the blue sky
around was feclled with pink and
amethyst. Alison'S eyes were
fixed On the lovely scene with an