Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-05-20
CHAPTER w.
INTRODUCES WILLIAM JONES AN

INTRODUCES WILLIAM JONES AND HIS FATHER.
Ny story is now bound to follow in the
footsteps of Matt, who, ON quitting the pres
ence of her artist friend, walked rapidly along
the sand-incumbered road in the direction of
the sea.
Skirting the lake upon the left hand, and
still having the ocean of sandhills upon her
right, she gradually slackened her pace A
spectator, had he been by, would have doubt
less observed that the change was owing to
maiden meditation; that, in other words,
Matt had fallen into brown study.
Presently she sat down upon a convenient
stone, orpiece of rock, and, resting her elbows
On her knees, her chin in her hands, looked
Tor some minutes at vacancy. At last she
ose, flushing warmly, and murmuring some-
hing to herself.
The something was to this effect:
Ellis hands are as white as lady's, when
ae pulls off them gloves and he said was as
pretty as my picture"
! can only guess at the train of reasoning
which led to this soliloquy, and express my
| opinion that Matt had well-developed ideas on
| the subject of the sexes True, she was not
above sixteen, and had little OF no experience
| Of men, none at all of men who were both
young and good looking. Nevertheless, she
was not insensible of the charms of a white
hand, and other tokens of masculine refine
| ment and beauty.
BY natural sequence of ideas she was led
! 10 stretch out her own right hand and lock at
| it critically 1t was very brown, and covered
with huge golden freckles The inspection
not being altogether satisfactory, she thrust
both her hands irritably into the pockets OF
| her jacket, and walked on.
| T,pavipcr tho latya haltnd ba- che folIoxvad
the road along swampy hollow, down
which the shallowest of rivulets crept along
by the sea, now losing itself altogether in
messy patches of suspicious greenness, again
emerging and tricaling with feeble glirrmers
over pebble and sand. Presently she left the
road and came upon a primitive wooden
bridge, consisting of only one plank, sup
ported ON two cairns of stone. Here she
paused, and seeing a red-legged sand-piper
running about on the edge of the water lust
below her, made gesture like boys throw
ing stone, whereon the sand-piper sprane
up chirping, and few along out of sight
By this time she was in full sight of the
sea. Dead calm, and covered with rain-col
ored shadows, it touched tho edges of the fiat
sands about q mile away, and left ono long
creamy line of changeless foam. The sand.
themselves stretched away to tho westward
far as eye could see. But to the left and east
ward, that is to say, in the direction toward
which she was going, there was long, rocky
promontory, with signs of human habita
ton. Breaking into swing-hke trot, Mat
FASTENED thither, following a footpath acros
marshy fields.
In due time she came out upon narrow
and rudely made road which wound along til,
rocky promontory, at low water skirting tn,
sand, at high water, the sea- The first hous,
she reached was wooden lfe-boat house "
ing down in a creek; and it being then low
tide, at some distance from the waters edge
On the roadside above the house was a flag
staff, and beneath the flagstaff wooden seat
All was very still and desolate, without
sign of life; but little farther along tn,
road was row of cottages which seemed in
habited, and were in fact the abodes of tn
coastguard. Instead of lingering here Mat
proceeded on her way until she reached
what at first sight looked like the beginnin;
of village or small town. There wer
houses on each side of the road, some of then
several stories high; but close inspection
showed that most of them were roofess, tia
few of them possessed any windows or doors
and that nearly all were decayed and dilapi
dated from long disuse, while not a few hat
blasted and sinister appearance, as if black
ened by fire. And still there was no sign O
| any human soul. Suddenly, however, the stree