Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-04-08


Impossiblel / looked, after that but a,
| thnt one figure. The pose and bearing werN
| those of Blanche. In standing, Blanche's at
| htude always gave one the impression thai
she alone owned the ground she then stood
over. in speaking, or when spoken to, she
| seemed to turn her whole mind in the direc
| ton of the subject of the moment, and neve,
seemed in mind to stray or waver from tina,
| subject
SO did this actress But the makeup puz-
zled me. Hair, eyebrows, complexion were
different. The voice was pitched i'll higher
key than ever had heard from Blanche
Once let the doubt beset YOU as to the
identity of any person long unseen, or seen
suddenly under unexpected circumstances.
and generally that doubt remains until dis
PEELED by certain recognition and indentifica-
ton. So did mine then as to the identity OF
the person before me-
THAT gal means biznessn heard one man
whisper to another. PUT her in tight
place, and she'd shoot
noticed that Broener was regarding her
as attentively as ]. He heard the remark
mentioned above and smiled, saving:
Rough diamonds. One as a character
reader in the house, and one-a brilliant on
the stage"
looked for her name in the cast On the
roughly printed programme. II read:
Miss II. Brown"
The stage was not more than twenty feet
in width. Once she stood so near the box |
could have reached forth and touched her.
Height, contour, bearing-all resemblel
those of Blanche Seton. But as to the face,
that was so made up" as to leave me in
lptIof 1poo har he 49,
where l sat They were Blanche Sefton's
eyes, but there was no recognition in their
expression. Physically they looked at me
otherwise they seemed no more TO see me
than would those of wax figure
The play was over The curtain fell The
audience struggled in congested state for
exit from the one narrow front entrance.
Broener turned in the opposite direction to-
ward a door leading to the stage, saving: II
have an old friend in the company and am
going behind the scenes. Good night"
He had gone | would go to the stage
door in the rear, and in some way solve my
doubts. But | was impeded by the crowd.
A wretched fracas, between two armed
inebriates, ha,. developed directly in front OF
the "opera house." and the lingering mass,
nothing 10th to see blood shed, cluttered up
the passageway and sidewalk.
Freeing myself from them at last sought
the stage door. A high board fence ran
from the middle of the rear of the theatre,
which in reality was but the wing of another
house. got on the wrong side of the fence.
ran back and was obliged to pass out again
in front of the theatre At last | stood by
the door ! sought Two ladies and their
escort passed out She certainly was not
of them The third and last, closely yelled.
finally came, and accompanying her was
Broeneri
OF course my friend you would have STAYED
in camp that night. and found out ''some-
how" whether the girl was Blanche Seton or
not. / didn't Had | not seen the lady with
Broener | might have so done But his pres
ence put such a complexion on the matter.
that of the two situations | preferred to be
in doubt as to Blanches identity to finding
her thus with Broener, whom of course
pictured as the dangerous rival, as certainly
he was in almost any case
Besides there were imperative interests at
Scrub mountain 10 be looked after imme-
diately. Broener expected me to get the
quartz out of the caches down TO the cabin
as soon as possible. He had given me di-
rections how to find Them and despite his
repulsion of everything from me of graft
tude, I felt under too much obligation to
him to neglect anything bearing on his
interests e
But the stars on the now long sixteen-mile
ride homeward had lost their sublinity for
me- My brain was in n Torment of conjec-
ture Was it Blanche Sefton9 and If So why
was Broener with her. He had gone behint'
the scenes to see an sold friendn Blanch .
was mysterious girl. She had passed much
Of ho,.
York, having frequent access thereunto by
her fathers sloop. She had a way of coming
and going and locating herself about where
she pleased with that matter-of-course, au-
thoritative air which half stifled gossip and
enabled her to do what other girls dared not
and could not. People said, ''Oh, it's Blanche's
way" Certainly it was, and whom might
she have met and known, unknown to all
Eastport, i'll these ways!
Half-past three o'clock and the morning
had dawned as | drew rein on the hill and
looked down on Bull Bar, half mile below
me The river, shrunk by the summer
drought, ran a mere thread with faint mur-
muir over rock and rifle. Log cabin and tent
lay there silent in the cool shadow of early
dawn. One mountain top, full thirty miles
away, had caught the suns heraIding raw for
the day. But down there, rocker and long
tom, pick and pan, crowbar and shovel were
flung where last the weary workers left them
and the five hundred stalwart men. soon to
renew their battle with hill, bank and stream
were still in the Inconsistencies of slumber
alive, breathing, it. is true, but dead to the
world their bodies were in-dead to all
hope or fear or any of the varied emotions
which would so soon be in full play when the
smoke commenced eircling from those rude
chimneys
Two or three moving figures were seen on
the river tank-watchers of the night
guarding against any sudden rise of the
stream liable through the breaking of dams
above and letting down the vast BODY of
'backwater,' fluid avalanche which would
sweep before it like chaff mans frail con-
structions.
reused Mr.. Rankin and returned him his
horse, which he put in the stable with the
remark that yesterday was probably his
benevolent day, which would account for
my return alive. But the next man dies. he
added.
Broener returned late in the dav. What
a different man was he to me from yester.
day Despite the uncertainty regarding
Blanche, sympathized now with the Moor's
ruling passion. Jealousl Yes, and iealous
| of Broener All of him that had previously
| attracted me were now as so many weapons
turned against me-brilliant weapons. too.
and used by skilled hand.
He noticed the change in mel cannot say
in my manner had rather state it that he
feh change something between us-com-
ing through those fine interior senses which
feel, and sense thoughts, as the outer ones do
material things.
you seem out of sorts, he said.
l laid it to headache-that convenient
beast of burden. which bears so many Iiesi
young man. said be that evening, sswere
you ever In lover
II suppose So ! replied. They say its
part of the programme along with whooping
cough and the measles.
.Well,1 he rejoined, Il believe / am. 50
far as am capable Of being. AT all events.
I've found woman who / think can hold
me-
May / ask who she is!s