The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1886-09-04

All this had been said hurrieilv. George
CauLfeld had hardly time to take the preferred
card when the engine pulled itsalf iaboriously
out of the great, CHASTITY terminus. a wilder
less of iron work labyrinth of tunnels and
sidings and incompreheasible platforms, very
gloomy on this cold winter night
For the first few minutes Mr.. Caulfed
felt so confused and disturbed BY the sud-
denness of the charge that had been forced
upon him that he hardly knew what he was
doing. Then he glanced at the lady, and
saw with a feeling OF relief that her head
was reposng comfortably against the padded
division of the carriage and that her face
was hidden by blts gauze veil, which she
wore over small, brown straw hat She
was breathing somewhat heavily, he thought,
out that was to be expected II a sufferer
from chest complaint.
81 hope her heart is all right" thought
George, with a sudden sense of the awful
ness Of his position were his invalid Charge
to expire while in his care.
He looked at the strangers card;
Mr. ELSDEN,
Briargate
The address looked well Briarglte was
one of the most respectable business streets
in Grandchester. Doubtless it had once
been rustic lane, where briers and roses
grew abundantly, and the bees and butter
flies and village lads and Iasses made merry
amid odors of new-mown hay. NOWADAYS
Brlargate was narrow street OF lofty
warehouses, tall enough to shut out the sun,
street that smelled of machine oil
The express hal cleared Grandche. ter by
this time, tearing along viaduct above
forest of tall chimneys, and then. with a
sweeping curve, away to the windy open
country, a land as wild and fresh and free
as ii there were no such things as factories
and smoky chimneys in the world. Mr..
Caulfiald had, for the first ten minutes or
so, felt relieved by his inability to see his
companions face 1t had been comfort to
him to behold her placidly asleep Wonder,
requiring no attention, leaving him free to
dip into Tennysons last idyl, which he car
RED uncut in his travelling bag. But so
variable Is the human mind, so fanciful and
altogether irrational at times, that now Mr.
Caufield began to feel vaguely curious
about the face hidden under the blue gauze
veil He began TO wonder about it. Was
1t so very pale, SO deadly white, as it seemed
to him under that gauze veil, in the dim
light Of the oil lamp' No, it was tho blue
gauze, no doubt, which gave that CHASTITY
pailor to tie sharply-cut features, the
sunken cheeks
The young ladys eyes were altogether hid
den by the shadow of her hat, but Mr. Caul-
held felt sure that she was asleep. She was
breathing so quietly that be could scarcely
see any Indication of the faint breath that
must be stirring her breast in gentle undu-
lations. Sometimes he fancied he saw the
toids of the Rob Roy shawl rise and fall in
regular puisations Sometimes it seemed to
INN that nothing stirred save the shadows
moved by the Pickering of the wind-blown
flame.
tie sat and watched that quiet figure in
the corner, only taking his eyes away now
and then to look out at the dark land
through which they were speeding, to see a
coy village, lit by half a dozen farthing
rush lights, fit by like a phantom. or town
that made patch of angry glare on the
edge Of the horizon Useless to think of enioy
ing Iennyson by the sickly CLEAN of that
wretched lampl He curled himself up in
his warm rug: he closed his eyes, and tried
to sleep In vain. He was thinking of the
face under the blue veil He was broad
awake-hopelessly awake. He could do
nothing but sit and contemplate the figure
reposing so quietly in the opposite corner.
How he longed for. Milldale Junction. He