The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1888-04-27

upon Edith's-and as the last stroke Of
midnight ~reverberated through the still
night / closed my book and Listened again.
The silence without was so complete that
the burning of the oil in the limp at my
side was distinctly audible.
At that moment l heard aboard break.
1t was so slight a sound that, had my
attention been fixed upon the book, I
should not have noticed it. l could not
tell where it came from; l was not SUES
that it was not from the floor under my
foot as changed my position. l~nstinc-
lively l looked toward the window. !
could see nothing beyond the circle of
light reflected by the lamp-shade. It
was too absurd to take the lamp to the
window-there was no board there t.
creak. l waited some minutes, and there
being no repetition of the sound, 1 re-
opened my book. bat l paused with my
finger on the page to listen once NJ
A shuddering sigh. like that ~;
who is crying Itself nN
ear. >P' ~
No., ye3s ~ ttmme window, drew ND the
BflRa softly, and looked out; for the
sound had seemed to come from a dig.
lance, and 1 thought it might. no the
futter Of leaves in I. bfecze. But the
night was unchangedlzheavY And 5till,
the Moon oesthi1dS a,d d thInn gray veil
of naist lss,sihS Over the lawn, as Edith
had seen it the night before. l opened
the door noiselessly. All was dark, /
could see only the mullen ef tMse nay
standing out vaguely against tho gray
ness. ''sts'sd. At night heavy cur.
corridor, shutting it Off fro... he passage
nnOl which ii utn,ttpl OF ,trtf AAMtao,
nevertheless, ! could hear The stefto;uas
breathing Of the Judge or Van fIcech
from the ren,,s lnsond. tA,A thiI;Gs sshhaat
the sousd | :,AS .lwa,Ae6t was not imapin.
airy, ead asteIihined, if possible, to dis.
cover the cause. l went back to the ia.
BILE and fetched the lamp.
had returned to whers I stc.a ~ the
door, when my e,-s f9ii upon something
lying at Tie threshold. Another step
and should have put my foot upon it.
In steadying the shade, my left hand
screened the light: as l withdrew II
saw that the object Mt ny feet Was Lola
She had cnrled herself Upon the ma,
within the e%mbtasute cf tile. door. iIel
face was tG%%arn Ne And fiiiowed upon
.:v' Ioltad Maids. She was asleep, We,
her long black lashes were wet, anC
chung to her cheek with an undried tear
"Even Van Hoeck, il he could see you
now: poor child,''I said to myself, "eculG
not think ill of yeu.n
would no; awake tsf;, I withdrew
the light Until sf.s was in Shadow, placed
it on the table, fetched my book, ant
seated myself where l could read and We
watch the sleeper. AS ! did THE thu
clock in the hc,f.y G6ihii,ned the half-hour
| looked At my watch, end saw that il
was half-past twelve.
l could not fix my attention upon the
book for some time, my mind being &C
cupied with conjectures TIC ncru,uit FOL
Lola's p~reaenee, il fitted in with Var
Hoeck's the6Yy and warning in some re
spects, y~et-possihly because my judg
ment was biased by ~sentiment-I coulC
not believe she had come there with ANY
sinister intention. ! Was rather disposed
70 think that she had found solitude ne
longer bearable, and had sought thi:
rcsting-place to be near the only frienC
she knew.
AS | pondered, my eyes grew .actus
toned to the gloom, and / could SET
llmly ti,a girls face, her arms scarcely
iistinguishable against her dusky cami
sole, and the darker mass of her red pet
acoet 6hs did not move ii she has
svaued Aer ratner, II ~ poss.n.e lnat si,
nud 'fatigued herself as we'll as him. 81,
heart was stirred with pity, and [ re-
solved that when she Az ske I Wonldiry
If she would listen to me, to reason he
Il of her savage isolation, and inducs
her to accept the kindness that Edith
longed to bestow upon het. l.would no
purposely awake her, for In sleep Their
was The relative happiness Of forgetful
ness.