San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-03-22


on the trunk.
sShall you not catch cold out here9"
now demanded Hugo, for he felt that the
service he had rendered entitled him to
pursue the acquaintance.
But cannot go inside that horrible
ROOM" she answered, shuddering 1T Is
so hot and stuffy, and there is such
dreadful noise, and the men look so rough.
Besides, the diligence will be here d.
rectly."
The diligencel Was it possible that
this dainty looking creature was to be his
travelling companion? Hugo felt his heart
leap up strangely at the thought, but he
still was puzzled as to her apparent isola-
ton. What had become of her carriage
and servants?'
''The diligence?" he said, interroga-
lively. "The diligence to X? That
is the one am waiting for myself; but I
fear you will find it very rough and I'M
comfortable, much more so than travelling
in Your own carriage"
my own carriager' she exclaimed, be.
trayed into mOmentary laughter. Count
FrolOff's carriage, you mean! They were
kind enough to send me this far" she
continued, bitterly, forgetting that she
was speaking to stranger. And now
must just shift for myself as best can.
OF course it is nothing to them how L
reach, or whether l ever reach, my home
But | am quite able to take care of my
SELF" she said abruptly, drawing up into
renewed reserve. 'And-and am not at
all frightened"
Hugo smiled little.
"Then the carriage saw has left you
here?''
Yes, they just drove me into the yard
and put me down with my box, as if had
been a bundle of wares myself, and then
they turned and drove away to the inn at
the other end of the town. Why should
they have stayed? They are not my SER
wants and are not paid to wait on me-"
Hugo Weyprecht now began to under
stand the case. This was no great lady
such as he had taken her for at first sight,
but a simple girl of his own rank of life,
a humble companion or governess appar-
emily; and far from experiencing any sort
of disappointment at the discovery, he
was only conscious of a great sense of re-
lief
At this moment the clumsy diligence
rolled heavily into the yard, the jaded
horses were replaced by less jaded ones,
and ten minutes later the conveyance was
ready to start.
V.
Love at first sight is no mere fevered
invention of the poets Overheated brain,
and despite the inrooted egotism Of our
terribly practical and matter of fact age,
it is, am inclined to believe of far more
frequent occurrence than is generally sus-
pected. If, for instance, the victims
those suddenly stricken-could be regis
tered statistically, we should, doubtless,
find them greatly to outnumber those
who are yearly struck dead by lightning.
Modern science has furnished US with
a meaps of resisting the fire of heaven in
the shape of lightning conductors, thanks
to which many people are annually saved
from an untimely end; but for that in
ward fire which, with equal and uneX-
pected force, can strike man surely but
secretly to his hearts core. no lightning
conductor has yet been found.
Hugo Weyprecht wished for no light
ming conductor, and made not the slight
est effort to struggle against his fate.
From the first glimpse he had caught OF
Clara floating past hira in the mist, he
had felt drawn toward her as he had
never felt drawn toward woman before,
and by the time he had handed her into
the diligence, he had quite made up his
mind to win her for his wife if she could
be won.
He never could have told himself what
it was about her that had thus made Of
him her slave in a few minutes. 1t was
not her beauty merely, for he had seen
plenty more beautiful women; nor was it
her childish helplessness nor her equally
l.oLo IS, ,,lo
was it the righteousness with which she
had at first repulsed him, nor yet the
sweetness to which this had afterward
given way Perhaps it was all of these
taken together or more probably it was
because she was just herself and he was
just himself, and that, therefore, what
ever she had done or left undone would
have appeared perfect in his eyes.
For something, no doubt, in this inev-
liable result, may be reckoned the de-
lghtful surprise of meeting a country
woman in an obscure corner of strange
land. The passionate, dark eyed, over
colored beauties of the country had no
charm for this serious young German,
who, on first beholding Clara's limpid
eyes and soft flaxen tresses, felt as though,
after surfeit of lonely steppes and
gloomy pine forests, he had again caught
a glimpse of the laughing vineyards and
the blue Rhine waters of his beloved
Fatherland.
AS for her-well, of course, no prop
erly conducted damsel ever does fall in
love at first sight. Such a thing is I'M
heard of, and the lightning darts | spoke
of can only be supposed to affect the
coarser sex, just as in forest of mixed
trees the thunderbolt will always select
the sturdy oak to fall upon, while it glides
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