The National tribune., 1888-05-03
THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE: WASHINGTON D. O. THURSDAY, s.

WAS bHt5 perennial NlISiliitf VI bLi6 dAESGlOIiS
that most endeared him to the best women,
who were prone to exercise toward him chiv-
alrOus protection-as OF one likely to go astray,
unless looked after-and INDUCED In the dam
gerous combination of sentiment with the high
est maternal instincts. 1t was this quality
which caused Jenny to recognize in him GER
tain bOyishness that required her womanly
care, and even induced her to offer to accom-
pany him to the crossroads when the time for
his departure arrived. With her superior
knowledge of wOodcraft and the locality, she
would have kept him from being lost. / wot
not but that she would have protected him from
bears or wolves but chiefly, think, from the
feline destinations Of Name Robinson and Lucy
Rance, who might be lying in wait for this
tender young poet. Nor did she cease to be
thankful that Providence had, so to speak, de-
hvered him as a trust into her hands.
Ii was a lovely night. The moon swung
low, and languished softly on the snowy ridge
beyond. There were quaint odors III the still
air; and strange incense from the woods per-
fumed their young blood, and seemed to swOon
iii their pulses Small wonder that they lin
gered on the white road, that their feet climbed
unwillingly the little hill where they were to
part, and that when they at last reached it,
even the saving grace Of speech seemed to have
fOrsaken them.
For there they stood alone. There was no
sound nor motion III earth, or woods, or heaven.
j leE ENl2Hb nave DGeh GLG one man anu WDliau
for whom this goodly earth that lay at their
feet, trimmed with the deepest azure, was Gre
ated And, seeing this they turned toward
each other with a sudden instinct, and their
hands met, and then their lips in one long kiss.
And then out of the mysterious distance came
the sound of voices, and the sharp clatter of
hoofs and wheels, and Jenny slid away-a
white moonbeam-from the hill. For mo-
ment she glimmered through the trees, and
fDan rpaphipcr the honCa nsGGna her SlnpOIuD
father on the yeTauda, and, darting into her bed
room, locked the door, threw open the window,
and, falling on her knees beside it, leaned
her hot cheeks upon her hands, and listened.
In few moments she was rewarded by the
sharp clatter of hoofs on the stony road /;
but it was only horseman, whose dark figure
was swiftly lost in the shadows Of the lower
road. At another time she might have recog-
nized the man; but her eyes and ears were now
all intent on something else 1t came pres
emily with dancing lights a musical rattle Of
harness, a cadence Of hoof-beats that set her
heart to beating in unison-and was gone. A
sudden sense of loneliness came over her, and
tears gathered in her sweet eyes.
She arose and looked around her. There was
the little bed, the dressing table, the roses that
she had worn last night, still fresh and bloom
ing in the little vase. Everything was there /;
but everything looked strange. The roses
should have been wthered, for the party seemed
so long ago. She could hardly remember when
she had worn this dress that lay upon the chair.
So she came back to the window and sank down
beside it, with her cheek trile paler, leaning
on her hand, and her long braids reaching to
the floor. The stars paled slowly, like her
check; yet with eyes that saw not, she still
looked from her window for the coming dawn.
1t came, with violet deepening into purple,
with purple flushing into rose, with rose shin
ing into silver, and glowing into gold. The
struggling line of black piCket-fence below,
that had faded away with the stars, came back
with the sun. What was that object moving by
the fence? Jenny raised her head and looked
intently It was man endeavoring to climb the
pickets, and falling backward with each attempt.
Suddenly she started to her feet, as If the rosy
fushes of the dawn had crimsoned her from
forehead to shoulders; then she stood, white as
the wall, with her hands clasped upon her
bosom; then, with a single bound, she reached
the door, and, with flying braids and futtering
skirts, sprang down the stairs and out to the
garden walk When within few feet of the
fence she uttered cry, the first she had given
the cry Of a mother over her stricken babe,
Of a tigress over her mangled cub; and in an
other moment she had leaped the fence, and
kaelt beside Ridgeway, with his fainting head
upon her breast
Ny boy, my poor, poor boy who has done
this?"
Who, indeed? His clothes were covered
with dust; his waistcoat was torn open, and
| his handkerchief, wet with the blood it could
not stanch. fell from a cruel stab beneath hiE
shoulder.
Ridgeway, my poor bOyi tell me what has
happened"
Ridgeway slowly opened his heavy blue
veined lids and gazed upon her. Presently {
| CLEAN Of mischief came into his dark eyes,
smile stole oyer his lips as he Whispered
slowly
It-wa5-your kiss-did it, Jenny dear
had forgotten-h0w high-priced the article wa
| here. Never mind, Jenny he feebly RAISED
her hand to his white lips" it Was-wortt
it" and tainted away.
Jenny started to her feet, and looked wildly
/ around her. Then, with sudden resolution, sh'
stopped over the insensible man, and with on
strong effort lifted him in her arms as if he hat
been a child. When her father, momen
later, rubbed his eyes, and awOke from hi
sleep upon the veranda, it was to see a goddess
erect and triumphant striding toward tht
| house with the helpless body of man lyini
across that breast where man had never laii
be1ore,-a goddess, at whose impeTiOus man
date he arose and cast open the doors before
her. And then, when she had laid her uncon
scious burden on the sofa, the goddess fed ant
a woman, helpless and trembling, stood be
fore hin,-a woman that cried out that sh
had killed him." that she was wicked
wicked !" and that, even saying So staggered
and fell beside her late burden and all tina
Mr.. McCIosky could do was to feebly rub hi
beard, and say TO himself vaguely and ineoher
emily, that Jenny had fetched him."
FTn he. .ony;qs,o31