Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-12-26

/ TO SET IOrCn alone tndt evening, ana no
one was surprised when. after going out
OF the west gate as though bent on rid
ing up the Monee, he was presently sees
to have made the circuit of the post and
was slowly cantering down towards the
lower valley. Out on the eastern prairie
another horseman could be SEEN and
presently the two came together. Col.
Brainard took down his binocular and
gazed out alter them
~ declare" said he, those two fig
ures are so much alike cannot tel.
which of them is Perry"
"Then the other is Sergt. Gwynne. col
onel," said Stryker, quietly. Put him
in our uniform. and it would indeed be
hard to tell the two figures apart Mr..
Maitland told me last week that that was
what so startled and struck him the first
time he saw Perry"
"How is Mr.. Maitland now. do You
know"
HE gets no better. After the first
week of Joy and thanksgiving over his
boys restoration to him, the malady
seemed to reassert itself. Dunraven will
have new master by winter, fancy"
The colonel was silent moment. Then
he suddenly asked:
'By the way, how was it that Gwynne
wasn't drowned? | never understood
that"
He never meant to be" said Stryker.
''He told Perry all about it. He was
ruined, he thought, in his profession and in
hisown country, and he knew his fathers
memorable pride; so he simply decided to
put an end to Archie Maitland and start
a new life for himself. He wrote his
letters and arranged his property with
that view. and he called the steward TO
enable him to swear he was i'm his state
room after the steamer weighed anchor
Then in jiffy he was over the side in
the darkness; it was flood tide and he was
an expert swimmer; he reached a coast
ing vessel lying near; he had money.
bought his passage to France, after
few days at Cape Town. and then came
to America and enlisted. He got con-
fession out of one of their irregulars who
was with him, Perry says, and that was
one of the papers he was guarding so
jealousy. He had given others to Perry
that very night"
"They seemed to take to each other
like brothers from the start" said the
colonel, with quiet smile.
"Just about" answered Capt Stryker
Meantime, Perry and Sergt. Gwynne
have been riding slowly down the valley.
Night has come upon Dunraven by the
hour they reach the northern gate-no
longer closed against them-and as they
near the house Perry slowly dismounts.
an take the horses to the stable myself:
l want TO-" says his trooper friend, and
for the second time the young officer
stands upon the veranda at the doorway,
then holds his hand as he hears ageei,,- -,,s
soft roalodv of the risss...,, 'S Do'
aois ~. Iii, night air, Slowly and not
si;thout pain he walks around TO the east
front. striving to move with noiseless
steps At last he stands by the open
easement, just where he had paused in
surprise that night month agone, and
slowly drawing aside one heavy fold of
curtain. gazes longingly in at Gladys
Maitland, seated there at the piano, just
where he first saw her lovely face and
form
Presently, under the soft touch Of her |
fingers. a sweet. familiar melody comes |
ripping forth He remembers it in |
stantly; it is the same he heard the night 1
OF his first visit--that exquisite "Spring |
Song" Of Mendelssohn he listens, |
spell bound. All of sudden the sweet
strains are broken off. the music ceases;
she has thrown herself forward. bowed /
her queenly head upon her arms. and.
leaning over the keyboard. her form is
shaken by storm of passionate tears.
Perry hurls aside the sheltering curtain
and limps rapidly across the soft and
noiseless rug. She never dreams OF his
presence until, close at her side. voice
she has learned to know and know well
"a voice tremulous with love. sympathy
and earning-murmurs only her name,
Gladys" and. starting up. she looks
one instant into his longing eyes.
Sergt. "Gwynne" Maitland, lifting the
heavy portiere a moment later, stops
short at the entrance. gazes one second
at the picturesque scene at the piano.
drops the portiere and vanishes. unno-
ticed
Things seemed changed at Dunraven of
late years. The -th are still at Rossiter.
so is Lieut.. Perry. 1t may be the climate
or association with an American sister
hood. or-who knows?-perhaps some
body has told her Of Mrs. Belknap's pre-
diction. but Mrs. Perry has not yet begun
to grow coarse, red faced or stout. She
is wonderfully popular with the ladies of
the -th, and has found warm friends
among them. but Mrs. Sprague of the in
fantry is the woman she particularly fan
cies. and her gruif old kinsman DIR. Quin
is ever a welcome guest at their fireside.
1t was he. she told her husband long
after. who undid the mischief Mrs. Bel
KNAPP had been able to SOW in one brief
1--WE known that young
ever since she wore pinafores.
Gladys. She has some good points, too.
out her one idiosyncrasy is that every
nan she meets should bow down to and
worship her. She is an Alexander in pet
.icoats, signing for new worlds to con-
luer, has been coquette from the cradle
she can't forgive in Ned Perry |