Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1890-10-11
PART II.
TOLL BY RICHARD FEgTog OF TRENCHAY.
WORCESTERSHIRE, ESQUIRE.

$3.50 ny . NAA' III dlAI ~ n
good feliOw and a clever fellow, but has
plenty OF cTOtchets of his own. The worst I
know OF him Is that he insists upon having
DIS own with people. With those who differ
rom nm ne Is as obstinate as q mule, Any
now, ne mas always had his own way with
me. his custom, SO far as ! am concerned.
commenced years ago, when we were bows at
school together, and i have never been able
20 shake off the bad habit OF giving in 10
him; He has promised TO see that my queens
English Is p~resentable for, 10 tell the truth,
] am more at home across country than across
toolscap, and my fingers know the feel of the
relns on the trigger better than that of the
pen.
All the same ! hope he won't take too
many liberties with my style, bad though IL
may be; for old Bnnd'at times is apt 10 get
well, a bit prosy. To hear him on the sub
Iect OF hard work and the Sanctity thereof ap-
proacles the subllmel
What freak took me 20 the little God-foY-
saken ma OF Midcombe in the depth of
winter is entirely between myself and my
conscience. The cause, having no bearing
upon the matters j am asked to tell YOU about.
rs no ones business but mine-I will only
say that now would not stay In such a place
at such a time OF the year for the sake of the
prettiest girl IN the world, let alone the bare
chance OF meeting her once or twice. But
ones Ideas change, L ali now a good bit
older, ride some Two stones heavier, and have
been married ever so many years. Perhaps,
after all, as j look back L can find some ex-
cuse for being such an ass as 20 endure for
more than a fortnight all the dlScomforts
heaped upon me in that little village inn.
"A man who SolouTns In such a holea as Mid
coinDe must give some reason for doing so.
MY ostenslble reason was hunting. / had a
uorse WIN me, and a ~second-rate subscription
pack OF ~slow-going mOngrels did meet some
where In the neighb0Ihood. So no one could
gainsay my explanation. But il hunting was
my object, l got precious little of Ii. A few
lays alter my arrival a bitter, biting frost set
ms most as black as your hat, and as hard
as nails Yet still l stayed on,
From private information receiyed-no
matter how, when, or where-I knew that
some people In the neighborho0d had organ
lied a party TO go skating on a certain DAY at
Lilymere, a fine sheet of water some distance
from Midcombe: | guessed that some one
whom l particularly desired to meet would
be there, and as the skating at Lilymere was
Tree 10 any one who chose 10 take the trouble
Of getting to such an out-of-the-w way place, |
hired q horse and an apology for a dog-cart,
sld AZ ten In the morning started TO drive the
Twelve miles 10 the pond. / took no one with
me. ! had been in Lilymere once before, in
orlght summer weather, SO fancied | knew
the way well enough.
The sky when i started was cloudy: the
wlnd was chopping round in a way which
made the effete rustic old hOstler predict a
change OF weather. He was right. Before |
had driven two miles light snow began to fall,
and by the time / reached a wretched little
wayssde inn, about a mile from the Mere, a
aim OF white covered the whole country. |
stabbed my horse as well as | could, then,
Skllg my skates with me, walked down TO
he pond.
Now, whether / had mistaken the dav. or
whether the threatening fall of snow had
!. made certain people change their minds. |
ON know; but, to my annoyance and vexa.
no skaters We're 10 be seen, and, more
~r,e15 the uncut, white surface told me that
Rome had been on the pond thai morning.
sui, hoping they might come In spite OF the
weatner ! put on my skates and went out
ndeedging and grape-yining all over the
place. But as there was no person in partic-
alar-in TACT, no one at ALTO note my pow
RS, soon got tired. 1t was, indeed, dreary,
ireary work. But | waited and hoped until
he snow came down so fast and furiously,
that i felt sure that waiting was In vain, and
that i had driven TO Lilymere for nothing.
Back / went TO the little inn utterly dis
Etisted with things in general, and feeling
that To break some ones head would be q re-
lief TO me In my present state OF mind. or
course, a sensible man would at once have
got his horse between the shafts and driven
home. But, whatever i may enow, inthose
days l was not q sensible maD-Brand will,
i know, cordially indorse this remark-the
accommodation OF the inn was not such as to
induce one TO linger within its precincts; but
the ire was a right good one, and q drink,
which | skiIlfully manufactured out Of some
not beer, was not to be despised, and proved
warming to the body and soothing to the
pfied temper. So / fingered over the big
The laDdlady assuring INT that she could cook
arashcr, decided ii would be wiser TO stay
where | was until the violence OF the snow
storm was over; for coming down 1t was now,
and no mistake!
And Il kept on coming down. About half.
naCf three tphan 4 Snrr0Ufnitv Aarihad II vyaQ
bound to make o move, il was showing faster
than ever. ] harnessed my horse, and laugh
Ing at the old woman's dismal prophecy that
j should never get to Midcombe In such
weather, gathered up the reins, and away /
went along the white road.
l thought l knew the way well enough. In
fact i had always prided myself upon re-
membering any road 0nce driven over by me;
but does any one who has not tried 1t really
know how q heavy fall OF snow changes the
aspect OF the country, and makes landmarks
then, once and for all. Ifound. also, that
the snow lay much deeper than | thought
could possibly be In 20 short a time, and 1t
still fell In q manner almost binding. Yet
went on bravely and merrily for some miles.
Then came q bit Of uncertainty
Which of those two roads was the right
one? This one, of ~c0urSe-no, the Other.
There wa nc house near; no one was likely
10 be passing In such weather, so / was left
to exercise my free, unbiased choice, a privi-
lege i would willingly have dispensed with.
However, i made the best selection i could,
and followed IL for some two miles. Then |
began to grow doubtful, and soon persuade
ing myself that i was on the wrong track, re-
Traced my steps. i was by this time m
thing like huge white plaster-of- paris fig
n .Se an ana the snow WHICH lla scsdInqiated on
Atom, more or less. BY the time i came TO
that unlucky junction OF roads at which my
misfortunes began, II was almost dark; the
sky as black as a tarpaulin, yet sending down
the white feathery fakes thicker and faster
than ever. j felt Inclined tocurse my folly In
attempting such q drive, at any rate I blamed
myself for not having started two or three
hours earlier. I'll warrant that steady going
old Brand never had 10 accuse himself Of such
fOOllshness as mine.
Well, l took the other road; went on some
way; came 70 2 turning which seemed to
remember and. not without misgivings. fol-
iowed u. My misgivings increased when,
after q little while, j found the road grew full
Of mts, which the snow and the darkness
quite concealed from me until the wheels got
was just thinking Of making the best Of my
way out Of this rough and mfrequented road,
when-there, ] don't know how II happened,
such things seldom occur TO me-a stumble, q
fall on the part Of my tired horse sent me fly-
Ing Ing over sSsgt re t Sasn sss Ss, with ns the G saliI SSns %r
hand.
Luckily the NOV had made the falling
pretty soft IsOon picked myself up and set
about estimating damages. With some dim
Guilty ] got the horse out OF the harness and
then felt free To inspect the dog-cart. Alas
after the manner of the two-wheel kind
whenever . horse thinks tit to fall, one shaft
had snapped on like Q carrot; SO here was !,
1ve miles apparently from Ally where, In the
thick Of . binding snowstorm. left standing
helpless beside . laded horse and Q broken
cart-I should Ike 10 know what Brand
would have done under the circumstance.
A. for me, ] reflected for some minutes
reelection IN q Bn0wstom Is weary work. !
reasoned, believe, logically, and at last came
to this decision: ! would follow the road. II,
~ ! Euspected, It Was but scart track, II
would probably soon lead to shabltation Of
some kind Anyway. 1 had better Try : bit
further. took hold OF tbs wearied horse,
and with snoW under my feet snow-fiakes
whirling round me. and awind blowing right
into my teeth, struggled on.
IL was 3 joumeyl think must have
been th~ree-quarters Of al hour going u5out
2 quarter Oh mile. ! was just beginning 70
dcepAir. when saw . welcome Rlealn OF
ny uo0hlss were = q snd. fOGad ths