Dodge City times., 1890-04-17

my precious nfe?' LORD Harry repeated
lightly. You're thinking Of Mr.. Mount
saving. AS for my life" He ended the
sentence by a whistle. as the best way he
could hit on Of expressing his contempt for
his own existence.
my lord! my lordr' Miles persisted;
''the Invincibles are beginning to doubt
you. If any Of them find you hanging
about Mr.. Mountjoy's farm, they'll try
shot at you first, and ask afterwards
whether It was right to kill you or not"
To hear this said-aud said seriously
after the saving Of him at the milestone,
was trial of her flrmness which Iris was
unable to resist. Love got the better OF
prudence. She drew back the window
curtain. In another moment she would
have added her persuasion to the servants
warning, il Lord Harry himself had not
accidentally checked her by a proceed
ing, on his part, for which she was not
SHOW the light" he said; "rll write a
line to Mr.. Mountjoy."
He tore of the blsnk page from the note
to the housekeeper. and wrote to Arthur,
entreating him to change the time of his
departure from RathcO, and to tell no
creature in the house, or out of the house,
at what new hour he had arranged to go.
Saddle your horse yourself" the letter
concluded. 1t was written in IA feigned
hand, without signature.
''Give that to Mr.. MountjOy," Lord Har-
~ said. ''If he asks who wrote it. don't
frighten him about me by telling the
truth. Lie, Miles! Say you don't know"
He next returned the note for Mrs. Lew
son. "If she notices that it has been open.
1t, lie again. Goodnight. Miles-and
mind those dangerous places on your road
home"
The groom darkened his lantern. and the
wild lord was lost to view, round the side
of the house.
Left By himself Miles raped at the
ter from Mr.. Arthur" he called out.
Mrs. Lewson at once took tho note and
examined it by the light of the candle on
the hall table. Somebody has been read.
ing thisp' she exclaimed, stepping out to
the groom: and showing him the torn en-
velope. Miles promptly obeying his in
structions. declared that he knew nothing
about 1t, and rode away.
Iris descended the stairs and Joined Mrs.
Lewson in the hall before she had closed
the door. Tho housekeeper at once pro-
duced Arthur's letter.
ITS on my mind, Miss" she said, ''to
Mr.. Arthur which will persuade him to
take care of himself, on his way back to
the farm. The difficulty is, how am l to
express it? You would be doing kind
thing If you would give me word of ad-
Iris willingly complied. A second note,
from the anxious hOusekeeper might helD
the effect of the few lines which Lord
Harry had written.
Arthur's letter informed Iris that he had
arran,e ed to return at 8 o'clock. Lord
Harry's question to the groom, and the
memory: Are there any strangers at
Rathco?-'Two now men at work in the
grounds" Arriving at the same conclu-
/. sion which had already occurred to Lord
Harry, Iris advised the housekeeper, in
writing to Arthur, to entreat him to
change the hour, secretly, at which he
left his friends house on the next day.
Warmly approving Of this idea, Mrs. Lew
son hurried into the parlOr to write her
letter. Don't 60 to bed yet, Miss" she
said. 81 want you to read it before
send it away the first thing tomorrow
morning."
Left alone in the hall, with the door open
before her, Iris looked ont on the night,
thinking
The lives of the two men in whom she
was interested-in widely different ways
were now both threatened; and the immi-
nent danger. at that moment, was the
danger Of Lord Harry. He was an outlaw
whose character would not bear investiga.
ton: but, to give him his due, there was
no risk which he was not ready to con-
front for Arthur's sake. II he was still
recklessly lingering, ON the watch for as
sasstns in the dangerous nsighborhood of
tho farm, who but herself possessed the
influence which would prevail on him to
leave the place? She had Joined Mrs.
Lewson at the door with that conviction
in her mind. In another instant she was
out of the house. and beginning her search
In the dark.
Iris made the round of the building;
som etimes feeling her way in obscure
places; sometimes calling to Lord Harry
cautiously by his name. No living cree-
ture appeared; no sound OF . movement
disturbed the stiffness Of the night. The
discovery of his absence, which she had
not dared to hope for, was the cheering
discovery which she had now made.
On her way back to the house she be-
came conscious of the rashness of the act
into which her own generous impulse had
betrayed her.
II she and Lord Harry had met, could
she have denied the tender interest in him
which her own conduct would then have
vevealedi Would he not have been justi-