Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-04-17
ETHEL DANES REVENGE.

| have seen enough to know that he
is trifiing with me-that her doll-like
| face and baby tone have taken him
| from me; and [ will not endure it
| longer. This evening | will show him
that Ethel Danes love can not be
wounded with impunity, and I will
strike her, I hope, to death. He said
he would come this evening to
get me the flower"
The speaker. a beautiful girl. just
completing her seventeenth year, stood
at a deep bay window, whose thick
curtains almost hid her well-rounded
form. A pair of white hands were
| clinched as if in anger, and dark ewes
contrasted wildly with ashen lips. A
splendid gold watch, sparkling with
diamonds, glistened in a black belt
and she consulted it as the last words
fell from her tongue.
''Georgina Grenville, if I can not
outwit you | will don the veil and hide
my face from the world forever. De-
signedly you have drawn him to your
side but as designedly, l will take
him away. 1t is almost death to cross
the path of a Dane. Perhaps you have
not learned this, for you are young.
IneXorable fate has decided that I
must be your teacher. | accept the de-
cision, and this evening | teach you a
lesson you will never forget. Yes!
But there he is! | did not see him
come up the walk. Where were my
eyes?"
The silvery tones of the front door
| bell Interrupted Ethel Dane, and
springing from the parlor, she an
| swered the summons in person.
A beardless youth, whose dark eyes
matched her own so well, stood on the
steps and spoke her name in rich tones.
His appearance was noble, his face
prepossessing, and told that he had not
yet reached his majority
''Are you ready for the walk, Ethel?"
he asked. The evening is truly beau
tifui, the winds sleep, and
The Queen of night
Shines fair with all her virgin stars about her!
skirted the gorge and listed to the
| noise of the mad, muddy current. [
saw the tiower-that pretty flower
| Ethel"
so it is still there!" she cried eager
ly.
1T is, and in the moonlight looked
lovelier than ever. We will get it
presently. Seer' and drawing his coat
aside he revealed coil of rope. ut
shall greet the sun from your boudoir
window tomorrow, Ethel; l want to
see it in your hair"
She smiled.
But you shall not risk your life to
crafty foolish wish of mine" she
said Let the flower wither where it
was born"
No, no; it grew there for you, and
you alone shall have it. Come, Ethel,
let me 90; am INPATIENT
He waited at the door until she had
thrown some light vestment over her
head, and then walked away at her
side.
| The rain was flood at Ellesmere,"
he said plucking leaf from the elm In
whose dim shade they were walking,
land its waters have reached the gorge.
| You can hear them now Ethel"
The roar Ofangry waters grew louder
as they,,advanced through the wood, and
at last they paused directly above the
torrent. The chasm of Ellesmere, the
deepest in all Cumberland, was before
them; and far below the cliffs in the
moonlight the waters rushed toward
the sea. 1t was a narrow chasm, but
dangerously deep, and its sides were in
many places quite perpendicular. In
other places concavities existed; and
there, nourished by the drip drip Of
the stones icy perspiration, beautiful
ferns and flowers hourished.
Frank Hazel had often accompanied
Ethel to the spot they had reached. His
hands had fashioned a rustic settee, land
| placed it near the edge of the preci,
! pice. There, with the moon above
them and the waters beneath, they
had passed many hallowed hours. He
admired the imprisoned GIRL but
/ can not say that he loved her. But a
10 years of age he did not think very
much of the tender passion; his studies
at his tutors residence not far from
the cliffs had kept him from the courts
of the little god. But he loved the So
cietv of woman, the lisp of little girls
and their pardenable foibles.
Ethel Dane loved him from the first.
He seemed her beau-ideal of a lover,
and into her alteration she threw the
wealth of her passion-the voluptuous.
nessof her heart. She was happy in the
thought that he smiled on none but
her, until she discovered that his name
was often on the lips of Georgina
Grenville, girl whose father owned
a small estate on the Boyleston side Of
the chasm. The discovery irritated
her. She watched, and heard more,
and her jealousy magnifed molehills
thousand diameters.
Il won him trstr' she was wont tt
exclaim when alone. 'Georgins
| Grenville shall never wear him! What
l can not wear l will destroyr'
Frank Hazel had often leaned over
Ellesmere Crags and plucked ferns and
flowers for the imprisoned beauty;
hair. She encouraged him in this; ii
recalled the days of chivalry. of which
she was extremely fond; and he, fear
less to fault almost, delighted to win
the green and scarlet gems. One day
while wandering along the Boylestor
side of the cliffs, the young student
discovered a wondrously magnificen
flower that peeped from a cliff in the
rocks perhaps twenty feet below the
settee | have mentioned.
He fastened across the chasm and
examined the flower. 1t seemed a
first genuine tiger lily. but while i
belonged to the lily family it could no
bear that particular name.
1t was as large as his hand and grew
upon the end of rich emerald stem
Its six spreading somewhat crisp part
or leaves were rolled back at points
and its iyory-White skin was thickl7
studded with scarlet points or studs