Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1890-03-01

| home"
Meanwhile, the two dogs, Uno and
Inc, were to be banished. The village
| people were afraid Of them, and they
were to be taken away during the time
| Of the wedding, 10 an old house in the
suburbs, where a dog-fancier lived.
Your mother shudders at their very
sight" Madame yinton had said to ber
betrothed husband; "and I no longer
need such fierce protectors. am not
to be a lone woman any more. i will
sell the dogs If any IN can he found
10 buy them"
And the day before the wedding, she
with her own hands. led them TO their
new home, and knelt before them and
talked TO them as though they were
human beings, bidding them be good
and obey their new master.
"Only one night more" said Squire
Gilbert, as he took his beautiful brides
hands In his. only one night more,
dearest. Tomorrow you are mine"
He kissed her and turned away,
turned back TO kiss her hands over and
over again, fingered still, very 10th to
go, until at last she playfully drew 10
the door, saying that she never allowed
him to remain SO late. and that he must
go home; and he went down the garden
path.
1t was past eleven o'clock. The full
moon shone overhead, casting the
shadows Of the bare wintry shrubbery
In dark outlines on the white paths.
The iron gate, set deep in the stone
wall, looked like jet against snow, ia
contrast with the smooth road without.
A screech owl in the grove near by
uttered its melancholy who! who. who,
and the lover looked back at his lady't
house regretfully. IT seemed so lonely
a spot TO leave her in.
Stepping back, he looked mp at the
windows, where a light now shoue, and
ran against some In the road, who utter,
ed a foreign oath and struck at him.
Squire Gilbert turned, his hand in.
voluntarily going to his p~isto[belt: and
the stranger, on whose toes he had
trodden, followed the motion with hi:
eyes.
Excuse me-" he said, with a strong
French accent. you came out of this
house Ia such a hurry, at this late hour,
] believed you were. perhaps. a thief.
Pardon"
ut is my place TO beg pardon" said
the squire, whom the very accent OF
| his beloved ones native language mol.
lifted. II myself fancied | might have
met some dangerous person. hope
did not hurt YOU"
'Oh, no." said the other. II was
only startled q little. A thousand par
dons." And he passed on. The squire
also went his way.
After a few steps he looked back,
The stranger seemed Il have vanished
mysteriously into the earth. But II
seemed to Squire Gilbert that he never
shonld forget his long, hooked nose,
his pointed chin, the narrow eyes, set
close together, the straight line Of his
small mouth, and the intense blackness
of his hair and moustache--a very
Mephistopheles in modern costume.
On the morrow, bright and early, the
household was astir. The bridegroom
dressed in his new garments his mother
in her elegant gray satin and point
lace. But just as the moment came
for the carriage to be called. a messen-
ger from the house on the hill came to
the door in violent haste.
That morning, when the servants
awoke, they found the hall-door open,
and their lady gone. She had not re-
turned. Her clothing had not been
taken. Her wedding-dress was ready
TO put on; but her jewel-cases were all
unlocked and empty, as was the tiny
ornamental safe in which she kept her
money.
The wedding company was coming
in; the lady had not returned: no one
knew what to do.
Words cannot describe the conster-
patton Of the squire. lie hurried to
Madame Vlhton's house, and found all
as described. He Sent for the police,
for detectives from the nearest city.
He searched frantically far and near,
fearing to find his love lying dead in
some part of her garden, or the woods
near by. IL was many, many days be-
fore he gave up his hopeless wander.
ings.
He only thought OF accident. 1t
seemed plain 20 others that she had left
! the place OF her own free viii. having
| some unknown motive. At last the
squire himself declared that II Madame
Vinton had met with violence, her body
must have been found; but he still felt
perfect faith in her, and, In his miser-
able love and longing, cluug to the re-
newed hope that 1t gave him TO believe
her still alive. He took possession OF
the house on the hill, dismissed the
servants, and went thither to live alone.
''She will return some day." he said,
'and she shall find me there waiting
for her."
And, despite his mothers tears, never
unheeded before, he clung to his resolu.
ton.
One man only waited upon him, an
old and faithful servant; but one day
he sent to the dog-fancier to reclaim
the blood hounds, and Uno and Ino, led
in a leash came eagerly up the village
street, about noon, n windy March
day.
They dashed into the house wild with
Joy. They fawned on Squire Gilbert,
whom they had learned TO love. They
searched everywhere for Madame Vim
ton, and at last went down to their old
haunts in the garden. Longing fol
home joy at their return, seemed to
have softened their natures. But sud.
denly Uno, the fercest OF the two, put
his nose TO the ground, uttered a low
cry. and began to run about the place
in circles, shifting strangely. A mo-
ment more aud Ino initiated him.
Their eyes changed and burnt like
Goals of fire. their frames seemed ia
stiffen. They coursed about the garden
and out toward a field which had been
planted with vegetables, aud which lay
fallow under its late autumn plough.
ing.
About this field they circled, each
circle growing narrower, their noses
still to the ground. Then. with q
| trumpet-like call, they began to dig,
throwing up the soft earth about them
with fury.