Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-01-23

lightly. YOU'RE thinking of Mr. Mount.
joy, when you say that. His life is worth
saving. AS for my life" He ended the
sentence by whistle, as the best way he
could hit on of expressing his contempt fol-
his own existence
my lordl my lordr' Miles persisted;
''the Invincibles are beginning to doubt
you. If anyof them find you hanging
about Mr.. Mountjoy's farm, they'll try 8
shot at you first, and ask afterwards
whether it was right to kill you or not"
To hear this said-and said seriously
after the saving of him at the milestone
was a trial of her irmneSS 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, if Lord Harry himself had not
accidentally checked her by a proceed
ing, on his part, for which she was not
prepared.
''Show the light" he said; "I'll write
line to Mr.. MOuntjoy."
He tore off the blank 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 u feigned
hand, without a signature.
''Give that to Mr.. MountjOy," Lord Har
~ said. ''If he asks who wrote it, don't
brighten him about me by telling the
truth. Lie, MileSl Say you don't know
He next returned the note for Mrs. Lew
son. eff she notices that it has been open.
ed" he resumed, land asks who has done
it, 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
door with the handle of his whip. ga let
ter from Mr.. Arthur" he called out
Mrs. Lewson at once took the 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 it. and rode away.
Iris descended the stairs and Joined Mrs.
LewSon in the hall before she had closed
the door. The housekeeper at once pro
duced Arthur's letter
tits on my mind, Miss" she said, ''tc
write an answer, and say something tC
Mr.. Arthur which will persuade him to
take care of himself, on his way back to
the farm. The difficulty is, how am [ tc
express it? You would be doing a kind
thing if you would give me word of adj
vice"
Iris willingly complied. A second note,
from the anxious hOusekeeper, might help
the effect of the few lines which Lord
Harry had written.
Arthur's letter informed Iris that he had
arranged to return at 3 O'Clock. Lord
Harry's question to the groom, and the
mans reply, Instantly REQUIRED to her
memory: Are there any strangers al
Rathco?'-''Two new 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 go 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 out 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. If he was still
reckleSSly lingering, on the watch for as
saSSinS in the dangerous neighborhood of
the farm, who but herself possessed the
influence which would prevail on him to
leave the place? She had Joined Mrs.
LeWScC ct the door with that conviction
IN ner mlnu. 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 crea-
tura aDDPared. no SOuuQ of A 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 10 the house she be
came conscious OF the raShneSS of the act
into which her own generous impulse had
betrayed her.
If sDe and Lord Harry had met, could
she have denied the tender interest in him
which her own conduct would then have
revealed? Would he not have been justi-
fed in concluding that she had pardoned
the errors and the vices of his life, and
that he might without improperly remind
her of their engagement, and claim her
hand in marriage? She trembled as she
thought of the concessions which he might
have wrung from her. Never more"
she determined, 'tshalI nv own folly be
answerable for it, if he and meet again. }.
She had returned to Mrs. LewSOn, and
had read over the letter to Arthur, when
the farm clock, striking the hour, remind
ed them that it was time to retire. They
slept badly that night.
At six in the morning one of the two Ia
borers who had remained faithful to Ar
thur, was sent away on horseback with
the houSekeeper's reply. and with orders
to wait for an answer. Allowing time Tor
giving the horse rest. the man might be