Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-12-16
A MOUNTAIN ROMANCE.


bronze, and had wandered away by them
selves-he. the brown bearded young west
crn metallurgist, with a successful career
opening before him. and she, the white
faced. delicate looking sojourner from Bos-
ton, with her creole hair and eyes.
The benediction of a perfect Indian sum-
mer afternoon lay upon the scene. The
cloudless sky so blue that it reminded her
of the exquisite coloring of an Easter egg
at home; the air so still that even the
trem bling of the aspen leaves ceased at in
tervals. the haze about the mountain top
like "A golden fog-it was an afternoon that
made one forget that there were ever ex-
trenes of temperature, or that the sun
beams must soon sink into the west. Even
the gaudy little chipmunks, from safe
eminences, placidly regarded the intruders
with indolent and contemplative eyes, and
the birds seemed mesmeriZed into drowsy
state.
They had sauntered for some time now,
and Madge was getting very tired, for the
way had been rough. She did not realizs
the time nor the distance they had wan
dered-she only knew that TO her the
whole thing was poem and painting so
exquisite that if she had heard an organ
suddenly burst forth into one of Handel's
masterpieces it would have seemed quite
III hctpluS Win tue place., dutl Sile WOulu
instilctively have fallen upon her knees
Boh's thoughts were quite different. He,
too, was lover of nature and capable of
deep feeling, but a perfect Colorado after
noon was not new to him, while his love
for Madge was; and his pleasure came
from seeing her keen but placid enjoy
ment. 1t was no accident on his part that
they were separated from the rest, and he
realized fully that they had been gone
over an hour and were a long distance
from the lake His happiness lay in being
alone with her, in watching the waves of
surprise and pleasure ripping over her
face as new shapes and new landscapes
opened upon her view, in answering the
childiike questions that dubbed from the
dark eyes and pretty lips, and more than
all in the thrilling touch of the slender
arms and the soft, warm hands as he as
sisted her over the rough places. 1t was
heaven to him and could not last long
enough
But when at last she gave weary little
sigh and sat down upon a convenient log
as they reached bit of level saying, "Oh,
dear I'm so tiredr' he responded quickly:
81 think, perhaps, we've gone far enough
It's getting along in the afternoon and is
time to start back"
"Are we very far from them?" she asked
suddenly, seeming to realize for the first
time that they might be.
about mile, should say, but really
haven't kept much track of the distance,
and This part of the trail is somewhat new
to me-
After this there was silence for some
time. He saw now that she was quite ex-
hausted, and it occurred to him that the
altitude was having some effect upon her
He blamed himself inwardly for his
thoughtlessnesss, and was about to ask her
II size had trouble in breathing, when a
sudden chill in the atmosphere, accom-
panied by movement of the air that set
the aspens to shivering violently, followed
by a gradual dimming of the sunshine,
caused them to glance simultaneously to
ward the sun. What appeared to Madge
like fog was hurrying across it, and
rapidly growing denser; and as she looked
up toward the highest point visible in the
west she could see the gray, mistlike sub
stance stealing in between and around the
rocks and pines and sweeping silently
down toward them. He answered her
look of interrogation by saying somewhat
abseatmindedly:
"Cloudsi A change of weather. / might
have known that the heat this afternoon
meant something IL | hadn't been thinking
OFF
He stopped abruptly and colored; but she
had turned and was absorbed in the curious
transformation that was going on. and lost
his last low spoken words
The gray column had completely OBJ
scured the sun and was moving rapidly
toward them now, leaving behind great
gray wall. They both shivered, and he
sprang briskly To his feet.
"As soon as you are rested Miss Cham
berlain, think we had better start back
1t looks as though we might have squat
and perhaps some snow. This is one of the
changes that are common here ut this sea
son Of the year. We foolishly left oul
wraps behind 1t was my fault, though
for you know nothing of these changes, Of
course"
She had risen now and started to speak.
"Dont you breathe easily?" he exclaimed
with some concern, noticing that SHE
pressed her hand to her chest.
She had paled little and now gaspet
two or three times before she answered
with a smile:
''It seems as though couldn't get quite
enough air in my lungs. have felt it sew
eral times this afternoon. It's trifiing,
she went on reassuringly; Il will TAX,
your arm, though, please, because | an
really very tired"
"What a very heavy fog, she continued,
snivering, after they had walked shor
distance. land how damp it is''
"You could hardly call it fog" he said
1--WE are in the midst of a cloud, and it il
an unusually thick one" he added after
pause, CHANGING about nervously.
The great gray mass had caught then
now, and had closed in upon them on ever.
side-beneath them, above them, arount
them, pressing against their faces ant
brushing their hands with its cold, clamm.
fingers, leaving moisture and chill witt
every touch.
There was no thought of fear in Madge'