Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1891-11-12

]
ma Vrecken; when he next looked up the
scene had nightly changed.
He lay in a noble apartment, simply
and deicately furnished with pearly
hues sparingly Aecked with dead gold;
lofty walls with dark polished panels
finely carved; tall narrow windows heav-
| fly draped with gray Velvets threaded
with furnished gold; an ancient room as
any in Hollywood
The bed he lay on was canopied and
draped in antique fashion, its curtains
/ had been swept apart at the foot, TO al
low the clear soft light OF Waxen taper
TO fall upon his face. This taper was
held in the hand OF q lady who was
/ watching him with rapt attention. for
/ few moments he gazed full in her face
/ before she seemed TO believe him awake
| and in his right mind
The pleasant crackle Of fire in a dis
tant part OF the room was all the sound
he heard.
What q strange, sad, brooding face
hers vast So wan, so transparent, that
he felt a shock almost as il he had seen
/ a spirit IL was very evident that she
had history; storms had passed over
that face, her eyes burned with the con-
Stunning fire of an ever living pain.
She had been very beautiful, of
graceful, spirituelle type, with the re-
| fined sentiment and elegant graceS OF
gentle birth; but the glory OF her day
was past; her noble form was wasted,
deep melancholy darKened her express
sion
Her dress was severely simple, no
faintest attempt at decoration relieved
| it. and yet she wore il with such grace,
the lines of her form were so flowing,
that she lent a majesty to the dress
which no splendor could have given.
As his fainting faculties returned to
him, Edgar contemplated this woman as
if she had been vision; but the spell
was broken when she moved to bend
over him with anxious solicitude-
Full recollection returned to Edgar,
and with it the darting consciousness
that here stood Lady InchcaPe, his klns-
mans lost wife.
Lovely as he had heard her called, sor-
rowful, pining as under a crushing and
over present aftiiction- Surely this was
Engelonde Inchcape, for whose sake
Lord Inchcape had renounced the world,
and buried his noble powers and ambi-
lions in brooding solitude in the meridian
of his days
In sudden overpoWering excitement
Edgar sprang up, stretched out his hands
to the lady and made a gasping attempt
to utter her name, but he fell back In
stantly, pressed down by the heavy hand
of weakness and pain and could only lie
white and painting, with yearning look
fastened upon her.
Startled by his abrupt movement, the
lady flew TO his side and took his hand
In her own small, burning ones.
%Are you in pain? l am so sorry, "
said she sweetly. what can do for
you?"
He lifted her hand to his lips and
J kissed it fervently, and still he could not
command his voice 10 speak.
@You are very weak, and must not ex-
ert yourse f, p" said she, soothingly. SYou
have been dreadfully hurt, though not
, motally, and no bones are broken / am
glad to have such good news to tell
you" She smiled gently, and seating
herself by his pillow, began to fan him
with a soft plumy scented fan, talking
} still in low, friendly tones that stole
about the heart Of her unknown kinsman
with a strange power. @YOu want to
r hear the fate of your crew; be at peace,
z they were all saved, every one. A few
! fractures and Commissions, that is the
worst; but they are all made comforta-
3 BILE and are asleep in the cots of the
5 Highland fishermen down by the shore
Does that relieve you?H
q He nodded mute assent; his mind wa:
in such confusion that he could dc
nothing but lie and regard her with his
g soul in his eyes
Sweet lady, is this your fate? Chained
| to this sterile rock in the midst OF the
d seas, consigned to your gnawing grie
r unhelped and uncontrolled, while YOU
J.. bright beauty wastes in its summer
n prime
Alasl beautiful Engelonde Incheape
a what had you done to deserve this?
n @YOu are trying to recall whether YOU
1 have ever seen me before, said she
shrinking uneaslly under his uncon
n sciOus gaze. mo, no; we are ute
: strangers to each other. You are il
Dunraven Tower, and my simple High
+" land folk call me their lady, because
o am the wife Of their absent chief. How
e should you have met recluse like me-
Y No, no. no; our paths in life lie IA
. apart Her voice died away, shI
p? brOoded mournfully over the thought
e suggested by her own words.
d Edgar shook of the preOecupatiOl
which had hitherto held him dumb; h
l. had resolved upon his course.
d If he had indeed found Lord Inch
cape's vanished wife and daughter il
10 this seclusion, he had by chance STUN
,r bled upon a secret which the earl ha,
= never chosen to confide to him. 1t wa
N clear that as yet Lady Inchcape did no
suspect that he was her husbands heir
Is nor had he any right to cOmplicate tn
(, situation by enlightening her. III
.e might not long be Obliged TO intrud
lr here-he determined to make an effor
10 TO maintain his incOgnito; at least IN
IS til he had confessed his involuntary in
Therefore he answered Lady Inch
'e caPs's last words by the statement
le meant to reassure her evident anXiet
ID lest he might have recognized her fact:
mo, madam, / am sure 1 have neYe
m met you anywhere before, far as 1 hav
d travelled. ! should never have forgotte
IS you And now that 1 owe my life [
re- your goodness, l trust the day may com
when may prove my gratitude. ALLOW
" me to give you my name-Edgar; al
III an Englishman.
ss He could not look at her, or speak {
re her in the impersonal conventions
g, fashion warranted by their brief AZ
n quaintance, with all that he knew of he
a in his heart; and she felt the peculla
De magnetism of his manner; she was a
I traeted strangely, e. cry word he spok
id entered her heart as genuine.
Il make you welcome to my lionel
IS home, Mr.. Edgar" said she with he
5, pensive smile; although your visit wa
involuntary and we have the tempest I
IN thank for our introduction to each othe
w None enter here from the outer worl
III save the wretched and the LOST IL
u pathetic voice paused here and sh
n seemed to follow the thought suggeste
ID by her last words a little way, her Nv
ut brilliant eyes fixed on vacancy, but 500
III she reused herself and went on; $50 thu
we have little TO tempt US TO watch th
Ne ocean, and we had almost let you peris
," Eefore your yacht was discovered in th
q binding drift. We have life saving al
~ paratus in readiness, and the hsherme
n are accomplished surfmen; but in th
&c absence OF their leader Kenmore (yOJ
he pilot they were not so vigilant perhaI
IN as usual, and no one observed the lit
{ in dfcfraGe until my hriRhr