The National tribune., 1892-11-10

charge, to be received with a dose like the first
Again he fell back and rolled in the dust, bit
ing savagely at everything he came in contact
with. nm an
In spite of his precariOus situation, Hardie
could not help laughing. it was all so ridcu.
lous Suddenly, however, he stopped. 1t had
lust struck him that lie was very very sick
and he began to feel deathly faint The fear
which presently smote him. that he might no,
long be able to keep his seat, did not tend to
make him feel better.
There was rife-slfot close at hand and the
bear, who was ust returning to the attack, fell
to the ground, then picked himself up and
started to charge at his new enemy. Two
more shots were fred and Bruin again fell to
oarth-this time twitching in tho death -strug-
gle.
Then Mr. Leonard Hardie descended precipi-
lately from his perch, and for few momen is
was aware of little else than that he was ex-
tremely i'll, and that there was young female
person standing there with rife in her hands,
laughing unrestrainedly at him. 1t was a
small, brown, plump. astonishingly pretty
young person about Is years old, and her
laugh showed that she had sweet mouth and
excellent teeth. As Hardie recovered some
what and turned to her, she gasred, between
paroxysms of laughter: "Oh, Pm so sorry,
but-ha.ha! saw it all, and it was Just too
funny for anything!" And she burst into an
other peal of laughter, in which Hardie joined,
and almost forgot he had been i'll.
After few minutes, he recovered himself,
and asked:
ITO whom am l indebted for this timely
rescue?"
ooh, I'm Berry-otherwise Berenice-
Powell. My father is engineer at the Hardie
mine in Ludlow I've been over at Lake
Heron visiting for three weeks And your"
Il am Leonard Hardie, and your willing
slave for having drawn me from the jaws of
death, or may be drawing the jaws Of death,
into which / was nearly ready to drop, away
| from me-"
They both laughed again, and then Hardie
found his shotgun and walked into camp beside
Miss Powell's pony, and later went out with
Penhallegon and got the bears hide for pre-
| sentation to his fair rescuer.
| They became great friends. Berry was q
natural artist. and had cultivated her talents
| to some extent when she attended school at
| Denver. She was an enthusiastic lover of gun
| and rod, and far more expert with them than
| was Hardie. She had little to do, except to
| enjoy herself so hardly day passed that these
| two did not 60 somewhere or other to hunt, or
| fish, or sketch.
| This mountain maid was q revelation to
Hardie. Pure and simply noble as one of the
grand snowy peaks, behind which they saw the
sun 20 down; fresh and innocent, artless, and
childishly frank; brave. honest, aud tender
hearted, and wonderfully, charmingly, pretty.
Is it wonder that before many days Leonard
Hardie looked eagerly forward to the next
days outing aud that he was happy only when
she was with him?
She was so different from the girls he had
known-so happily differentiated Leonard
Hardie was much like other young men. So
as he had come to love the rugged mountains,
the glorious climate the glad, free atmosphere,
he soon grew to feel towards this child of the
mountains sentiment that was new to him,
and that kept him dreaming asleep, and pom
dering awake.
There were times, when they were together,
that he felt ali ost Irresistible impulse to clasp
her to his heart and tell her all-but yet he
feared for there was liking, but not yet love,
in the frank gaze of the honest eyes she turned
towards his. And then, when he was alone.
he was deeply worried. Ought he to think of
such a marriage?-a marriage with girl of
plebean stock, whose mechanic father was
rough and boarish, and, occasionally, hard
drinker; plain unlettered man, with a wife
of his own class? What would the Hardies.
pcre, mere, ct files, think of such mesalliances
And what would they say and what would
Mrs. Grundy think and say?
For Leonard Hardie was proper and con.
siderate young man-eminently SO. He was
trammeled with the moss grown traditions of a
long line of pstrcian ancestors (all eminently
proper, and by the hidebound conventionali-
ties of 10Th century upper tendom; and it is
hard to break suddenly away from these.
The days and weeks passed, aud the end was
no nearer. Hardie was doubly tortured by
doubts and fears. Should he? Dared he? And
equally distressing-could he win ? Did she
care for him? The time must soon come for
him to decide the first two questions. At the
times when he felt that these two were un-
worthy consideration, he set his teeth firmly
and decided the third-he would win. And
the fourth? Hardie did not know.
Sometimes he thought that there was re-
ciprocal feeling in Berry's heart for him and
again he would feel certain that he was no
more to her than were other men.
During the last two weeks Of his stay, how
ever, he noticed, with much joy, a change in
her demeanor toward him. He could not ex.
acty define it. but the change was there. 1t
had begun in gratitude. Hardie had one day
earned this by saving her father from being
half, or perhaps wholly, murdered by two des-
perate characters at Rosewood, neighboring
camp, whittier Powell had gone while ON one
Of his periodical sprees. The old fellow had
gotten into al alteration with the two roughs,
and was being terribly pounded when Harde,
who had been hunting near by, happened to
come along and rescued the engineer, escort.
ing him away, with his gun loveled on the old
mans half drunken assailants who threatened
vengeance.
When Berry thanked him for this service
there was an indefnabe something in her
demeanor that made Hardies heart leap; and
thereafter he watched for and found indications
that ne was more to her than mere friend.
But the end of his visit had to come sometime,
and it came Unexpectedly. One afternoon he
received message from his mother, requesting
him to start for home at once in order to es-
cort her and the girls to Italy, whittier her
physician had ordered her for the Winter, and
Leonard, being an obedient son, at once began
preparations to comply with the maternal man
date. He must start to morrow, in order to
reach New York in time to catch the steam
ship his mother proposed to take.
In this emergency there was but one Of two
things to do-and Hardie's fears as to what his
people and MRS. Grundy" might say or
think were dissipated to the four winds under
the influence Of Berry's magnetic presence
that night.
They sat late on the rustic seat In the
shadow Of the tall pines in front of the Powell
home, talking of inconsequent things. Har-
die told her. early in the evening, that he was
to leave at daylight, and he thought the news
had depressing effect upon her.
They watched the moon travel slowly across
the heavens and listened to the cry of the
whippoorwill and the bowls of the wolves over
in the woods ON Eagle Mountain. Once q
panther screamed-that HORRIBLE heart rending
scream as of person in mortal agony-and
Berry shuddered and drew closer to her COM
panion. -ss1s3 ~
For soma TINA fhav sat in silence Than