The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1892-01-16

and | telling him till my throat was hoarse
that he must have made Il mistake L
can't nccount for this except, again, by the
fact that we were neither of us ourselves.
Everything seemed to me like a bad dream
from the stamping of the horses in the dark
ness to Saumarez telling me the story of his
loving Edith Copleigh from the first. He
was still clawing my shoulder and begging
me to tell him where Edith Copleigh was,
when another lull came and brought light
with it, and we saw the dust cloud forming
ON the plain in front of us. So we knew
the worst was over. The moon was low
down, and there was just the glimmer of
the false dawn that comes about an hour
before the real one But the light was
very faint, and the dun cloud roared like
bull
wondered where Edith Copleigh had
gone; and as was wondering saw three
things together: First Maud Copleigh's
face come smiling out of the darkness and
move toward Saumarez, who was standing
by me. heard the girl whisper, "George,
and slide her arm through the arm that
was not clawing my shoulder, and | saw
that look on her face which only comes
once or twice in lifetin.e-when a woman
is perfectly happy and the air is full of
trumpets and gorgeous colored fire and the
earth turns into clouds because she loves
and is loved At the same time | saw
Summaries face as he heard Maud Cop
leigh's voice, and five yards away from the
clump of orange trees saw brown holland
habit getting upon horse.
1t must have been my state of over ex-
citement that made Inc so quick to meddle
with what did not concern me. Saumarez
was moving off to the habit, but | pushed
him back and said: "Stop here and ex-
plain. I'll fetch her back" And | ran
out to get at my own horse. I had per-
feet unnecessary notion that everything
must be done decently and in order, and
that Saumarez's first care was to wipe the
happy look out of Maud Copleigh's face.
All the time | was linking up the curb
chain | wondered how he would do it.
cantered after Edith Copleigh, think
ing to bring her back slowly on some pre-
tense or another. But she galloped away
as soon as she saw me, and was forced to
ride after her in earnest. She called back
over her shoulder: ''Go away! I'm going
home Oh, 90 away two or three times;
but my business was to catch her first, and
argue later.
The ride Just fitted in with the rest Of
the evil dream. The ground was very bad,
aud now and again We rushed through the
whirling choking "dustdevils" in the skirts
of the flying storm. There was a burning
hot wind blowing that brought up a stencil
of stale brick kilns with it; and through
the half light, and through the dustdevils,
across that desolate plain, fickered the
brown holland habit on the gray horse.
She headed for the station at first Then
she wheeled around and set off for the
river through beds of burnt down jungle
grass, bad even to ride pig over. In cold
blood | should never have dreamed of
going over such a country at night, but it
seemed quite right and natural with the
lightning cracking over head, and reek
like the smell of the pit in my nostrils. l
rode and shouted, but she bent forward
and lashed her horse, and the aftermath of
the dust storm came up and caught US both,
and drove us downward like pieces of paper
don't know how far we rode, but the
drumming of the horses hoofs and the
roar of the wind and the race of the faint
blood red moon through the yellow mist
seemed to have gone on for years and years,
and l was literally drenched with sweat
from my helmet to my CATERS when the
gray stumbled, recovered himself and pulled
up dead lame. My brute was used up al
together Edith Copleigh was in a sad
state, plastered with dust, her helmet off
and crying bitterly. "Why can't you let
me alone ?" she said 81 only wanted to
get away and go home. Oh, please let me
CO."
You have got to come back with me,
Miss Copleigh. Saumarez has something
to say to you.
1t was foolish way of putting it; but
1 hardly knew Miss Copleigh, and though
| was playing Providence at the cost of my
horse, l could not tell her in as many words
what Saumarez had told me- l thought he
could do that better himself All her pre-
tense about being tired and wanting to go
home broke down, and she rocked herself
to and fro in the saddle as she sobbed, and
the hot wind blew her black hair leeward.
l am not going to repeat what she said
because she was utterly unstrung.
This, if you please, was the cynical Miss
Copleigh. Here was |, almost an utter
stranger to her, trying to tell her that Sau-
marez loved her and she was to come back
and hear him say so. believe | made
myself understood, for she gathered the
gray together and made him hobbe some
how, and we set off for the tomb, while
the storm went laundering down to Um-
balla and few big drops of warm rain fell.
I found out that she had been standing
close to Saumarez when he proposed to her
sister, and had wanted to go home to cry
in peace as an English girl should. She
dahha1 har avaS with har pockaf or