Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1892-08-20
"A Dangerous Game.
sY THE AUTHOR OF .NrY DEAREST mEAHr.'
CHAPTER I.

VI NAV ~ At0lt III - 'AhaAAg NtAa ~ 49,
Itself all unconsclously 10 them with the
prose of every day. existence-some that
their lives have he'd no story, have been un-
eventual and regular throughout, and that
not even n thought uncomfortable to rule
has entered into their minds.
/, Viola Thorne, had often longed, girl
like, for the time when some glimmer Of
romance shauId penetrate to my path-for |
had fancied must be sweet and
pleasant; and, suddenly and unlocked for,
as my eyes first alighted on st. GabriePs
Grange, the CLEAN came, falling with the
bright moonlight across the carved and
pointed gables, the square b~attlemented
central tower, the twisted chimneyS, and
The great mullinned lattice-paned windows.
remember thsta white owl wa perched
on the bare bough Of one Of the trees that
aarkly overliung the harrow lane along
which we drove; 1t rose up with a boot Of
alarm, and ! was watchingit curiously, when
. turn In the road and a gap amid the skele-
ton branches suddenly revealed the Grange,
my future home.
There were some black ~fir-trees behind IL,
aud the mOonbeams shone out in contrast
intensely white and clear ON the gray-stone
pinnacles and bays on which they rested.
We were some distance from the rouse yet,
! and we looked across 4 broad lake, lying
part I'm gloom beneath n rank overgrOwth Of
shrubbery, aud part In light, where the
round moon was reflected in the still water
IN the midst of a faint shadowlng Of the far
away gables aud tower.
/ could have believed Wa were passing by
only the ghostly semblance Of a mansion,
looming there against the clOudless sky,
and lit up by the spectral ~mOonbeams, and
! | gazed at II with drawn-in breath and
trembling pulses; il looked so lovely, and
yet so weird.
The coachman turned round his head to-
wards me, and broke the silence forthe first
time during my fye-mile drive.
THAT is the Grange he said, pointing
with his whip, and then turned back to urge
on the horse 10 a faster pace.
And | looked at the Grange, wonderingly
Imagining what those mighty walls held for
me, and thanking In my heart the fate which
had led me 10 their stately beauty. ] was
fascinated by It's melancholy and loneliness,
80 strange TO me, and loved 1t from that
hour.
Ny life had been so uneventful and so
dull, / longed for something new. i was
| one Oh tiElA t4AiltAAfls anu Altt blu btif. TIE
out-Of-place and isolated one one sometimes
finds In a large family. My two elder SIS
tiers were companions from b~abyhOod; my
eldest brother was in business and about "a
marry his partners daughter; then ! came,
and after me two lads OF seventeen and fiji.
teen, and two young girls at school, AZ
eighteen It had been proposed that should
quit the hOme-circle and work for myself,
and for more than two years ! had done so,
! had been a goyerneSs 10 half-a-dozen noisy
spoilt children for one year, aud for nearly
eighteen months after that | had been chain,
ed TO the side of an old lady and her poodle
as a companion. Ny own home was in 0
quiet cathedral city. My governess-experi-
ence was gained IN . northern manufacture
Ing town. and my last place of residence
had been a country village. Terraces and
semi-detached villas had been my abode all
my life. and | was sick Of them-sick of de-
corous gossip, of routine and peaceful mo-
nOtOny.
The very name of ST. Gabriel's Grange al
tracted me, for il seemed 10 hold posSibill
ties 10 be reader and ~amanuensis 10 an old
gentleman was nj least a change from my
previous occupations The salary was large
the requirements were not very great-mere
IN that | must read aloud, slug. and PLAY
chess; and. after numerous particulars had
been somewhat perempt0rily exacted, | was
engaged.
On this January evening when | first saw
the Grange-l had been travelling for foul
or five hours before-I was met - Norbury
| Station by the vehicle which was tOtake m'
~ my destination. 1t had been a dG1l, damp
day before the moon got up, my Journey
was slow and tedious, and |, well wrapped
up though | was, had grown cold and de
pressed. But somehow ! forgot the weari
ness when j looked on those gables and bat
Elements and shining easements, and with a
strange intensity Of interest fell 10 wonder
Ing what was the story of that horse and IL
Inhabitants.
We turned from the cOuntry-road mp
broad drive; there was a little cottage at the
entrance, scarcely to be styled a lodge, fOl
its architecture was of the simplest deScrip
ton, and the large gate stood open As II il
did not receive much attention from it,
keeper.
In the moonlight | saw the house before
me, 10 my right hand, and one window a
the side facing me was, | noticed, In mp; Il
was a large bay-winnow with lOZenge-shap
ed panes, and midway a coat-of-armsi in ricl
colors shone forth. To the left were park
land and plantation. and IN the middle dis
lance a CLEAN of white revealed the locality
OF the lake we had passed.
In front of the house ran a narrow terrace
walk some three or four feet higher than
the drive, and leading mp the bank 10 the
great doorway We're broad stone steps will
a heavy balustrade, guarded at either enc
by a stone eagle, the Gascoigne badge.
An elderly woman received me i'm a large
half-lark hall In which hung some FURNISH
ed armor and gloomy oil-paintings; on eacf
side were doors leading TO other parts of the
house-for indeed the hall was as an en-
closed courtyard, with a beautiful fretted
roof, around three sides OF which the man
sion was built.
II will show you 10 your room, Mis-:
Thorne," said the woman, 'if you will fol
low me. Ny lady Is dressing; but she will
see you when YOU come down."
She opened the half-glass door farthest
from us, leading the way into a wide oak
panelled passage and up a broad staircase,
"John and wilkins will bring up thc
boxes, and, IL there Is anything you want
miss, kindly let me know"
"Are you the housekeePer?' l asked, re-
garding her stiff silk dress and comedy coun
tenance.
"Mrs. Creams, at your service. miss. vii
you please TO require anythingw' -