Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-07-22

In June Last year when, under the tull
moons glamor, l had put a certain
mOmentous question to a girl in a white
dress with white roses in the lace on
her placid breast, and would pride my
self on having kept my plighted faith.
So / fingered on, naming each to
morrow as the time for my going
back to fetch that promised bride OF
mine Of whom l had never yet spoken
10 Juanita, and letting still another
day slip by. At last / felt l must
speak 10 her, and as she laid aside
her mandolin after she had sung me
into an agony Of remorse and shame,
one night in the golden Indian sum
mer, / lay for a moment watching
the white rings Of smoke from my Gig.
ar rise on the scented night air, and
then l told her all.
3 ecniztf rgmg fyeieoffr I'll g.: I'll ..
The little dark head dropped as If
had smitten her with my hand, and
then something SCENE to leave me as
Gle mist Is liftd from the earth, and
~puug t0 my feet 10 seize her hand,
% swear that 1 loved her alone, and
all the world might 90 for her sweet
Slllc, when from the shadow Of the
porch there stepped her father, and as
he did so ! saw his silver-mOunted
pistol I'm his hand.
Dog Of an Americana, and it is thus
thou hast played with my child! Ny
child with the blood Of kings in her
veins. Die, for the traitor that thou
art" There was soft 1.-THE body
clinging to me I'm second, a dark head
ON my craven heart, and ere / could
free myself from her embrace a report
and then something warm and dark
In the moonlight stained my breast.
Juanita had saved me and she was
dead. CallizOta gave a half scream Of
grief and rage, but cooked his weapon
again, and as I heard the click OF
the trigger l laid the burden In my
arms gently down with a kiss on the
whitening lips and, rising, faced him.
shoot, shoot! See here" and I tore
aside my coat to show the linen white
beneath. He gave me one look Of
him, though In that moment / knew, II
l never know 1t again, the thirst for
death. But as he took deliberate aim
at the mark | had given him, there
was "a faint rustic In the bushes near
the porch and ere he could wheel
about to see his danger, there was a
CLEAN Of light as the moon caught
the length OF barrel of a Winchester,
and he pitched forward at my feet
with a bullet through his brain. Some
one Of his many enemies had found
him out!
The assassin came forth from his
hiding place as cody as one enters
a drawing room, and ere he bent over
his victim flashed his black eyes at
me through the strip Of mask he wore.
Just in time Ell, Senior Markham,
wasn't /? Though you owe me 40
thanks, for twas fate timed the slot,
not l. Now, as you know llttlo TOO
much for this neEhborhood to b.
quite healthy for you, you viii find a
good horse at the gate which win car
ny you straight to town aud the train
east, or to a hotter place even than
Texas, according as you guide him.
Stay. Give me your address, so that
your things can be sent after you,
that is IL you choose the stopping
place where anything earthly can reach
you. Have you money about you sutti-
Client for the journey to the cooler
climate? Yes? Then goodbye"
/ rode for the town. where l found
stupid looking boy waiting to take
my horse whispering rs his warrant
the words: BLACK Mask And as
the train sped east the iron wheels
rang uuis TO my poor romance without
20 hero, for six months after l mar
ried Maud, but often still
wonder why l do not care
For the things that are like the
things that We're,
Does half Of my hear lie buried there,
In Texas, down by the Rio Grande?
Villa Lloyd Jackson.