Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1893-10-19

pose. Well, take my advice ana
on the shady side of the ROAD !" !. keep
II shall go through the woods J.
you. My sister will understand : ehank
With a friendly nod the younc ~,
went off. teiow'
Despard had been reused bv n.
with him. He got up now, ana ak
slowly round to the back of the bo vent
it was a place he had known ~
days-thus avoiding all risk of GOWN, va
across any of the guests. By ! naag
behind the stables he made his pau
slowly into the woods, and In ahoy, 10y
IN hours time he found himself. uhauu
these ended at the high road aIoao
which his sister must pass. There M
a stile near, over which, throuyh
field, lay a footpath to the cbnroh
known thereabouts as the old cbnroS
and here on the stile Mr.. Norrevs saaa.
ed himself to await Mrs. Selby
I've managed that pretty neatly,
he said, trying to imagine he was feel.
ing as usual, Il wonder who tha,
fellow was. He seemed to have heara
Maddie's name, though he did not knor
her."
He was perfectly clear In his heas
now, but the pain In it was rackino
He tried not to think, but in vain
Clearer, and yet more clearly, stood
out before his minds eye the stranca
drama of that AFTERNOON. And tha
more he thought Of II, the more ba
looked at 1t, approaching it from ey.
cry side, the more Incapable he no.
came of explaining Miss Ford's extyaor.
binary conduct. The indignation which
had at first blotted out almost all
other feeling gradually gave way to bis
extreme p~erplexity.
"She had no sort Of grounds for
speaking to me as she did" he reflect.
Ell. Accusing ME vaguely OF unwor.
thy motives-what could she mpanT
Then a new idea struck him. 'Soms
one had been making mischief Ia
thought; that must be it, though what
and how, / cannot conceive. Gertrude
Englew0od would not do il inteptjallv
but still saw that she was changed
to me. / shall have 1t out with her
After all, I hope Madeline's letter has
gone"
And a vague, very faint hope began
to make itself felt that perhaps after
all all was not lost. If she had been
utterly misled about him-if-
He drew a deep breath and looked
round. 1t was the very sweetest mo.
ment of a summers day existence, that
at which late afternoon begins softly
and silently to fade into early evening
There was an almost Sabbath stiffness
in the air, a tender suggestion Of
nights reluctant approach, and from
where Despard sat the white head
stones of some graves in the ancient
church yard were to be seen among
the grass. The man felt strangely
moved and humbled.
IF 1 could hope ever to win her"
he thought, Il feel as If I had it In
me to be a better mani am not al
all selfish and worldly, Maisie-sureIy
not? But what has made her Judge
me so cruelty? 1t is awful to remem,
Der what she said, and to imagine
what sort of an opinion she must have
of me to have been able to say IT. For
no, that was not my contemplate
oOnceit"-and his face flushed. 'She
was beginning to care for me. She IA
too generous to have remembered vim
dictively my insolence, for i~nsoience
it was, at the first Besides, she said
herself that she had been getting to
like and trust me Us a friend. TIL to-
day-has the change In her all come
from what / said to-day? No girl can
despise a man for the fact Of his caring
for her-what can il be? Good heavens
/ feel as IL / should 60 mad!"
And he wished that The pain in his
head. which had somewhat subsidized,
would get worse again, IL only it would
stop his thinking.
But just then came the sound Of
wheels. In another moment Mrs Sch
by's pony carriage was in sight, Des
pard got off his stile and walked SLOW
ly down the road to meet her.
$50 you faithless-" she began
for, to tell the truth, she had not at
tached much credence to the story
which had reached her Of the frightfu1
headache-but she changed her tone tins
moment she caught sight of his face
"My poor boy, you do look ill!' she et
claimed. II am so sorry. l would haVs
come away at onc IL I had known.
at doesn't matter" Despard replied
as he got into the carriage; but dd
you get my messenger
"Oh, yes; but 1 thought it was JUS,
that you were tired and bored. VIVA,
is the matter, dear Despard? You doh'
look the least IKE yourself
II fancy 1t. was the sun TINS morn
ing" he said. But it's passing OH
i think" -,
Madeline felt by no means sure ma
Il was so.