Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1893-05-29
IN BEAUTY'S GUISE.

For moment he stared in dazed wonder
at pair of fat cherubs pictured on the
canopy stretched between the four tall posts
of the old fashioned bedstead ON which he
lay. The room was in semigloom, but the
cherubs stood out in bold relief from their
white background, Then he looked about
him and endeavored to collect his thoughts.
Eagerly he CROPPED back after straws that
would direct his puzzled memory, and
presently, his eyes becoming more and
more used to this dim half light, he caught
sight of a red coat, torn and muddy, lying
across the back of a great armchair near
the door. With this there came to him
vivid recollection of scene-far off, 1t
seemed in the years long gone but sharp,
clear and well defined-a rough stubble
field, over which score of horses, each
mounted by an enthusiastic huntsman,
are madly flying at top of their speed.
Himself in the lead, he hears the Others
following him closely, while just ahead
there is the chorus of the hounds in full
cry, and the fox itself may be seen darting
across the open, not so yards in advance Of
the foremost of it's pursuers.
One hedge more to take, and the hunt
will be over The brush will be his. 1t Is
but an instant and he feels the horse be-
he is going as though he never meant to
stop, and then-a sudden breath taking
plunge forward. Even as he braces him
self for the shock, in less than heartbeat,
he knews that the brute has stumbled,
that the horse and he are falling together,
and he instinctively struggles to free him
self from the stirrups. Then darkness
black as Egypt, and after that-the fat
cherubs on the canopy of his bedstead.
The torn, mud spattered red coat on yon-
der chair told him that he had been brought
to this room directly from the field, and
with this link forged he began to run along
the chain and to try to read the story of
Others He wondered as to the time that
had elapsed since the accidents whether his
injuries were serious; to whose house he
had been carried; under whose care he had
been placed. He made an effort to raise
his head to look about him, but as he did
SO sharp pain, excruciating and cruel,
shot through every nerve of his being, and
he cried out in the fierce ageny of the mo-
ment.
Then he became conscious that n woman
had risen from place close by his bedside
and was standing looking down at him
with great, lustrous eyes, in the depths of
which he decried an unspoken passion.
Tall, slender and with a dignity that was
regal, she seemed to him the quintessence
of feminine grace and queenly beauty. Her
face was pale as marble and stern as fate,
but in her wondrous eyes was longing
that wooed him; that brought his breath
in quick, convulsive gasps; that-made his
heart beat faster, and that spread over the
pallor of his cheeks flush that burned like
fever. He stretched forth his hand and
clasped her long, taper fingers and held
them, cool as stone, in his feverish grasp.
When some time after the doctor came in
to rearrange the bandages on his injured
head and found him with his eyes open,
gazing, pleased smile on his lips and his
fingers nervously reaching out for the hand
which had suddenly eluded him, the pro-
fessional man looked grave, and a tear
trembled for moment on his lashes.
Doctor" the patient pleaded In voice
SO weak as to be scarcely heard even in the
stiffness Of this darkened room, tell me
her name. She is my nurse, is she not2
She will not leave me. Not for a moment,
aNotn- DON'T lot har 90 fran ma"