The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1893-09-29

M IN ~
hand, and the yCunQ clergyman afelt
the thrills of nervCns terror which
shook the girls frame, and for mo-
ment he put reassuring arm about
her shoulders, and wondered at himself
when he felt such strange and name
less sense Of gladness in every nerve.
She slid from his touch and melted
away into the shadows and the mist,
and Miles, all unheeding the wet grass
as 1t swished around his legs, struck out
across tn. meadows for home. For
after what he had heard, he would not
waiting to carry him. hCme. ~
He was wet through when he reached
his house, but he did not stop for dry
clothes. He saddled his strong bay
horse and giving him the rein, rode
directly to the residence of Judge For
rest in the outskirts 1.-THE village. The
jud was just home from a prolonged
session Of court in the city, and he
listened to what Miles had to tell with
close attention. 81 fN aHt a
BE on hand by. sunrise he said
tersely; "this is a thing that must be
attended to at once. Your Agnes Les
lie is a crafty and desperate woman.
| | have lived here for some time, and
l have heard something of the affairs
at Ashcroft ere this. And this woman
hates ROsalie Beaumont because she
unwittingly won her lover-a certain
Captain C1aremOnt- her. Not
that Miss Beaumont cared a picayume
for him-so people said-but it amount
| ed to the same thing. The captain got
! disenchanted and went back to the
i frontier and married a buxom half
breed, and Miss Agnes pined in single
blessedness. Women hold these things
terribly hard against each other"
At early dawn Miles was ready and
waiting for the judge. When that gen
tleman came he had two constables in
plain clothing with him. They went
to Mary Gilbert's first, and took the
| two women with them to Ashcroft.
| A close carriage stood at the hall
+ door, and Forrest, stopping his own
horses in the shadow of a great sy-
ringa bush, drew Rosalie's hand within
his arm, and assembled the broad stone
steps.
Just then the house door opened and
Agnes Leslie, accompanied by a couple
| of rough-looking men, came out. AS
her eyes lighted on Rosalie she sprung
forward and fixed vise-like grip ON
her arm
Here she is, DR.. Eamesv' she cried,
dragging the young girl forward. ooh.
take her away at once! I do not feel
that my life is safe moment while
she is at liberty. There is never any
knowing what an insane person may
dor
"Stop a moment, my good SIR" said
Judge Forrest, laying a firm hand OIL
DR.. Eames' arm, as he was grasping the
terrified Rosalie. ''Who are you? and
by what authority do you attempt to
control this young lady's movements:"
Il am not responsible to you, sir"
returned the doctor haughtily, "and I
have the authority of Mrs. Bronson
Beaumont, her fathers widow, to take
her away to an asylum, of which 1
have the management, for treatment
for insanity
"Of Mrs. Bronson Beaumont?" said
the judge slowly; land who is Mrs.
Bronson Beaumont, pray?"'
Agnes came forward with stately
mien, her dark eyes cleaning cold and
cruel.
Il am Bronson BeaumOnt's widow"
she said haughtily-"I was married to
him only half an hour before his DEATH"
You went through the wretched
farce of marrying a dead mani" said
the judge, still in that calm deliberate
tone, which carried so much weight
with it when heard from the bench
'and when that farce was enacted.
Bronson Beaumont had been a corpse
for the full space of sixty minutes.
And in the name of this outraged COM
monwealth, I arrest you, and Justin
Games, otherwise known as John Star
buck, on the charge of conspiracy to de-
fraud. Officers. do your duty
And before either of the astOnished
conspirators could lift hand in self
defense, they were secured and held
in the safe custody of the cOnstables
And it was Courtney Miles who led
Resale Beaumont into her fathers
house, and who stood with her beside
her dead, and whispered words of
cheer and comfort which came from
the heart-the heart of a man who
loved her with the great and deep love
of his manhood. and who when the
/ twelve months had passed made her
Ills wife, and went to live with her
in the stately house at Ashcroft.
AS for Agnes, she put an end to her
life in prison; and DR.. Games is serving
out a sentence passed upon him in Il
previous count, for unlawfully detain-
ing patient at his so-called asylum
When his term is over, he will be
arraigned for the attempted abduction
OF Rosalie Beaumont.