Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-09-22
EAGLES CRAG.

among the wild hills and mOOrlands of
Glen Lee. There had been but little snow
as yet, but for fortnight black and bit
ter frost had made the tracks like iron and
held the river in its grip. Over these lone
~ miles of heather, beyond where the deep,
lark loch lies with mountains on two sides
rising sheer from its brink, grim and steep
er than any prison walls, came a young girl
When the wind whistled round her with
a sharper, keener gust than usual, she hid
her face in her rough, homespun shawl
when the hand that held a basket nipped
and ached with the searching cold she
breathed on il and chafed it with the other
and now and then she kept lifting her eyes
to the sky somewhat anXiously, for the
early coming darkness seemed even too
early, and these were surely snow clouds
over Craig-ma-skeldie That little cottage
the very farthest that could be seen stand
ing lonely and remote away up on the far
off hillside, was her destination, and it was
a good two ho-rs' walk.
THE shaw . keep aft for awhile vet"
she thought, IAN if l shouldna win hame
afore dark mither'n haze the lamp lit in the
winda, an I'll no feel lanesome"
There is no place in the world more soli-
tary than those mountain glens in the dead
of winter, but this girl was not nervous
and she knew every step of the way. Be
tween her and her home there was only one
other dwelling. That was cozy enough
building of gray stone, with a tidy bit of
ground about it, just where the moorland
road began to slope upward and become a
hill track. Lizzie Lowden had long ago
made up her mind that she would take the
other side of the moor rather than pass
close by the door of Alan Grant, the game
keeper. There used to be two brothers at
Moorfoot-Alan, the gamekeeper, and
Sandie, the younger, shepherd NCv
there was but one, for Sandie, the "blythest
lad an the brawest in a the glen the
dainty chiel" of the "auld folk" and the
secret ane" in more than one maiden's
heart, had disappeared.
Disappeared suddenly and strangely, and
yet after the first talk had died down there
seemed little mystery in it after all San
die had too much push and spirit, some
said, to remain long what he was-a shep
herd in quiet glen He had been heard to
say that he would be "aff some fine day.
and they would need to find anither to
dance Chile Callum' at the gathering in
summer and sing a sang by the winter fire.
And one fine spring morning his dog
wandered, with dropped head and melan-
well known track, and all Alan said was
that Sandie "hadna cam hame last NIGHT,
and as his money has game, too, hesupposed
ne was spendin it somewhere"
AZ rae wonCcr, lie Was fair sick o the
likes of him. " was the cOm:nonest comment
when IBIS words were reported, for the elder
brother wa, no iaVorite. Big ala strong Y
made, with dark face and. silent taciturn
ways, he was no sympathetic companion
Tor MS lEht hearted brother. Ii Wo~Id he
year ago come April, and people had
ceased TO surn,lse or even TO TANK much,
out Lizzie LoWden Thought OF little else,
though she had spoken less than any, and
tonight her heart was full OF 1t.
she came TO pallng and put down her
basket to elmo. She had been running
Tor some distance before coming to it and
stopped a moment to take breath. Tie
moor rose n.medlato!y leycLd, and thtn
cipp'd into sort Of hollow. Beside the
pailng. little below where she WAS. lay Il
Dlggish stone. The ground was white,
though 1t was but a sprlnkling of snow
that covered 1t, but Just beside the stone
something drew her attention. She came
nearer The color rushed into her face and
LETT 1t pale The snow there was red dyed,
crlmsoned with blood, but that was not
All iHeie NelS Hlarho peyouu, CerrlDle
CHASTITY traces Here the impress of-eh,
could 1t beY handl There, as if some
heavy body had dragged itself or been
dragged up the slope, and all the way that
horrible CHASTITY track
Whatever it was-man or beast-it lay
just out of sight, hidden in the hollow.
Her breath came and went in little gasps.
Must she pass it, She would hide her eyes
and fly past, never looking, hardly stop
ping till she was near home, but for mo-
ment her limbs refused to move. Then,
long and low, on the frightful silence came
IA moan' She was woman, and pity
was stronger than fear. 1t was anguish
unto death that called her, and she almost
flew in the direction of the sound. Her
foot stumbled on something. Almost be-
fore she looked, with sick, shudderine
apprehension, she knew what it was-Alan
Grant, the gamekeeper's, gun, and-he had
moaned.
The man lay on bank of heather. His
hands clutched the twigs the snow hardly
whittier than his face, his eyes staring at the
sky. In moment the girl realized what