The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1894-11-10

run away W Sosc uiiASCiis ohu w. AAo, L
as he supposed, to be eaten by fero-
cious bear; and made up my mind l
would never have anything to say to
him again, and almost wished papa
would break his back. Then the storm
came on, and / was more frightened
by it than by the bear, for it was real
l had only gone little way, trying to
retrace my steps to the Royal, when
black night seemed to shut suddenly |
down. and / was afraid to move for
fear of falling down the mountain, so
stood still and waited"
"And shrieked."
81 suppose so-when the lightning |
came. Any girl would in such fix. |
don't know how long ] stood there, but
about week l should judge by my
feelings, when you came up and
threatened to bite me-"
81 didn't / said / was not going
to-"
s,Ohl Well, / understood you the
other way"
After long time the rain ceased, l
mounted her on the horse again, and
we succeeded eventually in reaching
the Royal, but only after the most
abominable walk l ever had. The
road, under the thin, slippery mud,
was full of stones and ruts, and 1T Is
as easy to sprain your ankle in such
place as to draw your breath, SO we
had to go slowly.
We arrived at the hotel little be-
fore midnight, and found torchlight
procession of searchers about setting
out to sco-Ir the forest for missing
Miss Jennie Cranshaw-the girl had
found Naturally they gave her sort
of magnifed prodigal-son reception,
and came in for a very fair share OF
congratulations and popular approval.
Her father-a sturdy, ru bicund, posi-
tive old iellow-was quite enthusiastic
| in his gratitude to me. Jennie, to my
great surprise, told frankly the story
of her wicked elopement. l thought
| her rash, at the time, but see now that
it was shrewd play. Your own YER
sion of story about your personal al
fairs is likely to suit you much better
than one somebody else sets afioat;
and then, what chance it gave her
| to balance accounts with Clarence, and
give quietus to any possible scandal
connecting his name with hers!
Owing to the lateness of the hour
and the evil plight of the road l de-
termined to stay at the Royal that
night. Just as l was going to my
room / remembered the special de-
livery letter" Saying Good night,
Mr.. Gran shaw" reminded me of it, for
.sB. b. Cranshaw' was its address.
He thanked me heartily for bringing
it, as it was important; and before sep
arating for the night we exchanged a
few Joking words about the strange
condolences of the affair
Though neither Of us thought so at
the time, the chain of queer coinci-
dences was by no means ended As he
told me the next morning, the letter
was from his lawyer, whom he had
commissioned to investigate the de-
STABILITY of investment in certain
business which advertised for capital
required by it's expansion. The agents
report was altogether favorable. He
found the business solid, the opportu-
nifty for investment exceptionally
good, and the character he gave to the
advertiser, Mr.. Richard Renfrew, was
higher than my modesty will permit
me to repeat, for-l am Richard Rem
frew That was formal introduction
practically, which at once made my
standing good with Mr.. Cranshaw, ano
, am happy to dispose of this branch
of my story by saying that our bust
, ness relations were readily established
on mutually satisfactory basis.
After bre akfast the Cranshaws ant
myself were chatting on the porcl
while / waited for my horse to b.
7 brought around, when a blackboard
: halted before the house, and a misera
! bly, tattered, draggled, limp and woe
: begone looking little fellow alightet
: from it.
q "Clarencer' cried Jennie.
4 Good gwacious!' stammered the
= wreck, staring up at her in amaze
n ment.
!. "Clarencer' echoed score of voice
4 from the porch and the open window
!, of the dining-room. In a minute Their
. were at least fifty ladies and gentle
7 men inspecting him, laughing an
q chafingly calling:
v where's your bear?"
y "Why didn't you bring your bea
r along?"
"How did you escape the bear?'
"a The volley of ridicule dazed him. II
II dotted his hat, stared -blankly at tn
e soothing faces and gasped. huskily:
,e II wun for help, y knaw, because
e had no aims; and got lost in tn
If hawid woods. l wandered all nigh
,e in the most awful misery-'pon m
IS soul l did-untii morning, when
is found this-ah-man who brought m
,e here on this atwocious vehicle"
10 "You must be proud of the thin
to you wanted to marry" said Mr.. Graz
ne shaw to his daughter, with sardon