Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1894-07-28
A PHANTOM BRIDE.

PHANIUM BkIUE.
he sat slipping his sherry, nursing n
leg and gazing fixedly into the flames,
started i%nyoluntarily, his wandering at
tention mesmerically riveted rs this
last sentence escaped the doctors lips.
And ii was comical-eyen whilst
tragical." the good doctor continued
with r pitiful smile, Ito note the work.
ings Of the 'rnling passion strong in
DEATH When informed that no child
had been noticed in her vicinity, the
poor creature fell TO exhausting her re-
naming modicum of breath i'm vituper-
alton and violent abuse of this missing
'yarmintV "A regular good-for-noth-
ing, idle, gaping mink. that's wot she
wurp the doomed wretch averred, and
1t seemed even at that crucial moment
an aggravation of her personal suffer-
ings to picture Hreta,' as she called
her-the name struck me as at once ell
phOnious and Notwithstanding round
eyed and open-mouthed in at 'cook-shop
winders, as though there wur nothing
else l. tn world t. do! Was anything
at once so ludicrons and pathetic ever
heard?" questioned the doctor, turning
to his auditors, who both remained
~speechleSs, unaccountabiy enough.
1t was the baronet who first broke ST.
lence.
'This-this child, was she the-the
womans daughter. do you sayY and
and what age may she have been? Did
thus much happen to transpire--though
really he added suddenly. with a
strange forced laugh, II hardly know
by what rhyme OF reason l enquire!"
She did not know the child's age ex-
actly," returned the doctor, but
guessed it would be about nine or ten
Years 0ld-for ii was of course necessa-
ry she should furnish the police with a
full description. that the girl might be
traced if possible. and taken in charge
under the Vagrancy act. The child
was not hers, she distinctly stated
she had loaned It,, as she expressed it,
from some other woman, IN order that
II might go on the tramp with her TO
collect the coin, and play the tambou-
rine. Quite a usual proceeding the
woman inferred, and the police say this
lending and hiring out Of children is a
distinct branch of business, and an
everyday transaction among the
wrs.ched deniyens Of the City sums"
And the child-Greta-has anything
been heard of herr asked the baronet
~iTreleyantly. Dick glanced %curiously at
him. Surely it was singular he should
have caught the name so precisely. and
dwelt upon the matter as though it
were one in which he was personally
concerned.
Not up to the time Of the woman's
dQnfh UaGflTnnV trAnrninpr - rot ttryaal
the doctor; land the police say II is i'm
probable they will come across her now.
She will probably pick up as they
term it, with some other itinerant mu-
sician-haying already served her APP
premiership, seemingly, to the profess
sion-the happy possess0r OF a dancing
monkey, or a Punch and judy show,
and is possibly miles away from the
town ere this. lourneying towards some
country fair. The woman profesSed,
strangely enough, to be bound for VIM
bledon, via Barnes Common. and spoke
quite Familiarity of various hating
places in that locality. She probably
belonged to this part OF the country,
therefore, and, for ought we can tell to
the contrary, oyertaXed her strength
putting on a final squirt in hopes OF
reaching home in time to eat her
Christmas dinner not twenty miles
from our own door"
"She-she vas a common woman, l
supposey You are sure of that the
baronet questioned strangely. ~prefacing
the remark with a short rasping laugh:
''and her name-we might make enqui-
ries. you know. Did her name happen
to transpire?N
Yes and no, singularly enough. For
she gave her name simply as 'Margot,'
and declared she had 'niyer 'ad no 9TH
err as she'd ever heerd tell on WAIST
Dicks fancy or did the baronet heave
q low unconscious sigh of infinite re-
liefp-''or if she had'-we made her
admit at last-'it was SO long sin her
christening that t'Other 'aarf had Slip
ped her mim'ry,' and TO this statement
she doggedly adhered TO the end. Oh.
she was common enough. poor wretch;
no doubt on that point. She was igno-
rant OF her WI age, and hardly under
stood signing Sofne necessary document
with her mark. However, peace 10
her names. Bah! il makes me shudder
at this moment TO recall the poor crea-
lures final agonies. Let US talk of
something else
Dicks gaze meanwhile was mesmer-
ically riteted upon the baronet's sour
visage. Had it been endowed with the
basilisk's fatal power, it could not have
exercised a more singular fascination;
and now the young fellow no longer
Observation-Disclosures was sure that
an expression of relief fitted palpably
across the old mans stolid features as
the doctor ceased.
Dick could never after satisfactorily
account, even TO himself, for the
strange impulse which had prompted
him to remain silent during this brief
Colloqny. and now further TO withhold
the circumstance of his w strange
reilcoHtre upon the night III question,
with the child. whose description so
actly answered To that of Margot's
whilom companion, that no shadow OF
doubt could remain in Dicks mind as
to the identity of his small protegee.
Was it, perhaps, because of Il boyish
reluctance TO confess To having played
the role of philanthropist, and inter-
fered to rescue t,reta from the scant
hospitality of the casual ward or near
est police station? Or, perhaps. be-
cause he had a fancy TO reserve TO him
self the right of dealing as to him
seemed best with this orphaned stray
whom Providence had led TO his very
door. At amy rate, he held his peace,
feeling meanwhile s~ingularly criminal,
however, as though he had been guilty
of some misdemeanor against the law
petty larceny at the very least.
it Was n singular relief To him when
dinner was announced. and shortly af-
ter the young man withdrew. leaving
the old cronies to the discussion of a
capital bottle of fine crusted port;
whilst Dick himself sailed forth. skates
in hand, 10 join the merry-makers on
the frozen lake, scarcely a mile TO the
right OF the Bleak House demesne.