The Bessemer indicator., 1894-01-06
"If I lose her, l

'/%EN n you oDservc, your
~ queen is in dan-
ger"
"If lose her,
may yet win another"
mot at your rate OF playing, sir.
You would have to advance
pawn"
Pardon, Miss Cheswick, but do /
play the game SO badly? The loss is
mine. / would play better II could.
Teach me how Miss Cheswick."
II will guide you through this one
move; but l fear you do not attend to
my instructions My bishop may be
removed by your knight, Which, how
ever, is at once sacrificed to my rook.
which commands that square, II /
choose to take him.
"Thank you. take your bishop,
then, and offer you this knight en-
blem of mvself."
81 am not obliged to take him."
NO; but hope you will not reject
him."
A short pause, while the dark. rich
face of the young lady bends stu
diously over the gllttering board of
mother OF pearl and pink cornelian,
whilo the pallid. russet- bearded face
Of the gentleman quivers and wakes
paler yet.
Not obliged to take him." murmurs
the lady again, her white hand hover
ing over the mimic field of war. SIN
| fact, il do, you will win the game,
in spite of all your bad play, So"
Take him-pray, pray do!' almost
whispers her adversary.
| Miss Cheswick's hand descends on
her rook, and twirling it undecidedly,
she lifts her eyes with look of sur
prise and questioning to Mr.. Stanley's.
Are you so very anxious to win n
game of chess?" she asks.
He looks ut her silently. That
white hush." as the poet has aptly
called it, Is drifting over his coun-
tennnce. In his eyes there is look
which no woman can misunderstood.
"This is but the emblem of another"
passiohate tone
The lady drops her eyes and pen
lers. Her gay smile has faded; there
is troubled frown family carved
upon her smooth brow.
I'VE will consider this drawn
game" she says, very quietly; land in
stead of playing another, l will, If
you choose, tell you a story. 1t will
afiluse and-and instruct you"
Pale and hopeless Mr.. Stanley leans
upon the shining chess BILE with his
eJ es half-shaded by his hand.
With quick glance at his detected
attitude, and deepening of the
troubled frown. the lady speaks.
"Have you ever been at Baden
Baden? But of course you have; who
has not? Do you remember Die Hohe
Fciscn,' and 'Das Alte Schloss,' on the
winds down into the valley through
the Black Forest, with the lovely vii
lage lying beneath?
"Some years ago I was spending u
few months at Baden with my mother"
she glances at her black garments
with heavy sigh-"who was ordered
there to drink the waters One after
noon we had driven up to the 'Alte
Schloss,' and while my mother rested
there l climbed up above to see the
"Hohe Felsen.' You know they are
within ten minutes walk of the castle
and never dreamed of danger. How
EVER, 1 was imprudent. 1t was SO
early in the season that the forest was
pleasure fact, it seemed
quite deserted"
~ sat down at the foot of one of the
rocks and was soon lost in contempla-
tion of the sublime view below. 1t
was not long before l heard voices,
and before could rise from the sort
Of niche which l had chosen. two
rough-looking Frenchmen flung them
selves upon the mess within six feet
of me, and, all unaware of my pres
ence, began to discuss n plot which
caused me to tremble with horror
at appeared from their conversa-
tion that certain baron was becom-
ing celebrated in the Kursaal for his
I n fa1 ~ lao N
1 gaming tables-that, In fact, the bank
ers had that day entreated him to
seek some other field wherein to pur-
sue his success, as they::were well-nigh
ruined; that he was, in consequence,
going to leave Baden Baden, and
should drive through the Black Forest
on his way to Freiburg, starting at
midnight
1.-The plan of the two robbers-for
to my terror l discovered them to be
nothing else-was to waylay the
baron's carriage near the 'Alte
Schloss,' demand his money, and, If
the rrecipice. and. descending after
the wreck, help themselves to the
plunder. 1t was not without much
wrangling, however, that they finally
agreed upon this tiendish course of
action, and meantime, ! crouched in
my nook, quaking lest they should
discover me, while the sun sank low,
and the music from the 'Conversa-
tionhaus Gardens stole upon the
bI eeze, warning me that it was time
for mother to be at the 'Trinkhalle'
for her draught of water, and that
she mus. even now be in state of
great disquietude concerning my long
absence.
II think l have told you that my
mother died of heart-disensc, and that
for years before her death, our great
aim was to preserve her from every
mental shock. Imagine, then, my ex-
tree anxiety to return to her, aud to
return safely.
so urgent did this necessity be-
come, that ut length 1 rose, deter
mined to slip away so softly that they
should not perceive me- l had not
gone many PAGES, however, until m
angry excla alton from one of them
warned me that was discovered.
rushed down the path at the top of
my speed, without looking behind;
but l heard their heavy feet close on
my heels, and knew that did they but
lay finger on mo my life was gone.
Scarcely had this last thought
shaped itself in my mind, when my
foot slipped, and stumbled to my
knees The next moment was in
their hands
"'Spy!' Kissed one, furiously; who
sent you here?'
"If had had any presence of mind,
I txn fair cd trvrC -