The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-02-15

! to direct my feet, lamen ted that had
entered upon the track of loveless
| liberty.
The sound of the pipes came skirling
up the hillside. The pibroch and the
highland reel captivated me, but when
"Auld Lang Syne' came l shed tears
rapidly. The music died away as twelve
o'clock and dinner time neared, so l
mounted higher and higher, without the
excelsior banner, to perform my mid
! day devotion before some snowy altar
A friendly robin accompanied me on
my walk, piping kind of childish well
come. But in my native place, as | saw
by just passing through it, how I'M
welcome l was Boys pointed me out,
girls whispered, old men snarled, the
local patriarch and pedagogue both
moralized, Miss Mounaeu would not so
much as lift up her eyes; everybody
spurned me. l was now making up
my mind to go right away as soon as
possible. Taking off my thin, thread
bare gloves, tore up some roots from
beneath the snow, and elsewhere l
found some frozen hips and haws be-
longing to last autumn, which, how
ever, were still edible. l ate my veg
etables with a relish, and they helped
to keep me alive and warm.
Suddenly | heard smart little foot
steps coming up behind me over
the crisp snow. On turning round l
saw pretty maiden-an Eva, or a
little Miss Sunshine-who could have
seen no more than six winters. With
a merry voice she thus accosted me:
Are you going up Ben Mochiel,
lady?"
mo, dear, not to-day. am too tired
already, and am not a quarter of the
way up Ben Mochiel yet"
"You look very tired y - and
not so well, think. Please may
know your name?"
at is Robina Cameron, answered
SO, how strange! | heard my papa
say you were coming out of prison to-
day, and he thinks you are the wicked
est lady anywhere; but | don't. NY
name is Oracle -Dicconson, and
play The Blue Bells of Scotland on
the piano, but 1 was born in England,
and so was papa"
Perhaps he would be displeased If
he were to find you with me-"
Every likely he would. But l wish
you would tell me before / go why
they sent you to prison"
Il will tell you true tale, Oracle.
. Three years since to-day, when
| apl1y inst aicrbfaan old 7
into dark and lonely prison. Three
months before that Dummersbra'
lady had suddenly and mysteriously
died She was my own stepsister,
Marine Cameron, and she had last been
seen in my company among the rowan
trees of Coodie haugh. We had never
been great friends since she fell in love
with my lover Duncan McTavish, who
did not really admire her at all. That
same night she was found dead in
Coodie haugh, and traces of prussic acid
were on the grass close beside her head.
There was overwhelming evidence of
my having poisoned my stepsister in a
spasm of jealousy, or a fit of temporary
insanity. l had scarcely presence of
mind to stand up before judge and jury
and tell them l was innocent. They
called me guilty of crime, and com
mitted me to prison for three years. If
l had not been young girl perhaps
they might have had me hanged. l
only came out of prison to-day"
Poor Miss Cameron, l don't think
you ought to have been where naughty
men are put"
why, Gracie?"
Because l love your face, and be-
cause you would not climb up here
nearer to heaven if you had done
wrong, and-and because ! found this
blue ribbon"
1t was pleasant to kiss somebody
again, and have living companion by
my side with the sweetest little lips.
But the sight of the blue ribbon sent a
chill through the marrow of my bones.
| knew the exact shade and size of it
it had been worn by my stepsister, the
wretched Marine. at the very time she
professed to be engaging Duncan's at
tentions. | looked at it intensely. 1t
was not only faded, but somebody had
taken the vast trou BILE to perforate a
string of capital letters on it. These
were as follows;
ID E E f E D d D E | II DIT.
In all fourteen letters, mostly DIS and
Els. Had they been perforated wan.
tonly in that ribbon? or were they sig.
niticant Cf read aright) of some curse
on the late owner of it? or did they
give some cryptographicc lew TO Marine
Cameron's real murderer?
Guess what that means!'. Exclaimed
Oracle, half with fear and half with
heroical pride.
tried to please her by guessing, but
| only made several ridiculous mistakes
For ten minutes the letters floated in g
jumbled little mass before my eyes
At last felt sure they had no meaning
at all. Then l felt that they told a
story about somebody being dead, there
were so many DIS and Els; though not
a single A. Then l felt sure that this
was cryptograph that would perhaps
take an expert weeks to puzzle out
and yet had not Oracle found the KEY
to it? How | wished that ! could have
seen into her mind for the space of hal.
minute!
Oracle darling" l cried, in despair