Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1894-02-03
CHAPTER ".

~DkAR SbLNh.-f esiefuAy at ulnner, IN
the large dining room you used TO know
so well, was dreadfully out Of spirits
Grandpapa had been out Of temper all the
morning. and mamma had hardly dared
TO speak. / could not help thinking what
pity there was no one else 10 enjoy .his
lovely place. George only comes occas'on-
ally, and then merely 10 dinner, and hs
goes away the next morning with his ia
ther before i am up, for he has become
quite man Of business now. Well, yes
terday grandpa suddenly turned 10 me,
and said, abruptly, What has become Of
that little Sylyiaf l should like 10 see
her here again You may imagine my
delight / have 80 much TO tell you, so
many things to shcw you! You will cheer
us up. dear, and / assure you we all need
II. There is not a creature here TO talk 20,
and il Is no good wearing pretty dresses,
for there is no one 10 admire them, except
the cows j amuse myself feeding the
chickens and ducks. but when you come,
we shall amuse each other. The shooting
season will soon be here. and then George
and my father will stay longer, and il will
be more lively. Every one expects you,
and am dying Of impatience, so you must
write at once and say what day we may
expect you. Mr.. Florence says you are
not at all well, and the air here will do you
world Of good.
.Your affectionate friend.
ANNIE SPEED"
Her letter was finished, and Annie Speed
put on her wide brimmed straw hat, for
the August sun WAS very not, and went
herself TO place il in the little box on the
lodge gate. from which the postman would
remove II I'm the evening.
No kindly breeze whispered in the girls
ear warning 10 prevent her sending that
fatal letter and she hurried back TO the
house 10 prepare for Sylvia q pretty room
next her own.
The letter reached its destination, arriv-
ing in London the next morning, and was
duly delivered TO Sylvia. What an event
Il Wi They all read it over and over
ag md for the next week il lay on the
chimney piece with Mrs. Chipp's most pre-
cious relics Of the past To Sylvia it was
like some fairy charm, full Of enchantment
and of promise There was no talk Of her
wedding now. Everyone was absorbed in
her outfit for Oaklands; every cne was
busy cutting and sewing, while she was
forever occupied III trying ON her new
dresses.
Poor Frank. How all these prepara-
lions made bis heart aehe This visit
would postpone his marriage. 1t was in
vain for him 10 attempt TO oppose it, and
he raw Sylvia slipping each day. as it
were, from his grasp. Once at Oaklands,
who could say when she would returni
II was TO the De Lacy's that the unhap-
py lover went with his melancholy fore
holdings, and he never noticed how Dora,
as soon as he entered. made place for
him at her work-table, with eyes cast
down and flushed cheeks.
For several days the beetles and birds
had been laid aside. The mother and
daughter were embroidering some pale
pink founces for dress Of Sylvia's, and
never had the lame girl sewed more dill
gently, for she inherited much of her IA
ther's hopeful heart and powers Of self
deception.
When Frank told her of his disappoint-
ment, and Of his fears, Dora only thought
that, il Sylvia were once away, he would
fall into the habit OF coming to her for
consolation. Perhaps. too, happy night
might come when, as they sat waiting for
.papa," Frank would realize the differ
ence between a woman who adored him
and one who merely permitted herself to
be adored.
Consequently the impatience she felt for
Sylvia's departure, lent to her needle such
extraordinary velocity that Frank watch
ed the ruffics and ruches piling up about
her with almost q feeling Of hatred; for
Eylvia's departure was only DELAYED until
the pink aress was finished. When the
last stitch was taken Miss Chipp left for
Oaklands.
The house, built in the time of George
H., had an air Of sombre magnificence.-
II stood in the center of o large park, and
the trees surrounding it were very fine;
but the chief charm OF the spct was the
river, to the brink Of which the grounds
sloped ON one side. Unfortunately, the
manners and appearance OF the present
proprietor did not correspond with the
aristocratic air Of the domain.
The wealthy tiHdesman, after buying
the estate from It's impoverished owners,
cnt down manv Of the trees ito opeu q
view," and then built high wall to keep
out intruders. His tenderest solicitude
was lavished ON ais vegetable garden.
OF the drawing room, panelled with ex-
quisite paintings; Of the lake, whitened
by water-l lilies; Of the grottoes and the
bridges, he thought nothing. save when
his guests went into ecstacies over them.
Advanced in years, he could neither shoot
nor 6sh, and he passed his time in super
intending the most petty details Of his
enormous property. The grain with
which the poultry were fed, the number
Of bundles Of straw piled in the barn,
served him to scold about for q long sum-
mer's day. Beholding irom afhr this
beautiful spot---the shining river and
S~~ep ture the trees and Aowers--no me
,iou,u nave suspected the meanncss ana
harrow mind Of It's owner
Mr. Gray lived there all the year round,
and the Speeds always spent the summer
with him. Mrs. Speed was u gentle
nature, but dull, and without cultivation.
intimidated from childhood by her father's
coarse and harsh disposition. She was
afraid, too. Of her husband. whose good
ness and constant indul xence had never
succeeded in winning the entire confidence
of his wife. Having always been kept in
complete ignorance Of business matters,
they had grown rich almost without her
knowledge, and without tho smallest de-
sire ON her part 10 profit ly IT,
Her handsomely furnis.acd rooms in
town. and her Gathers house. were equal
" burienssme TO ber. She slwavs gath