Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1894-08-18
XII.
TIRE GHOST Is CApTURED.

| tht Ddf ttS tOffifitH offtSt ffdu
walked" on Christmas Eve, and again
on Christmas Day, was universally on
coded, whilst MANY OF the r~llstics, to
whom Dick was known by sight, eyed
him askance. and seemed disposed to
give him a wide berth, which he pathet-
ically averred later might presumably
be regarded as first and foremost among
the advantages enjoyed by an 'aunted
man" for there is assuredly a certain
satisfaction in the reflection that in an
Oyercrowded jostling world one is at
least secure Of elbow-room.
But now Dick occupied his gOdfa-
theirs easy-chair beside the library fire,
enjoying the luxury Of solitary medita-
tion-for the baronet had driven some
miles with DR.. HOllingshead to pay a
visit to a mutual friend, and was not
expected back till dinner, which was to
be served tonight at six O'Clock.
Dick rather enjoyed this interlude of
complete mental and physical respite.
The events and revelations Of the last
few days had been of SO exciting and
fatiguing a nature that the inevitable
reaction threatened to set In apace, and
already Dick felt a luxurious sense of
lassitude and inanition creeping lazily
over him.
From the cushioned-depths OF his
chair, far back in shadow. he was gaz-
Ing dreamily out through the low bow
window on to the desolate lawn beyond,
surrounded by it's belt Of gaunt and
leatless trees. Immediately in front of
the windows the gravelled terrace had
been swept clear of snow. which pre-
ca%utionary measure, albeit "A convent
ence in respect to egress. yet added to,
rather than diminished from, the pre-
yailing air Of dreariness and gloom.
His senses gradually lulled TO stupor
by the ease Of his armchair and the
grateful warmth Of the fireside, after
his long mornings exercise in the frosty
air, Dick felt his weary eyelids droop-
~clOse-then open quickly, with a decid-
ed disinclination on his part to sue
eumb to the insiduous attacks of slum-
Der; whilst a misty phantasmagoria of
events past, present and to come
seemed to evolve itself from the Utmost
recesses OF his brain and run mental RI
OF to his utter bewilderment and dis
comtiture.
What a marvellous story this which
the austere baronet had poured over
night into his astounded ear. How far
stranger. in good soOth, had truth
proved itself than fiction: for, had his
authority been less unimpeachable,
Dick would have declined to credit the
mere possibility of the proud and
wealthy Sir Jasper's grandchild run
ming well-nigh barefoot about the Lon
don streets.
Whilst, certeS, it implied a still more
powerful strain upon the imagination
TO conceive blind and i~nscrutable fate
leading h~aphazard to Dicks own door
step, in the guise of a wretched little
waif, the small friendless being whose
destinies, it seemed not improbable,
might benceforth prove inextricably en-
tangled with his own; for once Sir JAS
per's g~randchild was restored to her
rightful place in the b%aronet's heart and
home. Dick could not conceal from
himself that the future Of that repen-
tant sire's godson must inevitably be
regarded from a very different stand
point to that of heretofore.
With this reflection uppermost in his
| thoughts, Dick laZily Enclosed his
sleepy eyes, doubtful for one infnitesi-
NAL breathing-space whether he might
credit the evidence of his own senses
and believe himself wide awake, or
whether. on the other hand, he had not
unconsciously strayed beyond the mys-
tic boundary line into the land Of
nod.
Was he, in good sooth, awake or
Slumbering2 Was it in dreamland that
he beheld? Or
MOI a thousand times mol He could
no longer doubt or question. He saw
! distinctly saw-at this very moment, a
small white face without in the gloam-
ing, pressed against the window pane;
and panfharinn tho aXafamnttnn which
rose up ~involuntarily TO his lips, Dick
sprang hastily to his feet, and in less
time than it takes me To narrate the
fact. dashed across the floor. flung wide
the heavy easement, and, without paus-
ing to ponder or reflect. cleared the
broad old-fashioned window-seat at a
bound, alighting on his feet upon the
gravel walk beyond.
All yes, to be sure, to the right of
him, already some dozen yards in ad-
vance. he, she or 1.-THE knew not which
sped fleet as hunted hare or mountain
ELK over the frozen now A 1.-the sup
pie figure, weird enough in ~nondescript
garments, and with unkempt locks
Streaming in the wintry blast as IL tore
VnwaSds through the night.
All. but it might not-should not
elude him long! In a few moments, at
latest, ne must gain on his prey, and
grasp as in a vice. with all the strength
and power Of his manhood, the mis-
chievous cause Of infinite trouble; for
Dick no longer doubted that he saw be-
fore him in the flesh the much-talked-of
Burnham Wrath, a momentary glance
having served TO convince him that the
face peering in ut the library window
was i~dentically the same as had startled
1 tho nant,nantu IF ft,a Uieorana na rlnr on
that henceforth ever memorable Christ
mas Eve. And now he came to think of
1t, the entire figure struck him as sim
gularly familiar, considering how limit
ed in both instances had been his oppor-
tupities of observation.
But rounding the angle OF the terrace,
tdarting behind laurel bushes, EDWARDS,
EDWARDS through the frosty cleaning
the figure makes its way; and on comes
Dick, gaining steadily upon the object
of pursuit, rejecting the while, with q
grim smile, that whatever the supernat-
nral endowments Of the ghost, it is yet
! singularly deficient in length OF limb,
and consequently all too heavily handi.
capped in this race against his own
three-leagued boots upon which 1t has
been constrained to enter, sadly against
its will. All, surely it is very mortal
now, In its tagging pace, its uncertain
Gait. its halting stumbling movements,
iIs nalf-frenzied, appealing, backward
glance - premonitory symptoms OF
~Standstill.
For Dick is close upon the little fig
ure now, which has stopped so sudden
ly that velocity well-nigh carried him
past 1t. 1t is only by u desperate effort
he pulls himself up In time.
NrA~ kA. na bfA haa - 80
stretched, "it' hobs and doubles, seek
ing TO execute q skilful retrograde
movement beneath his very elbow; but
he has gripped 1t by the shoulder mex
orAbly at last.
mo you don't, youngsterln his own
breath well-nigb spent, he a~rticulates
with difficulty; his voice is shaken. his
words disjointed, as he glances down,
for the first time, into the averted face;
then, "IIeigh! Greta!- escapes him al
most like q yell, as for one brief mo-
ment his senses refuse to credit the CIV.
idence Of his eyes. "Greta-well! mar
vels will never ceasel How in The
name Of all that's wonderful, child
came you hereyn
But there was no immediate response,
and Dick, perhaps. neither expected MOI
desired n At any rate, he simply
turned his prisoner right-about face,
and, without relinquishing his hold OF
her slender arm, marched her quickly,
silently, back along tho terrace they had
but just traycrsed In far different orr
lder. Then he lifted her bodily In
through the library window. iumDod