Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-08-15

I your future husband" I remarked
quietly, as I closed and fastened the
window In obedience to her request.
Should / not Insist upon an apology|
She laughed n~ervously, and played
with her rings Of rose brilliants.
SIT Is not yet toe late" I resumed;
IL on second thoughts you would rath-
er not marry me, you have only TO
say so. I shall accept my fate with
| equanimity and shall not blame you"
At this she seemed quite alarmed,
and rising laid her hand pieadingly On
my arm.
Surely you are not offended" she
said. II wos not really afraid OF you,
| You know-it was q stupid fancy-I
well now, and I am only too happy.
| Why, I would not lose your love for
all the world-you must believe me9'
And she touched my hand caressing-
ly with her lips. I withdrew II gently,
and stroked her hair with an almost
parental tenderness; then I said quiet
ly;
"If 50, we are agreed, and all Is well.
Let me advise you to take a long
nights rest; your nerves are weak and
somewhat shaken. You wish me TO
keep oE engagement secret?'
She thought for a moment, then an
swered musingly-
For the present perhaps II would
be best. Though" and she laughed,
1T would be delightful TO see all the
other women jealous and enyious OF
my good fortune! Still, If the news
were told to any OF our friends-who
knows?-it might accidentally reach
Guido, and"
81 understand You may rely upon
my discretion. Good night, Coun-
tessa.'
"You may call me Nina" she mur-
INJURED softly.
"Nina, them I said with some eff
fort, as l lightly kissed her. Good
n~ight!-may your dreams be of mel"
She responded to this with a graft
fiea smile. and as / left the room she
waved her hand in a parting salute.
My diamonds flashed on 1t like a small
circlet Of fire; the light shed through
the rose-colored lamps that hung from
the painted ceiling fell full on her ex-
quisite loneliness, softening IL into
ethereal radiance and delicacy, and
when / strobe forth from the house
into the night air heavy with the
threatening gloom Of coming tempest,
the picture of that fair face and form
fitted before me like a mirage-the
glitter Of her hair flashed on my Wis
ion like little snakes Of fre-her 1.-the
hands seemed TO beckon me-her lips
had left a scorching heat on mine.
Distracted with the thoughts that tor
tured Inc. / walked on and on for
hours. The storm broke at last, the
rain poured in torrents, but Needless
OF wind and weather. / wandered on
like a forsaken fugitive. / seemed to
be the only human being left alive in
a word of wrath anu darkness. The
rush and roar of the blast, the angry
noise of waves breaking hurriedly on
the shore. the swirling showers that
fell on my defenseless head-aii these
things were unfelt, unheard by me.
There are times In a mans life when
mere physical feeling grows numb I'M
der the pressure of intense mental ag-
~ony-when the indignant soul, smart
ing with the experience of some vile
injustice, forgets for a little it's narrow
and poor house Of clay. Some such
mood was upon me then, / suppose,
for in the very act of walking / was
almost unconscious of movement. An
awful solitude seemed to encompass
na-a silence OF my own creating. l
fancied that even the angry elements
avoided me as I passed; that there
was nothing, nothing In all the wide
universe but myself, and a dark brood
ing horror called Vengeance. All sud
| denly. the mists OF my mind cleared; I
moved no longer In a deaf, blind stu
por. A flash of lightning danced WV
idly before my eyes, followed by a
crashing peal OF thunder; l saw to
what end of a wild journey / had
come. Those heavy gates-that unde-
fined stretch OF ~land-those ghostly
glimmers of motionless white jike
spectral milestones emerging from the
gloom-I knew Ii all too well-it was
the cemetery / looked through the iron
palisades with the feyerish interest
of n who watches the stage curtain
rise on the last scene of a tragedy.
The lightning sprang once more across
the sky, and showed me for a brief
second the distant marble outline OF
the Romani vault. There the drama
began-where would II end? Slowly,
slowly there fitted into my
thoughts the face Of my lost
child-the young. serious face as 1t
had looked when the calm. preternat-
urally wise smile Of Death had rested
upon II: and then a curious feeling Of
pity possessed me-pity that her little
body should be lying stiffiy out there,
not In the vault, but under the wet
sod. In such a relentless storm of rain.
I wanted to take her from that cold