The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-02-21

i Bentley's residence?" he asked Of the
station agent as soon as he stood upon
the platform.
ssHis house is over there" answered
the young man, nodding to the only
| fine residence in the little new town,
situated on a small hill shCrt dis
tance from the deoot, but there's
no one there now: everybody in town
/ is out in the woods hunting for that
city girl"
is she lost-Miss Brayton:'
5asped Arthur.
They say that she is"
| ''How did it happen? Tell me
! luick"
"Why, you see, the ladies went out
horseback riding last night about
sundown and Miss Brayton's horse
took fright and ran into the woods
with her on its back. Mr.. Bentley
a1sl some men followed her as quickly
as possible, and after awhile they
came upon the horse eating grass and
she was nowhere to be seen. They
came back and organized hunt.
They've been out all night and had
not found her when last heard from" "
"Oh, my poor Grace" groaned
Arthur. "Please tell me how l can
find the men and I'll go and heir
them" he added, to the agent.
"l'll go. too, in a minute" the
goung man responded, fastening
back to his Office as the train moved
away from the station. AS they hur,
1ied away he handed Arthur a bali
OF swine.
"Put that in your pocket" he said;
'syou may need it. When fellow
gets out in the woods he's liable to
lose his bearings and not be able to
tell the points of the compass or any
thing, so we generally take along
some string to use tor guide when
ever wego off the regular beat"
Arthur too the wine mechanically
and they soon reached the edge OF
the woods. Here they found Mrs.
Bentley, surrounded by a group of
sympathizing women, crying and re-
preaching herself by turns for having
allowed Grace to ride that particular
horse. Pausing only a moment to
greet her, Arthur and the agent huF-
ried on in the direction she told him
that Mr.. Bentley and the men had
taken, and in an hour or two came
upon them as they had paused for
parIey in a slightly open space.
"Denton, old boy, how did you
happen to Gomez" exclaimed Mr.
Bentley, springing forward to meet
Arthur as be saw him approach.
II came Oh the morning train and
inquired for you, and the agent toid
me what had happened"
We'll, we are doing all we can, you
.ee."
Then, in a few words, he detailed
the plan of the hunt, asking Arthur
if he had any suggestions to offer.
The theory the men were working on
was that Grace had either jumped or
been thrown from her horse unhurt
and had then started to return to the
village, but. missing ner way, was
still wandering in the forest
If she had been hurt, they argued,
she would have been found near the
horse or along the path between him
and the village. Arthur had no Sug-
gestiou to make, but was anxious to
be at work, so he fell into the place
assigned him, and the whole party
moved on, occasionally hallooing or
blowing horns and whistles to attract
the attention Of the lost girl should
she be within sound Of their voices and
Instruments They moved. steadily
on until noon, when they metanother
party of men who had been search
| ing in another direction. A halt was
called, and after consultation thought
that it was no use to push the hunt
further in this manner, as all were
sure that they must have overtaken
the girl ere this were she simply
| walking about.
Arthur lay on the grass with his
lat over his eyes and great cry 60
ing out of his heart
"Oh, Grace. Grace" he cried men
aally; "if there is such a thing as
thought communication do tell me
where you are that 1 may come, tc
YOU"
He had b>gun 20 think that she
must be dead, yet he could not rid
himself of the impression that she
| was calling him. Could it be that
she was calling him from the other
world?
eff only knew" he thought, 81
could Dear it better"
Presently he remembered that she
had often told him that in order to
receive a message it was necessary
that the mind should be in a calm
and passive state. With strong
effort Of the will he controlled his
feelings, and remained perfectly quiet
while he awaited the coming Of a
message. In the course Of few mo-
ments the we l-known shiver passed
over his nerves, followed by "a glimpse
of A. open space in the woods, a dark
hole and something lying at the bot
tom.
Like a fash it came to him that
Grace might have fallen into some
hole and been hurt back near the
clearing.
"Have we passed any holes into
which she could have fallen?" he
asked of Bentley, starting up sud-
denly.
II haven t noticed any," was the
answer. Yet we haven't looked
particularly, as we were so sure she
wOuId ho Tr,,nd waudnrinp around -