Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-12-19

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A young lady chung, white and terri
fed, to the carriage back.
TED braced himself together for a
heroic effort. He jammed his hat
firmly down on his brow, and, a. the
mare dashed up, breathless and foam
ing, spurred to unusual exertions by
the cratic outcries of the SON Of
Nimshi. he bounded forward, and,
fiinging his arms round the astonished
animals head, speedily brought her to
a standstill.
Then he rushed to the carriage door
and assisted the agitated Miss Fon-
taine to alight. Bob had done his
work so well that she sank trembling
into his arms.
A great longing came over him to
sto0p down and kiss her. But while
he hesitated she recovered. Her color
rapidly returned, and gently disengag-
ing herself. she lifted pair of CRATE
full eyes upon him and exclaimed:
''Oh, Ted! how good and brave you
have been! What would have become
of us II you had not stopped us?"
1--WE should ha' been smashed to
smithereens." said Bob, solemnly.
A week later Miss Fontaine was d.
recting her steps along the self-same
pathway across the fields which she
had so lately travelled in the company
of Mr. Eccles. She was attended only
by Tommy, strapping lad Of 10, who
performed odd domestic jobs in the
Fontaine household. Miss Fontaine
had an old pensioner, a bedridden wo-
man, whose cottage she had been in
the habit Of visiting periodically. On
these occasions Tommy carried a has
ket containing jellies and other deli
cacies for the invalid.
The pathway was solitary, and in
one part skirted the edge Of n thicket
1t was just at this point that Miss FOn-
taine found herself, to her dismay,
suddenly confronted by six sturdy
ruffians, armed with cudgels, who de-
manded charity in tones as plausible
as their gestures were menacing
Tommy, not by any means brave
youth, dropped his basket and fed
across the empty fields, shrieking for
help. The thought of pursuit lent
wings to his feet, and he tumbled head
long over the first stile into dry
ditch, where he lay breathless and too
frightened to move.
Miss Fontaine was by nature timid,
but, left alone in the face Of i'm
minent danger, she did not lose her
presence of mind. AS calmly as pos
sible she handed her purse to the men
and sought. not without much inward
trepidation, to pursue her way. A
dozen hands were instantly laid upon
her, and
At this moment Mr.. Jack Bowles
utmost speed. He dashed headlong in
to the group, upset one man with the
impetus of his charge, drove his fists
into the faces of the second and third,
and then. thrusting Miss Fontaine
aside. commenced vigorous on
slaught on the remaining three. A
severe struggle lasted for severai min
utes, in which blows and muttered
curses succeeded one another without
intermission. Then, just as 1t seemed
as if Jack would have to yield to SUI
periOr numbers, the whole body of
ruffians suddenly took to flight, leav-
ing him master Of the field, with torn
coat and generally disordered attire.
The victor turned to Miss Fontaine,
who had been anxiously awaiting the
issue of the doubtful conflict. He took
her tenderly by the arms, and, with
eyes full Of concern, inquired If she
had been hurt
Poor Ethel was too overcome to
make any reply. Her breath came
and went in fitful sobs, and she was
evidently Oh the verge of an hysterical
attack. Jack drew her to his side and
sOothed her, rs only q devoted lover
could. Then. as she grew calmer she
poured forth her thanks in such
broken and grateful language that he
felt himself a disgraceful brute for
having caused her so much distress.
Ted's exploit was now put altogether
in the shade, and he was highly wroth
in consequence. Miss Ethel's lady
friends all agreed that the encounter
with the six ruffians and their defeat
single-handed was far more heroic
performance than the stopping of a
runaway horse. Jack was set up on
the pedestal lately occupied by Ted,
and Miss Ethers favOrs veered round
in the direction of her late deliverer.
But Ted was not going to let matters
nsrtv Hon.
speedily evolved another exploit to
recover his lost glory. During the
next few weeks Miss Ethel led a most
exciting and precarious existence. She
seemed to be under perpetual sword
of Damocles. Hardly day passed
but she was in some perilous situa-
ton, from which she was only rescued
in the nick Of time by the prowess Of
one or other Of her lovers. A burglar
ious entry into her fathers house was
discovered and checked by Eccles.
A midnight fire, whose origin was a
mystery, gave Bowles the opportunity
of mounting to her bedroom and carry
ing her off, amid clouds of smoke and
shouts Of applause. Eccles dragged
her from under the feet Of cab horse,
whose reckless driver was certainly
not above the suspicion Of having
tracked her along the streets for sew
eral days. Bowles was just In time to
prevent her from being gored by an
Infatuated bull while crossing the
fields And so, turn by turn, each
rival constituted himself her guardian
angel at some critical juncture. And
each adventure became more alarm