Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-11-07

publicity ana the Iuoo OF couGra(uIotiouo
She was not afraid Of opposition, her lover
was . good enough partl, and she wa
glad that no one should know for . little
while. One day she swoke TO the fact
that she ought, perhaps, TO speak. Her
lover had persuaded her to meet him by
the river, after dusk, and they wore to 80
for = row. Mabel had rather reluctantly
consented to this plan, for her people were
rather straightlaced, and she did moi
think they would like 1t. In fact, after
first intending to tell her mother, a. O
matter OF course, as the day wore on she
found It more and more difficult to speak
of IL. She worried herself quite i'll, for
she did not want to break her promise,
and she could see no way OF keeping 1t.
As luck would have 1t, her people were
going next door for a quiet rubber after
dinner. Mabel looked SO wretched that
her mother suggested she should stay at
home and 90 early to bed, and she gladly
accepted the excuse.
las soon as they were gone she put Oh
light wrap and FASTENED to the trysting
place, determining as she went that she
would ask her lover to speak to her peo-
pie next day. The path by the river was
a private footway used by the residents
anf visitors by courtesy Of the owner.
The meeting place was an old boat-house.
about mile and a half away. When
Mabel reached it she was hot and ex-
hausted, for she had hurried, partly be-
cause she was little late and partly from
nervousness. She heard the sound of oars
out in the stream, and paused a moment
to listen, thinking it was her lovers boat,
but it was going towards the harbor, and
the sound soon died away. She sat down
on log and waited. Presently footsteps
coming along the path made her jump up
in fright. A terror of discovery sud-
denly came over her. She crept round
the boat-house, gently pushed the door
open, and stepped inside, so that she was
quite hidden by the shaGoy. The foot
steps stopped close by and Mabel was in
fear that her hiding place would be dis
covered. Presently she heard more foot
steps, and then voices; party of three or
four girls had come out for an evening
walk. They did not pass the boat-house,
however, and after little while they
turned and retracted their steps. Mabel
waited until their voices died away in the
distance, and then followed them stealthily.
She was cold and dizzy, but she cid not
dare to hurry lest she should overtake
them. She got home without having
been seen by any one, and went straight to
bed
''In the morning she was very ill, low
fever the doctor said, and it was some
days before she was able to see any one,
At last, when she was getting better, she
learned the truth. Her lover had gone
away-had left the country the very night
that he had asked her to meet him, no
one knew how or why. Called away on
business, his people gave out, and nobody
else had any explanation to offer. But
Mabel knew, for in the early days of her
when she was allowed to
sit in an armchair on the veranda, or to
have her bath-chair pulled up among the
bracken and heather on the headland,
first one and then another of her own per-
sonal girl friends came and sobbed out
just such another story of heartbreak and
deception. And not word of explana-
ton or repentance did he send to any one
of them. Mabel kept her own counsel,
'AhN nv WV shopOttCu thdt hCt ilnCSS was
anything but physical. She never got
really well again. They took her abroad,
but she never seemed to get any stronger.
At last she begged them to take her home
and let her die in peace, and the doctors
said they might as well let her have her
way. So they took her back to the little
house at Seafield"-
''Seafield." The hals-burnt cigar
dropped from the mans nervous fingers as
the word broke from him Involuntary.
Eyes, do you know Seafield ?" asked
the girl in surprise.
"And your friend-was it Mabel Cahu-
sac?" His face had gone very pale under
the tan.
'Mabel Cahusac, yes. Oh! Captain
Alderman, did you know Mabel?"
II met her-once," Fred Aldenham
spoke with great effort. "Miss Graham,
did you hear-the name-of the man ~
''No," said the girl, sadly. "Mabel
would not tell me that. And l don't even
know whether his people were visitors or
in the place. am sorry, because
l have SO wished could meet the man and
see him get the punishment he deserves.
But, you see, l might meet him without
ever knowing"
"For which he may thank heaven"
said Alderman fervently.
"You knew Seafeld and you knew
Mabel" said the girl, softly and wonder
ingly. "How strange it all seems The
place has often been in my mind since l
came here. The river sounds just like
this, and the gardens slope down to its
banks just like the compound here"
EYES," said Alderman in a low tone.
ut was of Seafield was thinking when l
said the place reminded me of home.
like to shut my eyes, sometimes, and for
get the palms and the tree ferns, and fancy
that the wind is stirring in the oaks and
beeches of the old garden"
'Idon't wonder you long for home,"
said the girl, gently. "Seafield is such
lovely spot 1t must have been hard to
come away"
"Yes," said Aldenham, rising suddenly.
"When man gets to my age things begin
to alter. When l was youngster |
wanted to see life. / wanted to get as
much fun out of the old show as possible,
and was glad of the chance Of getting in
touch with younger, freer, more spon-
taneous growth of civilization. tried
everything, Miss Graham. I've heSied
cattle on the prairie, I've washed for gold
in an African river. And finally, fate
landed me here, in the midst of an English
society, more conventional, more dull,
more corrupt than any l could find at
home, in order that l might learn, sup
pose, the value of the English life l had
forfeited. have learnt it, and l long for
nothing better now than q coy house in