The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1896-03-26


! Hcrbert's Crrr that person was Lucy
MaCIainc; and yet no person in the
~World-hrr father and cousin Included
could have more dreaded the fata!
day when Herbert would he cured:
When remembrance, fierce and rclclit-
less, would assert its sway. ana ruth
loS&ly dash way the curtain which
she had woven ut such cost and un-
der such severe trials. Her mind was
stretched on the perpetual rack Of the
most terrible doubt, with but the faint
est glimmer OF hope piercing the dark
ness that threatened.
What would Herbert remember?
How much would he remember?
Would truth stand before him naked.
shameless. cold and cruel? Would he
know that her father was an assas-
sin! Would he deSriSc her and bid
her 90 from him?
And yet, SO holy is Il tr,!e woman.
that, in her heart OF hearts, she prayed
that heaven might let him speedily re
cove"
The young earl had been lying ut
his couch something over Il fortnight.
when the cottagc Ext to the Nest
received two visitors. One OF them
was the landlord of the Greyhound
Inn, who held the key Of the place and
vas charged with it's letting: the sec
0nd was Il middir-aged man. dressed
in unassuming gentlemanly gray
tweedS, and having the appearance of
Il person well-to-do i'm Il middle walk
Of life. Of Il servant whom fortune
had favored. or If Il tradesmau early
retired from business. He was of
medium height. and stOutly built: Il
hnll-neck gave him Il look of forbid
ding strength. and his hands, red and
blotchy, were evidence of the fnct tina
he had not passed his youth in mere
idlencsS. There WAS Il peculiar cum
ring about an otherwise Insignificant
fnce-the kind OF stealth and SlyneSs
that would not he deferred from stop
ping to the mean: a face that would
not, by it's first sight, secure for it's
owner IL position of trust in a bank.
Yet, ii was not an unpleasant face,
and ii grinncd with 4 mixture OF cock
npy and Outlandish humOr. The small
sandy mrstache dropped after the
fashion, In Il later period bnrleSuued
Ivy Mr.. Sothern MS Brother Sam. and
gave Il peculiar admiyture Of SIMPLE
ity To the otherwise not over-prepOS-
sensing features.
The visitor examined the little house
and its grounds with the utmCSt care.
He drew on IL scrap Of paper Il small
plan Of the place. and il the landlord
had stayed with him he might have
been seen measuring with PAGES the
distance between the Nest and the
upcccupied house. which bOaSted Cf
the high-sounding appellation. Rec
don Lodge The man obtained all
particulars from mine host Of the
Greyhound, distressed questions of
rent and other conditions, and finally
withdrew, after securing IL promise
from the landlord that he would have
the refusal OF the place for forty-eight
hours.
The person thus circumstantially in
troduccd At this portion of his
tory was Mr.. Edward Wall. known
to some as Ned Wall. aud to
others, especially those who had
made his acquaintance out West. dur
ing Pixies Peak Rush. as Pug-nosed
Ned. Mr.. Ned Wall had, at IN early
period of his career, done faithful ser
vice To her majesty. in various to her
u,ajcsty's jails. In III" result. Mr.. Ned
Wall came to look upon his nauvr
land, where the liberty Ia steal was 80
shamrfuily denied IL the subject, as 4
very hot-bcd of oppression. and the
hcdgling Bine-Skin winged away to
the frcer fields of the Far West. Such
Is the perversitY of fate, however, that
Mr.. Ned Wall made the amazing dis
covcry that those who obtain gold by
simply digging il from the earth OBJ
jccted to having 1t taken from them
without their leave, by Il young man in
whose Welfore they took no special in
tercst. Mr.. Ned Wall would certainly.
on two several occasions, have been
strung up by the neck until dead had
not the powerful Intervention Of Nj.
George Maclane saved him from un-
timely extinction. Mr.. George Mnc'aue
had found Mr.. Ned Wall an unSCrupu-
lous but useful sweep. ready tn do auy
dirty work a long rs his belly was
filled, and, in addition 10 that, neat
w.tb his fingers AMI glib with his
tongue, an excellent hargainer AMI n
Stony-hcartcd taskmastcr to those
placed under his charge. In the end.
Pug-noSed Ned rcblOSSomed into Mr..
Edward Wall and became Il hybrid he
tween Il private secretary and IA valet
of both the Maclanes, who. in that ca
pacity, took him with them to Europe.
On the evening Of the day when Mr..
Edward Wall had inspected Reedon
Lodge. the MaclaneS were clOseted
with their representatives At the Boil
tons Ned exhibited his plan OF the
and Of the adjoining cottage and
grounds, and pointed out the exact 10
cation OF the room in which Herbert
"a lying.
Georges cOldly glitterinc eye de-
voured every line, every mark.
Il guess It's all right. Ned" he said.
at last. only yew've got to make sure