The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1896-03-05
CHAPTER VI

vi
Miss Lucy. simple daughter of nat
ure. nurScd in all the savage f~rankneSS
OF the wild West. and taught from
early infancy to call a spade a spade,
and. being a natural woman, n true
woman. Now. it is one Of wOman's
most highly-prized attributeS-be the
fair II Il Partisan mondainc, an Eng
lish aristOCrnt or a Turkish odalisque
tic obtain from simple man what she
desired. and TO give just as much as
II wishes. and no more. in return.
Miss Lucy had a shrpwd little head on
her shoulders. We have already seer
that she was endowed with n strength
of will and purpose of y unusual
kind, and by adding together these
qualities i'll Il sort of psychological ar
ithmctiC. the sun obtained would form
a remarkable example of female su-
premacy over the helpless animal,
man.
Miss Lucy set her little wits to work
the moment she had recovered her
wontrd self-pOSScSSi0n. to extract. by
n process of i~nSinuatOry whc@dlinG
and Il Observation-Disclosures pressure Of
inquiry, from Lord Clcvc. all he had
learned about her cousin, her father
and Lady Evelync. She had no trout
bic in elicitinE from the young man
that he had me-" hecn engaged to
| Lady Evclync Wyutrr. ana thereby
started Herbert upon the idea that he
must needs, in his usual Slap-dash
, manner. write a letter of apology to
the lady who had, once upon Il time.
consented to be his wife. The thought
| was 40 sooner born than il was acted
upon, and young Clcyp sat down at
the old mahogany bureau TO pen his
| apology, while Lucy stood behind his
chair looking over him.
"'Ihe Earl Of Clevr presents his com
plimeutS 10 Lady Evelync WyuteT," hr
wrote, amt desires to explain a cir
CumStanre which, he is afraid. must
have surprised Lady Evclyne. Lord
OlCve is afflicted with less II memory.
| tn" result Of some wounds in the head.
II was. therefore, his misfortune. and
not his fault, if h" did not recognize
Lady EyC!ync Wyutcr this afternoon.
He hopes that this apology will be his
excuse. and that Lady Evclynp Wyn-
ter will believe that Lord CIevp could
not possibly have acted toward her in
any spirit Of dicOur;oSy.'
"Ifs just Il bit Scapy, amt it?' Miss
Lucy exclaimed. when the young gen
tlcman had dotted all his us and
crossed all his "t's," AN it's a little
smear" like maple sugar. when yew
get to- much Of it on ycW'r spoon. |
| guess she's "A honSum young omar
WAL, it ain't no natter With that
she danced away, apparently unDur-
dcned by thoughtfulness or care.
That was all outward show, how
ever; all " determination not to
show To the man she loved how much
she loved him. II it had been possible
for a plying eye To penetrate into
LuCy'S chamber that night. it would
have found her walking up and down
| the softly carpeted door like a Gagged
| panther. Her bosom hcaYCd. she
wrung her tiny hands with n nervous
| grip, and big tears were flowing down
her cheeks. At last she flung herself
on her knees by the bedside and buried
her head on the Coverlet, while the
soft masses OF her hair fell like a
glossy shower around her. She sob
bed, sObbed anu sobbed. as if her heart
would break.
On Il sudden she jumped up in a 81
lent fury. both against herself and the
fortune which oppressed her. She
CRASHED her white teeth and tore at
her hair.
"Godr' she cried. don't try me too
severely. I'm only a woman after all,
and it'll soon be more than l can bear.
What have I done, how have l sinned
to deserve il ali?"
The parOXysm of her grief Frustrated
her and she gradually. sank on her