Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1896-11-05
CHAPTER xxrx-eCout,puea,

1855
"Oho. Mr.. Gridley, I've got a long
outstanding o to settle with you
when first we meet
DO you know him, sir:"
"No-no; go on-tell me all that hap
pened."
well, sir, this young woman broke
her mothers heart, and she died; and
then her old father. he got put into
prison for debt, and instead of trying
TO help him what does May Rivers do
but run away to join her dissolute
lover
Il wish to heaven she had" muir
INJURED Ernest.
!" That is all | can tell you. sir. You
can walk up and see the house where
they used to live. If you like"
Where are they living now?'
1.-THE old man is in Winchester gaol
still for aught | know
Yes. but his daughter?'
That's more than lean tell-ram-
paging about the country, | expect
And thus it is that stories get
mangled and twisted till il is impossi-
bic to sift the simple truth from the
dust of exaggeration and cmbelish-
ment.
There was. n the readr knows. some
foundation for what the innkeeper had
said about the Rivers family; but yet
facts were SO straI gely distorted as 10
make it appear that poor, gentle, suf-
fering May-instead of sacrificing her
self for her father. as she had really
done-had been instrumental, not only
in bringing about his ruin, but also in
Fastening her mothers decease.
To give the landlord his due he be-
1sA.,aI h. ~aa s,~ ~. ,.nfnfIsn.r tho
truth when he made these statements.
Indignantly the young squire turned
upon the publican and seized him by
the collar % the coat.
"You miserable creature!" said he.
enforcing each word by a shake. How
dare YOU speak such odious calumnies
concerning the best and purest girl
that ever stepped! Let another accu-
ssation against her pass your lips and |
will not leave a whole bone in your
body"
Il thought your honor wanted to
know the truth
Then why tell untruths? Look You
II know the greater part of your story
TO be untrue, and suspect the rest TO
be-"
..Still. it's very hard, that just be-
cause | repeat what everybody has
been saving for the last two months.
that | should be assaulted in my W
parlor and my own inn," said the land
lord. with IN eye to the main chance.
not wishing TO quarrel with his GUS
toner, but thinking he could charge
each hard word or shake liz his bill.
well well. | suppose you believe
what you say" said Ernest with a
sigh.
..Wili your honor stop here tonight
asked the innkeeper.
II suppose so; let me have dinner"
He ordered refreshments more be-
cause he knew 1t was expected of him
than from any desire for the meal;
and sad were the hours he passed in
the inn OF the quiet little village of
Annadalc.
BY the light VI the moon he walked
through the village when NEST Of It's
inha bitants were buried in slumber.
and marked the spots which seemed
to him to possess a strange interest
from their connection with May.
There was the cottage itself which
had been her home. with the flowers
in its garden running wild, with the
windows broken. and with a general
appearance of devastation and decay.
There was the old church, and the
graveyard in which lay the coffin con-
tanning all that was left of the mother
of her whom he hoped and believed
ere long to call his wife.
Altogether the interest Ernest felt in
his night walk through Annadale was
a very sad
He saw nothing but objects calcu-
lated to produce grief.
fI,n xsx,n and yfcT,sn ntl1AV #nntt0on
the graveyard, with the old church
tower frowning sentry over it. and the
man spots which he had heard May
describe, and which he had hoped to
see with hersat his side.
But now where was she?
He stood alone i'm the village. actu-
ally before the cottage I'm which she
had dwelt. But her presence was OF
the past, and he was alone.
A feeling Of desolatiOn came over
him. He had ridden into Annadale
happy and joyous. to find a bride but
he would leave ii gloomy and sorrow
ful without her whom he sought and
with no better comfort than the croak-
ings Of the landlord, with M plea santer
food for his thoughts than the dismal
stories he had heard Of the masters
daughter.
The best thing for him to do. he de-
cided without hesitation, was to pro-
coed to winchester and from Matthew
Rivers learn the unvarnished truth.
He had sufficient confidence il May
10 be able to laugh to scorn the stories
of the landlord, but still a vague, name
less anxiety preyed upon him.
Where was she? Ii her father We're
in prison, what protector had she TO
shield her from the dangers of the
world, to guide her steps away from
the snares and pitfalls into which the
young and innocent are especially like
ly to fan?
That he would not rest until he had
tracked and found her he determined.
In Annadale no one knew more than
that she had fed by night. as one
ashamed OF herself.
..But what more likely" thought Ern-
est, .sthat she, in her kind. loving ma
: ture, was but gone TO Winchester to
wait upon her father, and soften the
hardships of gaol life by her pretty,
smiling face? AT any rate l will go
and learn the truth
- r. f;f.:. though now uutit.if Siuy mad