Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-08-20

as far as the railway could carry me to-
ward my destination.
Rennes reached in the evening.
HereI was compelled to spend the night.
there being no train to Torrent until
the next morning. The morning train
was painfully slow one; 1t was not
until late in the afternoon of the Sec
ond day that had reached the fortified
port on the Bay of Blscay.
There inquired as to the best way of
getting to st. Seurin. found the place
was nearly twenty miles away. A dill
gence which passed it left L'Orient ev-
cry other morning at ten o'clock. I
must wait and go by that.
chafed at the time which must
elapse before | met my enemy, and was
on the point Of ordering a carriage and
horses to take me to st. Seurln at once.
But reflection told me that the arrival Of
traveller in such way, at a village so
small as l ascertained st. Seurin to be,
must excite curiosity. People would
gossip, and the man whom l longed to
meet might hear of my arrival and
once more fly and leave no trace. So
curbed my Impotence, stayed the night
at L'Orient, and started in the morning
by the numbering old diligence.
Why is it that, when one is burning
to reach a certain place, the sole avail
able mode Of progression seems not
only the slowest, but in many cases ac-
tually is the slowest that can we'll be
hit upon. Those twenty miles, or their
equivalent in ldlometers, seemed longer
than all the rest of the journey. True,
the road was in many places steep, and
the heavy vehicle not adequately horsed;
and, very likely, no one save myself
was in hurry.
But the most wearlsome journey ends
at last. A snail IL allowed time, will
arrive at his goal. The diligence
reached st. Seurin, and as dismounted
in front of a misunderstanding inn |
could scarcely repress a cry Of exhulta-
ton. Eustace Grant was all but within
my grasp.
l entered the inn, where I was re-
ceived with joyful faces. Guests were,
no doubt, few, and their visits far be-
tween. / asked il could have accom-
mediation, and was assured l could
count upon the best out of Paris. At an
other time, this grandiloquent assertion
would have amused me. Now nothing
amused me, and l cared for nothing SC
long as l could have food and drink
and place to lay my head until had
accomplished my mission. l dined
for l was beginning to feel the effects
of the exhausting journey. Then
walked out, and took stock Of my sur.
roundings.
st. Seurin was, as I had been In
formed, a small decaying village. Some
of the houses were picturesque in theil
way, but many were half in ruins
There was church, whose size was, o
courSs. utterly disproportioned to thu
village. There were the shops neces
sary to supply the humble needs Of thu
scanty population. So far as l coulC
see, there was nothing else.
struck my heel on the dusty, sand.
path. Was 1t for life in such plac
as this that Viola had left me? Had sh
given up all the comforts and luxurie
with which I would have surrounds
her, to hide with the partner Of he
flight in a wretched hole where sh
could see none save rough fishermen
peasants and such like? If so, her Low
for Grant must be more than mortal
bring about such sacrifice Of all tina
women, from the time Of Eve down