The Red Cloud chief., 1896-07-03

silent road, Dark, though only q
o'clock. How quickly the day dies
when it is December, Such "a mo II Us
this is hardly worth talking about; and
yet. without ~. obscurcd as ii j., how
much more dismal would the night be-
Was there ever before 80 silent Il
night? Are all the dogs in the farm
stcuGs dead? There is no sound ut
all, anywhere, save the stir of sea III
the starlight. far, far below. down
there whore all things seem TO sink
into one.
Bridgct-wha, is Bridget thinking
now? Has she found ont she is gone?
No: not yet. 1t i early, really. though
it looks 20 late. Oddly enough, it is
to the servant the girls mind first
turns as IN her mad. angry folly she
ram, along the road tina, leads TO the
little wayside station % which Eyre
had spok, n 10 her. Her hint To Andy
that She would let lover aud father
and cousin see what ,tc could do is
now in process OF fall completion.
When Eyre hal suggested to her to
ran away with him and b. married by
special license. she had certainly, at
the moment. though seem NJ TO daily
with the 'dCa. no real intention Il
following it IN. Bu. Sir Ra ph's un-
fortunate GOODNESS o the day before.
her fathers STERN command, aud,
finally. her cous rs mocking de-
tc minatiuu not to help her to her
folly. had been all TOO mucI for hcr
child III pride. She had revolted,
once for all. She W uld show them.
Eyre'- last words about the ESQ
train. his earnest. really honest ~
preston as he spoke. had fingered in
her memory, ana, waiting, locked up
in her own room. >hc had. when night
grew. dressed herself in her warmest
clothing, ana slipping ont ut the side
door. began her juurncy To Dcnygra
station.
Was there ever So long II mile or n
road % deserted? At first she had
prayed that TO one might sec her on
her way to the station: but now she
would have given "A good deal 10 hear
the sound OF cart-whccls, or the Jog
trot of Il farmers horse. Ru there i
no fair anywhere to-day in the neigh
borhood. aud so the road rcmalns
empty and quiet.
The moon. coming out AT last from
behind a bank Of dark clouds, serves
only 10 %heighten. rather than To lessen,
her sense Of l%onlcne--. Now each
hillock and troe and bunch OF iurZe
takes shape and action, and threatens
to attack her on every side. lhc
tcrrors OF tn" night are grea, Ia those
who know nothing of IL, safe within
= carefully closed doors of house or
carriage. To Dulciuca. running along
through the dan darkness. Il sense oi
| despair. mingled with active fear. IL
/ uppcrmost.
silence. how dead; and darkness, how
" profound
D Noreyc, nor list'ulug ear an object finds.
In vain she tells herself that il i,
, not really night: that it is only
: o'clock; that II few months ago. this
: very hour and time and d,rkncs'
=. would still be called day. II is, viii
n sigh that grows into II sob o
Y passionate relief, that AT last she sees
the lamps shining in the little station
before her. with, owe there Il quartz
/ Of II mile to the left, the glimmering
d lights Of the small town that has giver
o its name TO the station.
II Hurricdly she enters it. and. reach.
ing the dim platform, that seems en-
vcloped u "A cloudy mist, stand.
i~rrcsolute. Only for Il moment, how.
o ever. Eyre has come 10 her, has seizet
her hand. is drawing her into tn,
i fuller light, hey nd.
Let MS stay here says she in
choking tone. mo one can see u,
here. And-Oh. IA little wildly. / wa
II a long walk! How far-how far ! an
s. from home.'
n You are nervous" says he
= scnsibly land il is my fault. ] forgot
uI,n .,,y,,,al -, ,.,, ,Gn, thn up,1I
d here was only n mile, that il would b,
| undertaken in midwintcr. IL eve
occurred TO me that q o'clock woult
G mean night Mt this time OF year. Yol
:. must try 70 forgive ne that. What i
IA that you have Your bag? Give 1t t.
me-"
The station is such a minor on
II that, at this hour, it is given up TO ab
a, sol tie soil udc-allnost. In the ia
distance Il sturdy farmer is trudgin!
l. 10 and fro. putting and blowing. an,
seeking, by eager mW'things from TIN
e. gate to the statiun-housc, to kce.
NJ some warmth in his body; and jus
. here, where Dulcinca stands, n lahore
goes by ON his hOmcward way; an
rs therc-ovcr there. whore the gloom i
" thickest-stHuds, by all the worst luc
y in the world, Ralph Anic,cll.
lie had been lunrhing in this par
" OF the ncighborhood during the after
noon, and, expecting Il parcel by thi
train, had decided To wait and take /
De- home with him. He had seen Eyre
at arrival. aud wondered at his punct
" uality, the train not being due for
quarter Of an hour or so, had felt
to sense Of satisfaction in the though
that he was rdnlly leaving "A though
at justified by the amount Of luggage.
is lying on the platform; had designed,
withdrawn so far into tho shade thu
is he should be unseen by him, not feel
! ing equal to a tetc-a.tcte with the ma
We he suspects to be- his rival; ana ha'
10 sccn Du!cinca's nervous entrance, IN,
y Tyres eager greeting her.
- lis shaking her, II grows too dread
full to be borne. Eyre is talking L
IS her; she is conscious Of that; bu
Il, no Gord he utters is clear to her