Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-08-28
CHAPTER II.

uDo THE DEAD AND THE LOST COME BACKT"
Edgar Arden had gone down in the
Sc thing depths at the foot OF grim Sleat-
ma Vrecken; when he next looked up the
scene had nightly changed.
He lay in noble apartment, simply
and deicately furnished with peary
hues sparngly fecked with dead gold;
lofty walls with dark polished panels
finely carved; tall narrow windows heaV-
ily draped with gray velvets threaded
with furnished gold; an ancient room as
any in Hoyrood.
The bed he lay on was canopied and
draped in antique fashion, its curtains
had been swept apart at the foot, to al
low the clear soft light of a waxen taper
to fall upon his face. This taper was
held in the hand of lady who was
watching him with rapt attention; Tor
few moments he gazed full in her race
before she seemed to believe him awake
and in his right mind.
The pleasant craclIle of ire In dis,
tant part of the room was al the sound
he heard.
What O. strange, sad, brooding face
hers wasl So wan, so transparent, that
he felt shock almost as il he had seen
a spirit 1t was very evident that she
had a history; storms had passed over
that face. her eyes burned with the con-
suming fire of an ever living pain.
She had been very beautiful, or a
graceful. spirituelle type, with the re.
| fined sentiment and elegant graces OF
gentle birth: but the glory OF her day
was mast: her noble form was wasted, a
deep melancholy darkened her express
! sion.
Her dress was severely simple, no
faintest attempt at decoration renewed
It. and yet she wore it with such grace
the lines of her form were so flowing,
that she lent majesty to the dress
which no spIendor could have given,
AS his fainting faculties returned 10
him. Edgar contemplated this woman as
if she had been vision; but the spell
was broken when she moved TO beAd
over him with anxious solicitude
Full recollection returned to Edgar,
and with It the darting consciousness
that here stood Lady Inchcape, his kins'
mans lost wife.
I Tovely as he had heard her called, sor'
rowful. pining as under a crushing and
ever present affiiction. Surely this was
Enpelonde Inchcape, for whose sake
ToTd Inchcape had renounced the world
and buried his noble powers and amDt
tions in brooding solitude in the meridian
of his days.
In sudden overpowering excitement
Edgar sprang up, stretched out his hand'
to the lady and made a gasping attemp
to utter her name, but he fell pack IN
stantlv. pressed down by the heavy hant
of weakness and pain and could only lit
white and painting, with a yearning lool
fastened upon her.
Startled by his abrupt movement, tht
ladv flew to his side and took his hanC
in her own small, burning ones
"Are YOU in lain? / am so sorry,
said she sweetly. "What can / do To-
you?"
He lifted her hand to his lips ant
kissed it fervently, and still he could no
command his voice to speak.
"You are very weak, and must not ex
ert yourse f." said she, soothingly. "Yol
have been dreadfully hurt, though no
motally, and no bones are broken. an
glad to have such good news to tel
YOU" She smiled gently, and seatin'
herself by his pillow, began to fan mir
with a soft plumy scented fan, ta'kln
still in low, friendly tones that sto
about the heart of her unknown kinsma
with strange power. "You want t
hear the fate of your crew; be at peace
they were all saved, every one A fey
fractures and contusions, that is tn
worst; but they are all made comforta
bic and are asleep In the cots OF N