The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1896-03-27
CHAPTER I x.

E, !. -; CHAPTER TX.
The Maclanes had no difficulty in
discovering the place where Sir Will
Ham Cuthbertson had performed his
operation and where his distinguished
1af1enf was slowly recovering. 1t was
. Hretty little cottage standing in a
thy walled garden OH a sparsely fire.
@1eated road between Shepperton and
HAHtfOlal-O the Thames. A former
OEner had given it the fanciful name
% The Rest" The place was within
easy reach of London. and, although
~ = comparatively short distance, the
61yer teemed with buoyant life and
Eevelry, along the lane. shaded by
lktge elms and wild chestnuts, soli-
Ande was made musical only by the
ataacred songsters of the skies, and
he S0ugh Of the leaves quivering with
the Summer breeze.
The nearest habitation, Il small
house, usually let furnished during the
3 OOatlng season. was about .five-and
4 twenty yards away and unoccupied at
the time. Other residences, strewn
mere and therealong the road, were
hidden deep in the park-like grounds,
and gave rise to no disturbingnoises
The room in which Herbert was w.
ING was situated OH the ground floor
OF the little cottage. 1t was spacious,
and plainly, but extremely comfortab-
y. Furnished. The walls were painted
. blush stone-gray. and no pattern Of
any kind attracted attention. There
were no pictures on the walls, and
the doors and windows looked across
- small. but beautifully kept, lawn.
..0n, to a brick wall snothered with
Virginia creeper. The skyline was
NEARLY lido hy si.rt elIs iY TIL.
FULL wealth of their leafy green. All
was simply harmonious-no violences
81 taste or shade shocked the eve. 1t
was nominees and comfort made solid.
and yet placed within such balmy rest
rs q mountain wilderness could scarce
II surpass.
Herbert had to pass his days and his
nights on his couch. Thanks to the
excellent care bestowed upon him. he
!, had suffered from hardly any fever.
\ and the wound resulting from his
/. operation was healing fast.
Not soul entered his room but the
.D0fdy-spOken grave-visaged. gray
!. headed attendant. who moved with q
ynOiseIess solicitude and Anticipated his
every want, his every wish. The
i hours seemed eternal, but his deter
i 0lnatiOn strengthened him ard
made his temporary lonliness less bit
der. All around him silence reisned.
His attendant moved stealthily like
30 cat. and no disturbing football
REACHED his ear from anywhere. 1t
rvvas only Mt the rarest intervals that
tho grating of the wheels on the soft
clAyey road outside became audible.
or that a passcrby, more noisy than
usual, intruded upon his privacy by
the faint sounds of the snatch of n
song.
And, yet had he but know II. he
would have felt less lonely, from the
1act that an anxious, loving heart was
watching over him in the same house.
1 that dainty, tiny hands assisted in the
Dreparati0n Of his meals, that good
woman's voice was lifted nightly in
prayer for his recovery.
Lucy had succeeded in obtaining
Sir William Cuthbertson's permission
to live In the cottage with Herbert,
upon the expressed condition that her
presence should not be betrayed by
sound cesign, that she should remain
E In the wing of the house opposite to
that where young Cleve was stretched
on his bed of pain. It can easily be
guessed how gladly she consented to
3 these conditions; she would have CON
scented to any terms to he allowed to
remain near the man she loved SO
we'll.
II there was one person In this world
who sincerely hoped and prayed fot
Herbert's cure that person was Lucy
Maclaine; and yet no person in the
.world-her father and cousin included
have more dreaded the fatal
day when Herbert would be cured;
when remembrance. fierce and relent-
4 less, would assert its sway, and ruth
lessly dash away the curtain which
she had woven at such cost and un-
der such severe trials. Her mind was
0tretched on the perpetual rack of the
most terrible doubt, with but the faint.
est glimmer Of hope piercing the dark.
ness that threatened.
What would Herbert remember
How much would he remember: