The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1896-10-06
Bv BEATRICE WHITLEY.
Chapter u-(Continued1


''Have you never been here before!
Never"
1T is such a .ippling little place;
know you will love it. Whereabouts in
Noelcombe are you staying?'
L don't know exactly where the
house is"
81 might have to see you, don't you
know, about this business; may have
forgotten to ask you some important
questions, so l ought to know your adj
dress"
my aunt lives at Carnation Cot
tage."
ror some time his governess theory
about her had been Wavering; it now
expired.
How long shall you be DOWN. he
asked, anxiously.
II do not know"
You will be here until the week
after neXtY
"Oh, yes"'
81 shall probably hear something
from the railway company in few
days; in that case l will call and tell
You what they say-tl'at is, if You will
allow me to do So"
Thank you; you are very kind
The words were unimpeachable, but
the tone i'll which they were uttered
was not encouraging
1--WE shall be very lucky If we can
hear of either watch or purse again.
The eve. was offensive to Miss Nit
ford.
Yes; the recovery of things lost in
that way is so very unlikely that | am
exceedingly sorry you troubled your
of al ahO1lt tho matter +"
She was very digniied and grand,
but he was not awed.
at is the sort of search / like" he
said, frankly. Il shall be as proud as
Lueifer if l can trace them. II it can
be done it shall be done, l promise
YOU"
81 don't see how you are going to do
it."
Leave it to me-" he told her, with
smile of superior wisdom. And then
he automatically began to eXtol the
glorious country through which they
were passing. There was Morte
Point; there the merciful lighthouse,
which guarded the ships off that sharp
peninsula of jagged rocks; there was
the famous Toro; there a Druidlcal
stone; there a cromlech. If his geog-
raphy was inaccurate, Helen did not
discover it, but listened to what he
said with interest and smiled upon
him.
But when the travellers reached
Noelcombe Road poor Helen dis
covered that the misfo1tunes OF
that unlucky day were not yet
over. With culpable want of fore
thought, Mr.. Jones desired her to in
terview station master and ticket col
lector in his presence. Out came his
note book again, and the tedious rou-
tine of endless questions which she
had already answered had to be re-
peated At the time the useless delay
fretted her. but when at last she was
set free, and on emerging from the
station, found that omnibusses and
cabs alike had started for Noelcombe,
leaving her and her box five miles
from her destination, she was dis
mayed and ready to cry.
''Why didn't you notify me she in
uuired, miserably, of a porter. You
saw me here; you knew was going to
Noelcombe. Why did you let the Omni-
bus start without me-"
II understood that you were going
along of Mr. Jones, miss" the man
said: ''you came up in the train along
O. him. His man went in the cab, but
the dog cart is outside waiting"
At this moment Mr.. Jones himself
approached and asked Helen, anx-
iously, what was wrong. When she
had explained her position and this
eliminating misfortune, he was ex-
tremely concerned lie rated the por-
ter with great severity and used I'M
70 10
thick heads of the west-country peo-
pie.
However" he added, turning to
Helen. with a courtly and ingenious
air, ut is fortunate that my cart is
here: for. as / am going your way, |
need not tell you how pleased l shall
he TO drive YOU to Carnation cottage.
His manner was very happy. Ii
Helen had not by an abrupt turn OF
her head, caught sight of meaning
grin on the face of the porter, sh>
would most likely have complied CRATE
fully with this suggestion, but that
GRIN aroused a suspicion in her mind
that determined her immediate action.
IT would have been relief to have
said something really rude to this pre-
Sumntuous low-born stranger. her
eves were dangerously bright; she was
very angry. With meaningless incl
nation of the head she waived the
question. and, turning. re-entered the
station. After giving the, station mas
ter succint orders for the forwarding
of her box at the earliest opportunity,
she inquired from him her way to
Noelcombe. and then. without looking
70 the right hand or the left, set on al
a rapid pace in the direction indicated.
few minutes later the unconscious
offender. Mr.. Jones, climbed into MS
L .r,d drove off after the dark figure.