The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1896-12-03
CHAPTER I.

CHAPTER /.
\ spoiled beauty-spoiled by a devotion
and love such as fall to the lot Of few
women-Lady Rooden did not know the
meaning of the word care She was
only seventeen when Sir Charles Rooden
woed and won her; and from that time
he had surrounded her with such loving
care that her lot among women was quite
exceptional. Few knew such unalloyed
happiness as she enjoyed. At times a
f1eeting regret that she had no son to sue
coed her husband would come over her;
hut even that regret was softcned when
she remembered how deeply he loved their
little daughter.
The Roodcns of Rood Abbey had been
for many generations owners of that fair
and fertile domain. The estate, which
was situated in one of the most beautiful
of the Midland Counties, was ~singularly
favored by nature, and not the least of its
charms was the bright flashing river
Leir, smooth and peaceful in places.
SPANKED here and there by rustic bridges
and widening in it's curse until it devel-
oped into the broad, deep reach in front
of the Abbey itself.
Sir Charles Rooden. the ideal of an En-
glish NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., brave. gener-
Gus, and Il true lover of all outdoor and
manly sports-Was still young when he
fell III love with one of the most beautiful
girls OF her day, Laura Milroy, the only
daughter of the Earl of AIilroy. In his
blind idolatry he never perceived that
she WAS vain or selfish, that she was shall
low at heart: he discerned in her only the
attributes Of Il good and noble woman.
and he loved her implicitly. His wife
was the center of his hopes and plans,
the one object of his care and worshiD:
and next to her in his affection came his
little daughter. whom. because of her
beautiful face and sweet serious eyes
eyes in which dwelt Il sweet brooding
seriousncss-they named Angela.
Angela had reached her twelfth year
when her first great sorrow fell upon her.
a SNeeter, fairer maiden it would hardly
have been possible to find. To those who
knew how frail and uncertain human love
Is. there was something almost pitiful in
the devotion of the child TO her father.
The blow, when it did fall, was therefore
all the more terrible to her. For there
came Il day. bright and sunny, full Of
perfume and sweetness and song, when
Sir Charles Rooden left home in the
morning with laughing, testing words on
his lips and was carried back in the even
ing dead.
The evening was as fair as the morning.
The wind stirred the lilacs and the long
laburnum-tresses gently in the garden
below; nature seemed to be reposiny in
the peaceful calm that had settled over
all.
~ u,A,v, ~, ri, "a -, -,I .ss I'll I
Rooden "A crowd seems to be moving
and coming in this direction. They are
carrying something. What can it be-"
Il do not see papa" said the child,
whom nothing else interested: and they
grew silent as the tall trees and the wind
ing Of the river hid the crowd from their
view.
Il wish papa would come" cried the
child. presently; and then, after a few
minutes, there was II sound of tramping
footsteps, of hurried, hushed voices. and
the old Butler anne hastily on to the ter
race.
MY lady. my lady. come in quickly!!'
he cried. DO not look toward the river.
Come in!'
Lady Roodcn turned to him in wonder.
"What!' she gasped, her face growing
white and rigid.
My master was found in the river. my
lady" Jarvis replied, wringing his hands.
"In the river: Found in the river, do
you say? Then he is dead
He is dead, my lady. and they are
bringing him homer answered the man.
With Il wild cry Lady Rooden few from
the house down to the avenue. where she
met the men bearing the ~lifeless body of
her husband. When she saw his dead
face. she fell, with il low anguished cry.
to the ground, and was carried back home
senselGss.
1t was not until the first shock was over
that any one thought of the child. They
found her Wing near the window of the
room, i'll an agony of grief which no words
of comfort could abate.
The mystery surrounding Sir Charles
Rooden's death was never solved. Wheth-
or he had attempted to cross the river
where it was shallowest, and had been
carried away by the force of the current.
or whether his horse had become FESTIVE
and dashed into the water, no one ever
knew. No one had seen the baronet: no
one came forward to say that they had
met him on that day. That it was an
accident every one agreed, but how il
occurred there was no living witness to
tell.
How deeply the genial, generous master
of Rood was mourned was shown by the
assemblage Of rich and poor who came to