Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-07-23
CHAPTER IX-Continued.

I'll, A6A Y ~ 6AoAAOuSs eIlC CTleu q
they plunged into the gloom Of the pine
woods with their endless colonnade.
Of frost silvered trunks, upon which the
starlight sparkled.
J. "'Tsch- tsch-tsch," said MI. Falck,
%chirruping to the horse and cracking
his whip sharply.
She felt rebuffed and lapsed into an
offended silence. She had not beer
acutely conscious Of Mr.. Falck until
that moment, but had only felt an e n
thusiastic need to pour her rapture into
o sympathetic ear She would not trou.
BILE him again surely. But at the end OF
10 minutes, during which the sleigh.
bells had been jingling monotonously.
the forest suddenly ceased, and the fro
zen riven like q vast blue shield studded
with countless flashing gems spread
out before them. The unexpectedness OF
the scene and its dazzling splendor quite
took her breath away.
"Oh, God" she exclaimed ecstatical-
", chow transcendently gorgeousi How
gloriousi How sublimei"
"Tsch-tsch-tsch, chirruped Mr.. Falck
again and cracked his whip once more.
He felt always q trife awkward when
anybody raved, and strong Language
made him i'll Mt ease. He was disposed
to make it as u~nnoticeable as possible,
and his cracking Of the whip was there
fore q nero instructive movement ex.
pressive of his discomfort. He would
have liked to talk seriously with Hulda,
and had, in fact, planned this sleigh
ride for the express purpose Of affordine
him the opportunity. But how could he
talk sensibly to her as long as she was
in this o~verstrained, lyrical mood?
They had 10Y swung out upon the
ice, which rang under the hoof beats Of
the horse with a sharp, metallic reso-
The wind sang in their ears,
though there was not q breath of air
stirring except for tho commotion OF
their speed in the still. keen cold.
There was q sense of delightful exhil.
aration in this swift and steady motion
over the vast, star strewn surface, and
Hulda, forgetting her resentment, burst
out once more in rapturous accents:
"How pitiful must be the lot Of those
who live in lands where there is NC
winter!"
Eyes" said Mr.. Falck. quite pitt.
full"
Here was q note Of prose which h
was anxious to hold fast and emphasize,
as it might afford him q transition to
the topic which he had at heart. But
unhappily he was not imaginative
enough to invent his transition before
Hulda was again miles away. "There
is nothing more sublimely. poetic to
me, she went ON without obvious
connection with her preceding remark,
than the movement by which Beetho-
ven in the Moonlight sonata expresses
the mild radiance Of the moon. the soft
and sweet rain Of tempered, nocturnal
light The mere initiative noise of thun-
der showers and cavalry charges and
convent bells r cyude devices, but the
genius that can interpret in sounds Of q
deep and subtle affinity the quality Of
the light and the moods of the soul is
rare and in the noblest sense imagina-
tive"
Falck opened his eyes in wonder at
this extraordinary speech, in which he
recognized the echo Of Mr.. Brun' g TRADES.
This was the way he was wont to dis
course at the piano in the glow Of cxhil-
aration after having finished an inn
peessive composition. It was all the
sheerest nonsense to Mr.. Falck, and he
was at q loss to comprehend how Hulda
could find it 70 entertaining. It seemed
70 him that she had, without fault of
ner own. been deluded and cnsnared by
tne guileful stranger, but never had she
Deen to him 80 enhancing, SO adorable,
% 'deliriously'' lovely and alluring.
AZ she sat there at his side in the soft
illumination OF the night, with her
sWeet face turned to the stars, Mr.. Falck
was conscious Of q thrill, a warm suffu-
non OF feeling which enveloped him like
: glowing current and set his blood
tnrobbing hotly In his veins. He scarce
y recognized himself as the sedate cler.
lyman Of an hour ago, who lacked COM
p.enension Of every impulse unsanction-
% by the decalogue. And yet though
tnese gusts Of emotion shook him they
did not take, him on his feet. He did
nor lose himself completely. The voice
=! reason. though momentarily inaudi-
Dae. was not silenced, and when Hulda
sest into her next ecstasy the insidious
oCno OF his rival instantly sobered him
ana made him bitterly regret his infatu-
alton.
Gan you imagine, - she calculated
with noble fervor. THAT all these shin
ing worlds that float above us in space
are peopled by sentient creatures that
1--WE n hate and laugh and weep and
en!oy and suffer like us?"
think it extremely unlikely, I" said
1r. Falck. with as near an approach to
'ympathy a he could command.
unlikelyi Why. I thought that sci.
.noe had-that 10 TO say-I fancicd that
- astronomers had decided that it was
quite probable /"
You are quite wrong, my dear. The
.ssonomers Of highest repute are Of the
Uplnion that one or two, possibly three,
S.anets o. our own planetary systs m may
i inhabited, but even that il very