Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1896-12-10

I Have Sent for You for to beg "a
Favor at Your Hands.
band. Neither do l. in reality, know
ing my own heart. But the canons of
q wicked world must be obeyed. L
must go to London alone"
And leave me here. alone. behind?''
queried Zana m~ournfully.
"Yes. darling assented her lover,
flor n couple of days. l shall have Il
talk with the landlady of this hotel
she struck me as a motherly, kind sort
of woman-and, il she comes up to my
expectations, / shall leave you under
her wing until | return with the Ii
censc. Failing her. / shall have no
difficulty in finding You safe quarters
elsewhere in the town."
Must it be as you say. Ernest?"
asked Zana, toying ~nervously with "A
bracelet. Must you leave me
again."
There was that in tie way the words
were spoken which caused Norton TO
flush holly. Could it be that he was
suspected of m~editating a second de-
sertion of his love?
"Zana." he exclaimed, half angrily.
.'Such a question displays a lamenta-
BILE want either of tact or of confidence
on your part. | repeat that | must go
10 London for this license, and that |
must 20 alone-for your own sake"
.yery WELL" said Zana. sitting a lit
tie sob. 1T is your part to command.
mine to obey"
Come. come, my little queen" re-
joined Norton. kissing her. Don't
look so downcast over such a trifie. l
shall be back again within forty-eight
hours or SO. And now let us see what
manner of person the landlady is"
The landlady, Martha Baxter by
name. was duly summoned and she
promptly made her appearance. As
Merton had said. she was essentially
a motneriy-looking woman; frank-eyed.
open-faced and plump. Us a well pre-
served matron OF forty-five ought TO
be. Yet, as she entered. her good IA
tured face wore a ~half-yexed. haif-sus-
picious look, which Norton did not fail
TO notice.
Mrs. Baxter" he said, proceeding
straight to the point. Il have sent for
vou to beg a favor at your hands with
respect to this young lady"
Indeed, sir" replied Mrs. Baxter,
with a doubtful glance at Zana.
pray be seated" continued Nor
ton. politely indicating an armchair.
We'll, the fact is. / am In a little bit
of a fix. Without entering into details.
which are purely personal. l find 1t
necessary to proceed at once TO Lon
don TO complete certain f0rnnalities in
connection with our Forthcoming mar
riage."
..Oh,' calculated the portly dame,
with a long-drawn and very unmis-
taxable sigh of relief. Then the young
lady and you are about TO be mar
ried?"
Certainly assented Norton, "as
have just stated. / shall be absent
two or, at the utmost, three days In
London. and, upon my return. n GER
emony will take place"
(which means, sir" suggested Mrs.
Baxter. with a knowing smile, that
you are going to procure a special IL
cense. seeing you have only just ar
rived from foreign parts"
you have guessed the situation ex-
actiy.r said Norton. "Such is precisely
the object of my mission. l cannot flor
reasons which you will at one see,
take her with me. May | leave in
your charge until 1 come back
Mrs. Baxter gazed steadily into the
young engineers handsome face and
read therein naught save truth and
candor. Then her eyes turned toward
the beautiful, graceful girl, standing
half-shyly by his side, and her heart
went out to them in a flood OF woman
ly sympathy.
Leave her in my charger she re-
peated, with a cheerful laugh. ;'Why,
of course you may, sir, and right glad
ly will l do my best to make her com
Portable whilst YOU are away. So you
may both make your minds easy ON
that score. And now | come to think
of 1t, the young lady cannot do better
than have these rooms"
"An excellent idea,' assented Norton.
especially as I shall take but n
small portmanteau with me. Zana,