The Irish standard., 1896-03-07


I hs slept 81 il slIS
lle Ter quick ton,
\ trajectory than the logic az tie others
went nearer the mark. Ailirne he1 Win
7 vague appreh tensions for Ring brands
j safety She imHned iately recalled the
i sonvstsa ton ssof the previous evening,
/ remembering his abstraction and the
abrupt leave-taking. Then she recol-
IeSted that Henry had been Z the last on.s
who Had seen him, and she quickly OBJ:
tanned I'LL the infor1nationt ha teon1d Be-
+ cleaned trom,that source. tcontainedS
/ sasgrain of comforts in the ASSURANCE that
NE was not unar1ned; hut she could not
help thinking that the mere possession
Of the revolver promised little for his
safety.
4 The following morning she mounted
Pluto and rode straight to Mrs. Lud-
lows, in the hope of finding chat her un-
defined. premoaitionaof trouble was
groundless; but there had been no word
from the missing guest, and the small
matchmaker made an unsuccessful at
TENT to conceal her resentment toward
thu, 0irl Who Had SO ruthlessly aemol-
ished her beautiful air castles'o Of domes~
tie felicity. -
Where do you suppose lie can be7'
asked Hester, when; the conversation
had been brought around by carefully
guarded approaches to the objectwhich
had: prompted her early ride ID. down the
mountain.
I'm sure don't know, >. replied Mrs. /
Ludlow, trying to look properly severe '.3s
perhaps he's lost On the mountain;s
I'm sure I'm glad we didn't turn him
out TOTO get lost zss4 $50 ys
Hester looked mystifiedta and hurt.
"Why, Helen, do you mean that We
ought to have cried harder TO keep
him?'' '''-. sS -'''sss:7 . 5
II think you wouldn't have had to try
very hard, if you'd cared anything at all
about him" 80 - 8
Hester blushed painfully and hesi-
tated. TT would be foolish to seem not
to understand you, Helen, butr-but Il \
isn't atall as you think; indeed, it isn't"
And her voice quavered little at the
end ~'~' ~ - - s@'+%
Itwas Mrs LudIow's turn to be aston
ished, and she gave a little gasp of sur
prise. do you mean that. you didn't
send him away last night, after nll 2"
Hester's embarrassment was pitiful,
but she made a brave effort at frank
ness mot in the way that you mean; u
IL couldn't, very well, when he didn't
give me the chance. 4,., #
There were tears in her eyes. and Mrs. \
Ludlow crossed over to the sofa and put
her arms around her- '.*."rell me about
it, dear" she said, stroking the bowed
head tenderly. -
There isn't anything to tell" sobbed
the girl; "he's just been good and kind
and gentle-as he is to ev--everybody;
and last night he told me good-by as if
I'd been the m-merest acquaintance"
.Told you good-by? Did he say he
was going aWay?' .
"No; father and Henry came up just
then, and he didn't get chance to say
anything else" -....
II think he menat to, Hester, dear"
"I-I almost know he did; he. said he
wanted to tell me sonnet hing about him
self; and then he said it was of no conse-
~quence." FIN
Mrs. Ludlow thought hard for mo-
ment and then asked: Wasn't there
the least little bit of a quarrel about
something, dear?' y -
Hester sat up and shook her head
vehement]y. Indeed, there wasn't
not the smallest word. We had been
talking about the feud, and from that
we drifted into an argument about
courage; l remember we didn't quite
agree but there wasn't anything like a
quarrel" -:
Mrs. Ludlow's mind reverted instant
ly to what her husband had said about
the feud being possible obstacle to
RiDgbrand's loye-making, and before
replying to. Hester she made n mental
note pointing to further inquiries.
Then, if, you haven't quarreled, it's all
right, dear" she said, soothingly;' he'll
come back; and happen 20 snow that
he doesn't regard you as mere ac-
quaintance--not by great deal. But
what in the world do you suppose has
become of hirn?" 4.. go, b. s81.
-, II cant imagine only In just
weighed down by dreadful fear that
something awful has happened. III
know it's foolish. but can't help it. &
Have you said anything to your ia
Their about it 90 '' &'-4. +'.'t 'ss
mot yet. but TIM going back right
now to ask him to go to Squire Graz
|5ve1's; his is the first house beyond ours,
you know. Then I'll get Henry.to ride
down to Dunbar to ask there"
That's sensible. If you'll do that,
I'll stir Tom up when he comes to dim
ner, and if we can't hnd out anything
to-day; we'll just make them get up 8 +
search party tomorrow" 'f,' ..9
| When Hester had ridden away on her
errand, Mrs. Ludlow began TO watch
tor the home coming, Of her husband.
and that much tired individual saw the !
light of inquiry in her eyes before she
had said word upon the subject Of 4
Ringbrand's disappearance. While
Ludlow was quite sure that he held the
key to the mystery, he could not, rid J.
himself Of certain ind efnite response 4
bility for his friends safety. During
the preceding day he had found COM y
fort in the belief that he would soon &