Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1897-08-19

'NH hAEtS OpBOA IA OL
Knowing. Mrs. Fulke Greville, then,
was the fairest among fair women.
with a n Wy complexion, golden hair
and blue eyes! And you are as dark
as a Spaniard, with an olive skin and
jet-black hair. Come, does that bring
you to ~reason?"
"Oh. | know. l know. some evil art
has been practiced to darken me. L
can see that! For what purpose l do
not know! oh. heaven. but this Is
maddening. l must try to preserve
my reason. try to reco!lcct with more
dis;inctness the circumstances attend
ing my loss of consciousness. try to
bring my understanding to Judge Of
these things. try to summon courage
To bear this misfortune. until / strug-
gle oat Of it, God helping me.w ex-
claimed Astrea, clasping her temples
between her hands.
Yes; endeayOr TO recover your rea-
son. my good girl. 1t is the best thing
that you a possibly do" said the cap
tain, as he arose and went on deck.
When relieved Of the captains hate
full presence, even amid the anguish
OF her heart. Astrea dropped Der head
upon l.er hands. closed her eyes,, and
gave UP her mind to intense thought.
Two Things puzzled her-the manner
and motive of her abduction. First.
by the severest effort of memory, she
recovered some knowledge of the man
ner. She now recollected distinctly
the events of that fatal night. The
presentiment of evil that had over
Swallowed her mind, while sitting alone
In her chamber-the dark~robed figure
that had advanced upon her from be-
hind, and that she now knew TO have
been a reality: ner own sudden start,
and sniothared shrek; the ~instantane-
GUS application of the sponge filled
with chloroform to her mouth and nos
trils; her feeble resistance, that so
soon yielded to the ovcrpovering
agent. and even the silvery ringing In
her brain before She fell iuto insensi-
bllity. All this she now remembered
with sufficient assurance to have justi-
fied her IN giving testimony as 10 the
facts before n court. She studied out
also, the mystery of her sudden change
OF complexion. She remembered that
there were certain chemical agents
that would dye the hair and stain the
skin. and knew that it must have been
through these the change was effected.
SO far, the manner of her abduction
and the means of her disguise were
perfectly clear TO her. But tile motive
OF that abduction and disguise-what
was that? Simply TO take her to the
South and sell her as a quadroon girl?
Such, from the conversation Of the cap
tain, it would appear to be. Yet she
could not believe this TO be the sole
object. Such a motive might have in
huenced some poor wretch of a kidnap-
er, blu not this man, the master Of a
fine brigantine. No! there was some
thing deeper than a small. mercenary
motive in her abduction, Certain half
faded memories of her childhood-the
old chateau, the iag-tower. the grand
pere-the long, dream-like voyage with
people among whom she could not I'M
derstand nor make herself under
stool in la~nguage--all these revived
and connected themselves strangely
with the present facts of her abduc-
ton and transformation, and con-
WINGED her that some secret enemy had
some powerful motive I'm her suppress
sion-though Of the nature of that mo-
tive she could form no conjecture.
Having thus. as nearly as possible. as
certained her real position, her present
bondage and future dangers. her next
care was to study i'm what she
should deal with them. .Astrea was q
woman of great intellect, strong will
and firm nerves. Hitherto these en-
dowments had never been called into
action. But this strange and terrible
ordeal suddenly developed them TO
become m easy victim. She would De
equal To the situation. She knew that
during the sea-yoyage, at least, there
would be no possibility of escape, ex-
cept-througii suicide, and that but one
event could possibly justify such a
desperate act. She formed Ter resoiu-
tions accordingly. First of all. to pos
sess herself, as soon as possible with
some deadly weapon. with which she
might protect herself against the adj
vances of the smuggler captain or any
of his crew. Secondly, to indulge ia
no vain repinings or weak fears, but
to strengthen her mind ard body to
meet and conquer her fate! To effect
this. she resolved to pray earnestly to
God for aid-and to use all earthly
means bcsides-to take her usual guam
tity of food and drink. and exercise
ard air. and sleep, II possible. Third
ly, that n o o as the ship should
reach port, no matter where, she would
invoke the aid of the first man or wo-
man that she met, by stating her case
and demanding to be taken before a
magistrate for its examination. Hav-
ing thus ascertaincd her position and
formed her course of action, Astrea
grew composed. To carry out the first
item of her resolutions, she arose and
searched the cabin, in the hope of find
ing some sharp instrument, If no bet
ter than a case knife, that she could
conceal about her person. She looked
over the top of the bureau, and then
drew out the drawers one by one.
They were nearly all filled with a
gentleman's wearing apparel. And
Astrea looked through three or four
without finding what she wanted. At
length, however, her hopes were more
than realized. In the fourth or fifth
drawer she found a perfect bljou of a
dagger, OF tempered steel, small, bright
and keen. She seized it eagerly, and
closed the drawers.
Come, little friend! Come she
said, fondly placing 1t In her bosom.
REST G n my heart, and be TO me
both shield and swordr