The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-09-28
"'fcopyrIshk 1897. by the Author,

ibid you 90 to that cottage that
night" asked JaGray when she paused.
but Beryl sent warning glance that
he should let her tell the whole story in
her own way.
Eyes, I met him there. II was before
Q O'Clock, and we walked back along
the path had come. stopping every
now and then. I lied to him in one
thing, knowing him-I told him that
you knew everything, Jaffray; that
was fugitive Of my own free will,
that never again should he or you set
eyes on me, and that, though be had
beaten, me. the victory should be as grit
and ashes between his teeth. tainted
him with the blows that you had show.
cred on him in the morning and mad
dened him with jeers at the failure of
his plans. What did not let him even
guess, however, was that my heart was
sick and my spirit bruised to death. We
parted, blasphemous oath on his side
and curse on him from me, and I set
my face to the darkness and plodded on
through the night, alone with my grief
and my knowledge that the sun could
never rise again in all my life. One
single, solitary ray Of comfort in it all
habitat perhaps you would never
learn how false I had been and so come
to curse me for it,
Her hearers had listened breathlessly
to this part Of the story, marking every
syllable, and when she stopped they
could not understand her. Sir Jaffray
himself had seen her hours later than
she said close to the cottage.
"Where did you go, Lola, and where
and what time did you leave that man?"
he asked hurriedly and in some exoite-
ment.
II was with him probably an hour.
not more, and l left him to walk
straight to Branxton, in order to catch
the mail that stops there at in the
morning. ! did that. We parted about
two miles from the cottage. I should
think, Oh the field path that runs from
there to the main road to Branxton
and close to the road. )"
II am bewildered," he said again.
IF I am under the impression that I
saw you close to the cottage in Ash
Tree wood at time past midnight that
night, is it not possible for me to be
right"
What do you rnean-that I was by
that ruined cottage after the time l tell
your"
LET me make this clear" he ex.
claimed. "Whcn found you had gone,
l rode first 10 Leycester Court That
was directly after dinner. I came back,
hoping you might have returned, and
then they gave me your letter. When
had pulled myself together, started off
as hard as l coald gallop to Mrs. Will
yers' house. hoping against hope that
you might have gone there. Finding
the place closed and hearing, Of course,
that you had not been there, I rode
again To the Court, but did not rouse
it, and then came Oh home. 1t was
then n long way past midnight, and as
l got to the corner Of Ash Tree wood,
by the path which loads from the cot
tage, some one came to tho gap in the
hedge whom took to be you. l called
to you by name, but there was no an
swer, and when had quieted my horse,
which had taken fright at your appear
ance, tried in vain to follow. Is it i'm
possible that you Gun have been there at
TINT timer
"Impossible7 Absolutely You know
the distance from TIL re 10 Branxton. I
walked every step Of the road. reached
the station at few minutes before .,