Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1897-07-22

the strong staff OF the Lords mercy to
lean upon Not I, my poor child, not
I, but the whole village speaks of you;
to you the ignorant people attribute all
the sundry evils that OF late have
fallen sorely upon them,-bad har-
vests, ill-luck with the fishing, pow
erty, sickness, here Mr.. Dyceworthy
pressed the tips of his fingers delicate
ly together, and looked at her with a
benevolent compassion,-"and they
call it witchcraft,-yes strange, very
strange But so 1t is,-ignorant as they
are, such ignorance Is not easily en-
lightened, and though l." he sighed,
have done my poor best to disabuse
their minds of the suspicious against
you, find 1t Is a matter in which l.,
though humble mouthpiece of the
Gospel, am powerless-quite power
less!"
She relaxed her defiant attitude, and
moved away from him; the shadow of
q smile was on her lips
1T is not my fault II the people
are foolish" she said coldly; II have
never done harm to any one that
know Of And turning abruptly, she
the minister dexterously placed him
self in her way, and barred her pas
sage.
"Stay, oh, stay! he exclaimed with
uhctuous fervor. Pause. unfortunate
girl, ere you reject the strong shield
and buckler that the Lord has, in His
great mercy, offered you, in my per-
son! For / must warn you,-Froken
Thelma, | must warn you seriously of
tho danger you run! | will not pain
you by referring to the grave charges
brought against your father, who is,
alas! in spite of my spiritual wrestl
ing with the Lord for his sake still no
better than heather savage; no!
will say nothing of this. But what
what shall | say,"--here he lowered his
weighty reproach, what shall | say
of your most unseemly and indis
Greet companionship with these
worldly young men who are visiting
the Fjord for their idle pastime? All
dead dear! This Is indeed a heavy
scandal and sore burden to my soul,
for up to this time | have, in spite
of many faults in your disposition,
considered you were at least of most
maidenly and decorous department, -
but now-now! to think that you
should of your own free will and
choice, consent to be the plaything of
this idle stroller from the wicked
haunts of fashion,-the hours toy of
this Sir Philip Errington! Froken
Thelma, | would never have believed
1t Of you!" And he drew himself up
with ponderous and sorrowful dignity.
A burning blush had coyere!
Thelma's faco at the mention of Err
rington's name, but 1t soon faded,
leaving her very pale. She changed
her POSITION so that she confronted Mr.
Dyccworthy,-h clear blue eyes re-
garded him steadfasty.
"Is this what is said of me?" she
asked calmly.
ut is,-it is, most unfortunately!
returned tho minister, shaking his
bullet-liko head great many times;
then, with sort of elephantine cheer
frlness. he added but what matter?
There Is time to remedy these things
| am willing to SGT myself as strong
barrier against tho evil noises of ru-
mont | feel nm
Lord forbid IT, No matter how | am
compromised, no matter how | am
misjudged,-- am still willing to take
YOU as my lawful wife, Frokcn Thelma,
but, and here no shook his forefin-
ger at her with Il pretended playful
ness, II will permit no more converse
with Sir Philip Errington; no, no! |
cannot allow it! | cannot, in
dced!"
She still looked straight at him.
her bosom rose and fell rapidly with
her passionate breath, and there was
such Il breadth of, scorn In her
face that he WINGED under 1t as though
struck by sharp scourge,
lpI dIe NOT worm my anger she
said slowly, this time without tre-
NOR in her rich voice. One must have
something to be angry with, and you
are nothing! Neither man nor beasts
for men are brave and beasts tell
no lies! Your wife! T." and she laugh
ed aloud,-then with a gesture of COM
mand, Got" she exclaimed, "and
never let me SEQ your face agan!"
The clear scornful laughter, the
mir of absolute authority with which
she spoke,-would have stung the
most -opinionated of men. even
though his conscience were enveloped
In moral leather casing of hypocrisy
and arrogance And not wthstanding
his invariable air of mildness, Mr..
Dyccworthy had Il temper That tem-
per rose to n white heat Just now
every drop OF blood reccded from his
countenance, and his soft hands
clonched themselves in particularly
ugly and threatening manner. Yet he
MANAGED to preserve his suavo com