The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-11-19

-. s=sss q
a., '"In' ~ III which Goldwin's was stunt
~ iay IN the opposite direction TO
j., ;s 'oau pF which he entered the city and
legion which had no attraction for
. .Ap'oref-one of those shabby, sordid.
~ s"i' p'llt quarters. which have no inter-
l,; saw 10 the tax gatherer, the city mis-
S'omary On or the Dhilanthropist.
;. mere stood Goldwin's. with its long
in,s ol windows all of the same pattern
anu !ts IRON balconies one above the 9TH
ei' giving 1t the appearance of gigantic
iron :, cage, as it were-the prison house of
'iie uhcohVlcted poverty. Lashmar stood
Oh !he opposite side of the narrow street
SaZlls up at that barrack and picturing
ms ms prothers distorted figure, those long,
ii'lle arms of his drawing him upward
rom story to story, the slender fingers
cilpglng to yonder ratings. The lord of
proad lands risking his life and limb to
save one little child, whose face he had
never seen.
1T was noble thing to do" thought
Lashmar. II ought to have valued her
for the sake of that great deed. Decent
feellng, the respect due to my dead broth
| ~ SA'D''i hifC ulc klnuCr nGr.'
lie had no hope of finding Stella amidst
that aggregate Of struggling humanity
The police had been here at the beginning
OF their quest and had assured themselves
that no such person as the fugitive from
Lashmar Castle had applied for lodging
at Goldwin's. He expected to get no in
formation here and yet he, hung about the
place in his despondency, not knowing
where to so or what to do next, feeling
impelled to do something, were it only to
wander from street to street, in the vague
hope of meeting the fugitive face to face
at some unexpected corner.
Presently he saw respectable, elderly
! woman, with market basket on her arm,
going in under the archway which opened
into stony quadrangle. He followed
and accosted her.
May l ask, madam, if you have been
long resident here?'
The matron turned and confronted
Lashmar in some confusion, startled by
the stately address, the tall, upright fig
ure and darkly handsome face, and that
indescribable, inexpressible air which is
ordinarily the result of high birth and q
West End tailor. Not often-no, not even
when an election was on-did such a
young Alcibiades enter beneath yonder
arch.
'Yes, sir, have lived here over twenty
years, almost ever since the houses were
built"
''Then you remember the fire here?''
'4es, indeed, SIR and have good cause
to remember it, for my poor little bits of
furniture were all burned, things as I'd
had from my poor mother and as belonged
to her father before her when he was a
farmer in small way in Herefordshire. -
VERY sad" murmured Lashmar. "Did
you happen to know Il man called Bold
wood?"
''Boldwood, that lost his life in the fire ?
Everybody knew Mr.. Boldwood. He was
a great man, my husband used to say, a
man that ought to have been a cabinet
minister; man that had poor peoples
interests at heart, and would have fought
our battles, if he'd ever come into power.
And quite gentleman, too, though rath-
er rough looking and careless about his
clothes; and such u loving father to his
little girl. She was adopted by the late
Lord Lashmar and has been brought up
like lady. The little girl used to sit out
on the balcony all day in summer time"
an extra rail to make it safer for her, and
had divided off his bit of balcony from
the rest with wire netting, so that she
sat there all alone like bird in a cage.
He didn't want her to mix with the other
children, and she didn't seem to want to
play with them. She was very shy, and
when they spoke to her she answered in
a foreign language. She had her little
| nd cha 70
contentedly hour after hour; but 1 al
ways felt sorry for her in those long, lone
ly days, when her father was away"
Certainly a sad and solitary infancy,
followed by desolate girlhood.
'She used to watch the funerals going
by to the cemetery" said the dame, who
had no desire to cut short the .conversa-
ton, albeit the rudiments Of her hus-
bands high tea were lying in her basket
and the day was wearing towards after
noon. '"There wasn't near so many houses
about here in those days. 1t was almost
open country, and she could see every
thing that went along the road to the
cemetery, and used to sit and watch and
watch and wonder and wonder. | could
see it in her face, sometimes, when
stopped to look at her. But she never
| asked me no questions. one Httle thought
how soon her daddy, that she was so fond
of, would be lying in that cemetery"
SIS it near here?" asked Lashmar.
"Not half mile"
.I'll go and look at Boldwood's grave.
| Good-molning, madam. If you will ac-
cept trifle by way Of
lie did not further explain himself, but
dropped some loose silver into the mat
ron's willing hand and left her curtesyins
on the pavement. Was there ever such a
gentleman-so noble looking, so free i'll his
manners and so open handed!
Lashmar found his way to the GENE
tery, which had been placed remote from
the town in the first instance and was
still in the outskirts. 1t was a noble
cemetery as to spaciousness, though a
little monotonous as to art. But trees
and shrubs had thriven, the place was
neatly kept and on Sunday evenings this
garden of death was favorite resort for
the sober and serious among the working
neople of Brumm, the people who liked
to 20 to chapel and take their quiet walk
LATTER chapel.
Roldwood's grave? The man at the
. leo wing not a nOlitical enthusiastic; had