Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1897-05-20
20, no." I said. cheerfrlly; Il shall

find the path in no time"
started off, carefully exploring the
ground before me with my stick us l
went. There was no sign of path, and
/ began to be seriously alarmed for
Miss Pascoe's comfort. On considera-
ton came to the conclusion that had
made rather an ass of myself. Another
hundred yards, and still 10 path. i
paused and looked back. / could see
slight, dark figure moving towards
me very carefully and slowly.
rs that you?" 1 said.
Miss Pascoe's voice answered: "Yes;
I'd rather come with you if you don't
mind. When you left me felt so lone
ly that l was almost afraid"
II am more sorry than can tell you"
l said, 'to have got you into such an
awkward fix. Pick your way very care
fully. Ali" She had stepped with one
foot into a patch of wet moss.
Take my hand" / said; cit is quite
firm where / am standing. Will you
ever forgive me for this?" She took my
outstretched hand, and guided her to
safety. But because the danger might
be renewed at any moment, I still re-
tanned my hold of her slim fingers, and
we went forward together in that pleas
ant, companionable way.
Don't talk to me about forgiveness
until you have found the path and made
restitution" she said. My fingers
frightened upon hers instinctively, part.
ly because it was so pleasant to have
them resting so unreservedly in my
hand, and partly because her voice was
very low and without any hint of dis.
approval in it.
For myself" said, 81 cannot pre-
tend to be sorry for this adventure
For your sake, of course 1 am; but il
has been so pleasant to have you to
myself for so long that when we hi
upon the path 1 shall be almost in
despair!"
1--WE haven't hit upon it yeti" she said
The ground under our feet seemed
quite firm by this time. The moon was
just rising, swimming upwards through
the low-lying vapor in a wide luminous
circle of misty silver. Right above us
II suppose" I said, strilSing.a match
to look at my watch, shat the second
dinner bell has rung by this time. Ir
another hour there will be hue and
cry after u.s." / was sorry for this 4
moment later, because in order to strike
my match had to relipquish her hand
We had both paused and read the face
of the watch together in the Pickering
light. Then it was blown out by 8
gust of wind and blank darkness sue.
ceeded. possessed myself of her hand
again.
"Well," she said, shall we go on?"
eff you like" said. ?. "a.
II suppose we ought to-" she said.
ct would be rather fun to let them
| find us here, wouldn't it?" 1 said
''Think how pretty the lanterns would
look, coming glinting over the
marshes"
But they might miss u.s." she SAID
turning her face quickly towards me
I saw the CLEAN of her eyes and the
oval shadow of her face, and all at once
I realized that there was only one thing
/ could do at that precise moment il
my life. I stopped down and kissed
her. ...
Forgive me for that as well, if you
can," said. 1t means that love you
I suppose now have trespassed beyond
all hope?"
For a moment she was quite still, and
I cursed myself for such blind precipi
tation; but the circumstances and the
time and place had all forced me to this
inevitable result.
"You think" she said, after this
pause, that you may as we'll pile up al
your offenses at once and be forgiven
or condemned on all counts at one
timer"
Precisely" said; 81 am entirely in
your hands,"
81 will forgive you," she said, very
sweetly, "when you have found the
path"
Its bargain, them" said. I took
a step forward and brought my foot
sharply against something white that
stood a few inches above the ground.
"Why," I cried, bending to examine
it, "this must be the broken post that
Jim told me to look out for. What g
close observer your brother is! This is
the path that leads straight for home. y
"You knew 1T all the time," she said
eproachfully.
NO." said, 81 assure you that had
no idea of it. We shall be in just as
tbs, rescue party is preparing to set
out" l turned to her and held out my
hands. II claim your forgiveness"
said.
And she forgave me. - Black and
White.
New Protection from Bullets.
The committee of the Federal Shoot.
ing association of Switzerland, while
target-shooting at Winterthur recently
- La n