Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-02-17

Sne swiftly PASSED them Dys his uafN
row intervale, hedged in by almost par.
allel lines of foothills, she remembered
so well, although in the old springtime
the ground had been almost carpeted
with great purple anemones, while now
it was masses of yellow bloom which
the wind was bending down to earth;
but the grove of quaking asps into
which she presently rode looked new
and strange; obviously they had sprung
up since her time. And they had
grown up in such amazing number;
there were myriads of them, all in
frou-frou futter, their delicate wrap
pings turned silvery side out, as though
in futile effort to cover their white
limbs from the storms rude touch. The
girl felt suddenly lost as the way closed
in among them; and she would have
fastened to get out into the open once
more, but their branches so swept
across the way that she had continual
ly to take care lest she were caught
with singing blows from them. Plain
ly nature had been left to work her
own will with the cd trail. There were
marks of wheels-wood-teams, the girl
inferred, from the deep ruts worn here
and there; but when the way twisted
down to the bottom of deep coulee and
up a wilderness of rocks and pine trees
on the other side, it seemed a marvel
that any wagon could follow.
On and on she went, scarce needing
the landscape now, except to watch for
the longedfor juncture of the two
roads. The roar of thunder had begun
resembling through the mountains. as
though voicing the wrath of Jove, while
with the sound a nervous terror insidi
ously grew upon the girl. Utterly fear
less in most situations, full of a
thoughtless daring due in a measure to
an inability properly to measure dam
ger, and yet she always quailed before
a thunderstorm; and never had the
dread sounds seemed so awful in her
ears as now in the weird loneliness Of
the place into which she had thought
lessly ventured. She seemed an insig-
nifcant atom cast adrift in a world
given over to destruction. Mercurial in
her temperament, a despairing convie-
ton suddenly fastened upon her that
she had somehow missed the way she
sought. To go back and take the regular
road involved ride before which, with
her nervous disrelish of the now almost
incessant thunder, her soul turned
sick; though to go on appeared such
questionable adventure that she
stopped short on the brow of short,
steep hill, considering the other side in
Il misery of uncertainty. But even as
she looked fate came to her relief re-
vealing the figure of a man on horse
back passing between the trees, just
over the brow of the next hill. He was
riding from her; and on the instant she
was urging her horse down the precipi-
tous coulee, determined to overtake
him and ask direction as to her way.
But at the bottom of the deep cut ran
n small stream across which was thrown
a rude bridge of poles; and as the horse,
in the impetus of the mad dash down
the steep embankment, plunged heav-
lily upon this fiimsy structure, a length
of rotten wood snapped like a pipe
stem, one of the animals fore-legs 60
ing down with such force as must in
evitably have thrown the rider had she
not been swift to see the danger and
jump to save herself. AS it was, in
the sudden, unconsidered movement,
her skirt caught on the saddle-horn and
she half fell, her weight coming upon
her outstretched hands in such fashion
as severely wrenched one wrist. Hur-
riedly struggling to her feet, it was
with n mixture of discontinue and re-
lief that She perceived the stranger rid
ing toward her as fast as horse might
carry him. 1t was annoying to be dis
covered in such undignified pose, even
by such simple ranchman as she i'm
agined the rider to be: but there was
scarcely time for the captious thought
in the imperative need of help.
Miss Meredith-are you hurt ?" he
breathlessly exclaimed, as he threw
himself from the saddle beside her, so
much of genuine concern in voice and
manner that the girl felt unconscious
ly strengthened and comforted. 1t did
not until afterward occur to her as
strange that he should call her by name
So far as she noticed it at all, it had
only soothing sound of friendliness.
mo; but the horse-oh, it is terri. |
BILE! His leg will be broken" she cried.
clasping her hands as she
watched the animal floundering pain
fully in the ugly trap.
ITO BE Continued