The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1898-02-01

whirled round before her. There was a
great roar in her ears, like the rush of
the sea upon the rocky coast. 1t grew
so dark she could not see. She grasped
the neck of her horse for support, her
confused head falling on the pad of the
saddle
Only for moment. The anxiety
within brought her to herself. She
| looked around her. She was very near
Portlea. There were many people NOV
ing to and fro. A great crowd filed the
streets. She took a road to the jail yard.
| The crowd was terribly dense, but Ag-
/ mes saw nothing save that horrible
4 frame work of timber, raised high
above the stone walls of the Jail, and
standing on the platform, very prince
among them all, the tall, erect form of
] Lynde Grahami
She was in time! Her heart swelled
almost to bursting.
/ "Yet little more. Jove, and it is
donep she cried; but the poor beast
could do no more-he reeled and sank
on his knees, with something that
sounded like the sigh of a human be-
ing in despair.
| Agnes sprang from the saddle and
dashed through the excited crowd.
They parted before her, and she reach
ed at last the foot of the scaffold. The
rope was already adjusted, the carpen-
/ ter stood ready, waiting the sheriff's
word to let the drop fall. and the sig
| nal would have been given in another
| instant.
The voice Of Agnes rang out, over and
above all the confused noises of the
motley gathering:
"a reprieve! A reprievep
She held aloft the paper-they saw
| the great seal of the state.
| "A reprieve from the governor" she
said, and fell senseless, even as she
spoke, into the arms of old DR.. Hudson,
/ who rushed forward to receive her.
| The sheriff read the reprieve aloud,
and then removing the rope, he led the
prisoner down the steps of the scaffold.
In all his captivity no one had ever
| heard Lynde ask a single favor, but
now he said to the official:
Grant me this. Miss Trenholme has
saved me a little longer to life-allow
me to pass near enough to her to touch
! her clothes"
| The sheriff stared, but INDUCED the
wish. Graham went up to where she
| lay, a gread crowd around her, and DR..
| Hudson and brother physician ap-
plying restoratives. He stopped down
and looked into her face. Oh, how very
white and deathly she looked! Graham
| lifted the soiled mantle she wore, and
| touched the hem reverently with his
| lips. Then he turned away, and went
back to his dreary prison house.
Agnes was taken to the residence of
| DR.. Hudson, and cared for as well as
could be. But she had endured so much,
both mentally and physically, that life
hung upon thread, and for days she
| lay in a stupor so closely resembling
death that at times those who watched
| her could not tell whether or not the
breath still fingered.
| Mrs. Trenholme braved the displeas-
ure of her son and came down at once
! to nurse her, and when, after ten days
of stupor, her disease eliminated in
! brain fever of the most violent type,
she wrote thus to her son:
I Ralph, Agnes is sick unto DEATH If
you could sit beside her as I do, and
listen to her unconscious rawlings, and
through them learn how terribly she
had suffered, you would forgive her.
Oh, Ralph, by the memory of your dead
| father, / implore you to come to us!
/ Your Mother"
But Ralph, still naughty and unre-
lenting in his cruel pride, answered:
Mother, it is useless to plead for her.
She has brought our honored name to
disgrace by the course she has taken
I cannot forgive her! Ralph
But that night, when he retired to
| rest, no sleep came to Ralph Trenholme
He saw the pale face of Agnes as he had
last seen it. She laid little cold hand
on his arm and with a sweet, sad voice
asked him to pardon and love her. He
started up, his brow wet with a chill
| perspiration, his heart beating loudly
But at last he slept, and, sleeping,
vision came to him. He stood in the
summer house at the foot of the gar
den. The time was June, for there were
roses in bloom at the mouth of the ar
Dor. Directly, there f1oated upon the
roseate air the face of Marina. He saw
the blue eyes, and felt the thrill of the
| golden hair as it swept against his
cheek.
Ralph" she said, "dear Ralph, put