Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1898-09-08

there were no rreSn wncel MARKS be-
fore the gateway: but that was no ev-
idcn'c that Claude and Elsie had not
gone Ia church. for the sacred editice
was such Il short distance off that it
was hardly worth riding. However.
| She found the Priory pew untenantcd.
| ana ii remained So all through the ser
| vicc-a fact that did not trouble Judy
| r.ucli. for Elsie had never been an ell
| thuSiaStlc church-goer. and She imay-
| inei that Claude was not more par
lirular.
| ON coming out OF church TWO or
three p""pl" spoke tn her. bu, no one
mentioned the inmates Of the Priorv
auh >h" was glad. later that She had
been equally r.riceuI. Even Mrs
Gardiner made Ii" mention of her
| kin>lnan. though She waylail Judy TO
ask Judy how >h" was getting on.
and WHITTIER she did not feel duh all
! alone.
Judy. lau:hingly. replied in the neg
ativc, declaring that She was very hap
| ny, and. having told her friend the
latest family news. walked home TO
| dinner. Passing the PrUry again. She
looked lon@ingly at the gateway. for
! sh" had an intense desire 10 see Elsie
but felt shy abou, intruhins after
Clnude'S strange conduct of the previ.
Gus night
| As ethey had not called during her
absence. Judith began 10 feel little
anxious: and. after long coGitation
Sh" decided She decided that there
could be no harm in looking in on her
| way 10 evening Servicc-,hey might be
expecting her thinking her conduct
strange in Keeping away.
Ten minutes later Judith was pull
| Ing the bell AT the lodge of the Priory:
and. after waiting some little time,
| tn" gate was opened by the gardener.
/ who had evidently been disturbed in a
nap.
Peg pardon. miss. for Keeping YOU
waiting" he cXcl;,u"a. pulling him
self together and salu1lng the visitor
respectfully: but | was alone. the mis-
! SuS being up ut the house You heard
| that the master came down uncXpcct
ed last night. miss. ana. maybe. that
| h" drove away this morniny:'
NO" replied Judy, Keeping her own
counsel. "IIa> Mr. .Tow.iShrnd gone
| back to Lond"n-.I"r to Nnr1hw old:'
Pack 10 London. miss: he only
came down last night for some papers
| he wanted. and | drove him over TO
| Orlcy junction at & this morning. so
| that he should catch the first train.
| But won't you please to come insiIc:'
NO, thank You'll shall be late for
church" Judith replied quietly. did
| Mr.. TOwn>hcnd leave Il message for
| any one
NO. miss: he told me not to speak
of his having been down unless some
one spoke first to me about it, because
he did not want people to think he ne
| elected them
| THANK you. Good morning. Brown"
and Judy went away thoroughly dis
| turbed in mind
1t was evident hat Elsie had not re-
turned to tlaX1on. What was the
mystery of Claul"> strange behavior
and his no, knowing his wifc'S where
ahoul>: Had they really uuarrelcd,
| ana. if so. what about:
l'orncrill" this matter rs she walked
| slowly along. judith l,rc;ilne so upset
| by her regret that III" happiness Of
| III" neWly-marri"l rOupl" SMonl1 have
| known temporary check in so short
a time. that she ."i, il al utter iInpos-
| Sihli1y To 20 to church and listen
| calmly tn H." service.
| The troubled state OF her mind was
| added to ly ihn unllrH>In'Nr>S Of icr
| position. for Judith linr With" danger
Of interfering i'll iAr matter: and yet.
| she could scarcely reconcile herself to
! maintaining IN impressive attitude. 1t
might be that Claude had been unwar-
| rantHbly jealous ana El>i rpScniful,
that she had gone off in little temper.
which would be apprnScd by Il gentle
| derstOOd her. On the other hand, the
| interference" Of an outsider might wild
en- instead Of closing the breach be-
twcc nthem. In the circumstances she
! felt that though she would doubtless
| be blamed for il later by the family,
| it would be wiser for her to maintain
an absolute silence. NO one knew that
she had seen Claude. no one knew,
| tahe7efore, that she knew how matters
stood; so she would try to possess her
soul in patience until Monday. when
| she would hope to hear from Elsie. No
doubt they were together again by this
! time. Elsie having returned to the no.
| tel before he had reached Claxton,
after having :;;e1 to scare him by run.
| ming to Grace for Il few hours though
such step would have been very in
| judicious. But then. Elsie never
| paused to consider the consequences Of
| any step she chose to take; she al
ways acted on the impulse Of the mo-
lnent
| But however much she might try to
rraSs,lre herself, Juditlis mind was
not anything like at rest. and she
spent another bad night feeling 50 de-
pressed in the morning that she al
most tainted when she saw the tclc-
graph boy making for the house. She
tore The orange envelope open. but the
contents were Il few cutting words
from Grace in reply to her letter:
"ShOuld not dream Of scnning baby
now. Only too sorry TO have made an
unfortunate Suggestion. G.. r.
"Grncie is Hnnoyed.' Judy thought;
''bu' cannot help it. on. how mis-
| cradle Hin.''-aiId. unable TO control
herself any longer, she burst into
tears.
Presently. however. she attempted
to buoy herself up with the notion
| hat no news is good news. and that
| probably Claude and Elsie were so
1 IT,: