The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1898-07-30

land Of unreality. The snow seemeu
destined to finish O dark nights work
by burying Edna Deane and the mys-
terry OF her fair young life beneath It's
mantle alike.
Ghostly fell the snow!
Fiercer rose the wild winds, more
weird became the clogged, misshapen
Landscapes; darker grew the night. Inc
dainty form was outlined, first in royal
robe OF ermine, then a little MOUND
showed, then a greater one, anu theh-
only bleak, level expanse-the wan
derer completely obliterated. as II
part Of the great spreading meadow It.
self.
And ghostly fell the snowi
CHAPTER VII.
TOO LATEl
RAYMOND Marshall had swept from
tho presence of Beatrice Mercer with
the ioy of q man suddenly snatched
from the darkest depths Of grief and
despair.
of the true status of affairs. He had
been grossly deceived = his bright,
bonny Edna vas not faithless! The
letters he had received were forgeries,
and the plotful Beatrice Mercer. in
spired by love and jealousy, had
wrought oil the misery SO happily avert
ed by his accidental discovery OF her
duplicity. :,
II will find her IL I search the world
oyer!" he had avowed ardently, buoy
ant, exuItant in his faith regained and
the power of q love able to battle the
most subtle foe.
With catmness, however. while his
overpowering love sustained him fully,
RAYMOND Marshall realized that he was
at q terrible disadvantage, In the dark,
with not single clew as to the motive
| Of Edna Deane's strange disappear
ance or her possible whereabouts.
| A second visit to Miss Chandler, the
lady principal of the seminary, resulted
in the requirement Of very little addi-
tional information.
Fdna's father had sent a trusted
friend or servant to take her homo. He
| had made 1t an express request that the
location OF that home, the mystery o
Edna's life, her true name should mo-
| be made known. Edna must abandon
! all her old friends. A new life opened
for her Of wealth and comfort. but ap
parently weighted down, or at leas
| affected, by some dread mystery tina
involved the utmost secrecy.
Reasoning all this out, Raymond Mar
! shall decided that he could do bu
little except to await developments. Hi
! anxiety for Edna's welfare, however
his impetuous. impatient spirit, drov'
him to endeavor to learn what cours'
Edna's mysterious companion had takel
In so swiftly spiriting her away to he
friends. He traced the carriage to tn
railroad town fifteen miles distant. blu
there the trail ended. Distance or di
rection taken by the fugitive there be
came involved points Of speculation.
For q week he hung around Hopedale
His painting was neglected. His fathe
was involved iii deep business Difficult
ties, which at any other time woul
have commanded his attention, but jus
now he could think of nothing but Edna
He grew moody and taciturn, anxiou
and then alarmed. No letter arrive
from Edna. He haunted the woods
spots endearei to him by their pas
meetings, but his anxious heart drov
him to distraction as the fear gre
, upon him that his love was lost to hin
that either the mandate Of ster
| father or the plots of the siren-hearte
Beatrice were operating to rob him {
the bonny bride to whom his troth wa
plighted.
What did this girl know2 Evidentl
everything there was to know. Wit
subtle craftiness she had woven ht
| soft wiles about the innocent and trust
r full Edna, until the latter had made {
, her q bosom friehd-an exclusive col
fldante. She had tacitly acknowledge
[ | to Marshall that she knew where Edr
D had gone, but boldly, angrily, she ha
/ | refused to tell him what he wished
a know. Fully compromising the girl
, | resolute nature, Marshall gloomily d.
cided that II she alone held the fate
D his ever again meeting his loved oil
lost one that event would never tran
pire.
q Wrought up to maddening pitch
, frenzy by the uncertainty and suspen
= of the hour, as well as by a sense
!. deep wrong and injustice, one eveniI
r RAYMOND Marshall went straight to Il
r seminary.
: Beatrice Mercer shall tell me all s.
knows" he uttered fiercely. Il W
: plead, will brighten her, bat her seer
t shall be mine!"
: The browning surprise and disast
4 alike Of the eliminating troubles of
: hour was announced at the very porta
= Of the seminary.
Miss Mercer was gonet Blankfy a
r. dolefully Miss Chandler impaired t
: bewildering information.
Gone? Wten-where? Beatrice Me
% Ger, poor, friendless, dependent entire
h | ON Miss Chambers bounty and
meager means that her position as su
teacher awarded her, gone9 Abando
m ing a position which seemed to be
10 Iife-Iease for her?
Yes. she had made the sudden a
10 nouncement that morning. Thorough
: amazing her friends, she had packed I
X demanding her salary. and had Il
= without a word of explanation concel
, ing either her motives in resignin9
az position or her future Intentions.
To the dumfounded and SUSPENSE
in RAYMOND Marshall this seemed the Il
r and most cruel blow of fate. His I'll
al reliance was swept away. He felt
1T sured that Beatrice Mercer knew OF
a whereabouts of Edna. Now, she, t.
n had disappeared-there was not Q
in sight!
mr. Would she join Edna in her n
ID home, and by forgery and misrepres
= tation wreck her faith in her lover, {
or work out her plots Of jealousy and
vengey
q Oppressed by this torturing thong
RAYMOND Marshall left Hopedale t
% night on a blind, hopeless quest
Iie some trace of the woman he loved ,
the woman he dreaded.