Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1898-02-12
CHOICE.
By MRS.

vi Course you kHOW WnHJ 4 am going
o say. You know-you must know-that
loved you from the first hour we met, and
hat although in justice to you l made the
lnselfish effort to recommend your marry
ng Waring, when poor Mrs. Newburgh
net with such losses, / do not suppose you
IAN form an idea OF what it cost me to
make such Il sacrilce!'
81 am sorry TO have caused you pain"
,aid Mona, in a low, clear tone. II am
,ure your advice was disinterested."
at wa indeed. / confess | was surpris-
ID at the worldly tact with which you
adopted my suggestion"
al was carefully brought mp in a good
school" said Mona, demurely.
mo school on earth could have given
you the indescribable charm nature has
bestowedl' cried Lisle, ~passionately. 81
never loved any woman as / love you!
Mona, do hear me! Cast away this cold
sweetness, that is enough to madden any
man. Give me your love, give me q right
20 itp' He seized and kissed her hand,
which she withdrew. "There was a time
when your hand trembled in mine, and
my nerves are much steadier now" she
aid, calmly. at is treachery to let you
say inNlt, "lCh L hdNO hOIulHk W klNC Ill
return, and it pains me infinitely to pain
you, but l cannot be your wife,"
"Then there is some Internal mystery al
the bottom OF 1t. First you throw Warinl
over in the most ~unaccountable manner
now you reject mel You prefer the awful,
seclusion of this wild place, the society Of
these ~uneducated plowmen, to the world my
wife could commando Mona, you cannot
be indifferent to such passionate love al
mine, unless you love someone else"
THAT does not follow" she returned
uneasily, and very anxious to get rid Of
him.
"Who is itf" persisted Lisle, who was
raging with modification and ~disappoint.
ment. Can it be that the hero of the re-
Jected addresses has found favor In your
eyes after ALA great overgrown school
boy, who is weak enough to let himself be
robbed and plundered by professed game
sters and designing promoters, and then
skulks off to hide himself in the wilds of
California, like other defeated desperadoes.
Your first instinct was right, when you re-
jected a man who was unfit to be your pro-
t~ector."
Stop cried Mona, moved by a sudden
generous impulse to do justice to the man
she loved. Your judgment was right.
My instinct, IL 1t was instinct, was wrong.
Mr.. Warning deserved my love, and he has
1t! You are again right, you see. He has
shaken of the early feeling which made
him so eager to throw himself between me
and the ruggedness of poverty, and I have
learned to know him when 1t is too late!
NO11r nnnfaccinp1 aearyac nalo-oo - -.u
part. l feel / can trust my secret to the
loyalty Of a gentleman; and though I am
not the woman to throw myself Mt the feet
of one who is indifferent to me, as Leslie
Warning is now, l am not ashamed to own
that he has my gratitude, my respect, my
heart, and in it there Is no room for an.
other"
The tone in which she uttered these
words, the indescribable dignity and ten
derness of her air, Of the slight gesture OF
the hand with which she emphasized her
speech-touched and silenced Lisle.
You are an extraordinary girl" he said
at length; land il Waring does not love
you q suppose you must know, it seems
incredible. Well, if he does not, / do not
despair. You are worth winning. l will
not trespass on you any longer; but l will
not say good-bye-I shall seek you again
when the sea rolls between you and the
most unlucky dog | have ever known or
heard Of. To be loved by you, and not To
know it. What irony OF fate! For the
present-sweetest and most provoking OF
women-farewell."
CHAPTER xxvII.-"THE LAS STATE OF THAI
MAN"
II dinna ken what's come to We" said
Uncle Sandy, in very disconnected tones,
as he pushed away his plate and held out
the tea-cup he had just emptied, to be re.
plenished. "There Gamma be better OF
purer air than at Craigdarroch. It's aye
west or south; yet there's Mona Wi a bad
headache, wantin' her breakfast In her
room, an Mr.. Leslie lookin'-nae, but va
look better than we did yesterday glanc.
ing at him, "only We dinna eat. What's e
bit haddie an n mouthfu' o. toast to stay
mons stomach il the mornin'?'
"Ohl I am all the better for my ramble
with Kenneth yesterday"
"You are well-nigh yourself again; but !
was feared ye'd be goin' too far when !
heard ye hadna come back at tea-time."
81 left Kenneth because he was going
further on. | came back by Monkscleugh
and the lakewood. / hope Miss Craig's
headache is not very severe"
"She's more tired like thar in pain. She
wants quiet. Aweel, she went to bed air.
ly enough" quoth Uncle Sandy, ito get it.
81 dare say she will come down soon.
Jessie says there is a new brood of chick,
ems out, Mr.. Craig" said Mary. Twelve
wee brides, all strong and lively"
"Ay, that's varra good. Now, there's
anitner fast early train to Glasgow, wei
dispose o. good part o. the poultry varra
profitably. I'd go down and look at the
chuckics, If Mona were here"
And wouldn't you take my arm, Mr.
Craig, for want of a better'" said Mary
blushing very sweetly.
Yes, l will, my bairnie." said the old
man, looking at her indulgently. Sandy
Craig had a great liking for a pretty face,
well go and have a crack WI the hen.
wife"
Later, Mona, thinking from the profound
stiffness that she had the house to herself
came from the seclusion of her own room
to the drawing-room. She had been great
~ hSleetCa Wy Y ihtSlNlO" WIN lLiSltl
and greatly distressed, on reflection, tc
think she had trusted the secret of her love
for Waring to a man whom she could no,
help considering an enemy. Yet she did
not quite wish her words unsaid. She
wished to honor the man she preferred, in
the eyes Of the rival who despised him; but
she hoped and prayed that the knowledge
Of this admission might never reach War
Ing. Perhaps-indeed probably-he had
formed some fresh attachment, which held
his heart against her. after ALL" she
thought, as she stopped to look at herself
III a long glass at the end of the room, and
saw that the long straight folds and close.
itting bodice of her dark-blue serge, with
the broad band and buckle that showed
the easy %roundness of her waist, the scarf
or old lace round her throat, the soft wavy
of her reddish GOLD hair hecame