Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1899-02-09

She did not answer. Her look was
enough. William, seeing it, turned flu
rious at once, and, bounding by me.
faced the young man with an oath.
You're fool, said he, "to take no
from a silly chit like that. If loved a
girl as you say you love Lucetta, I'd
have her if had to carry her away by
force She'd stop screaming before you'd
got we'll out of the lane. 1 know wom-
en-. While you listen to them they'll
talk, but once take matters into your
own hands and'- A snap of his fin.
| gers finished the sentence. l thought
the fellow brutal, but scarcely so stu
| pid as had heretofore considered him.
His words, however, might just as
well have been uttered into empty air
The young man he had addressed APP
peared hardly to have heard him, and
as for Lucetta, she was so nearly insen-
sible from misery that she had sufficient
ado to keep herself from falling at her
lovers feet.
"Lucetta, Lucetta, it is then goodby?
You will not go with me.
II cannos-William here knows l
cannot. must wait till''-
But here her brother seized her so
violently by the wrist that she stopped
from sheer pain, fear However that
was she turned pale as death under his
clutch, and when he tried to utter some
hot, passionate words into her ear shook
her head, but did not speak, though her
lover was gazing with last, final appeal
into her eyes The delicate girl was
bearing out my estimate of her.
Seeing her thus unresponsive, Will
liam flung her hand from him and turn
ed upon me.
cts your fault" he cried lyon
would come in
But at this Lucetta, recovering her
poise in a moment, cried out shrilly:
For shame, William. What has
Miss Butterworth to do with this? You
are not helping me with your rough
ness. God knows this hour is hard
enough for me without this show on
your part of your desire to get rid of
me. :"
"There's woman's gratitude for you,
was his growing reply. II offer to take
all her responsibilities ON my own
shoulders and make it right with-with
her sister and all that, and she calls it
desire to get rid of her. Well, have your
own way, )" he cried out, storming down
the hall; "I'm done with it for one. +"
The young man, whose attitude Of re-
serve, mixed with a strange and linger-
ing tenderness for this girl whom he
evidently loved, without fully under
standing her, was every minute win
ming more and more Of my admiration,
had meanwhile raised her trembling
hand to his lips in what was, as we all
could see, a last farewell.
In another moment he was walking
by us, giving me as he passed low
bow that for all its grace did not sue
coed in hiding from me the deep and
heartfelt disappointment with which he
quilted this house. AS his figure passed
through the door, hiding for one mo-
ment the sunshine, l felt an oppression
such as has not often visited my healthy
nature, and when it passed and disap-
peared something like the good spirit Of
the place seemed to go with it, leaving
behind doubt, gloom and morbid APP
prehension of that something which had
in Lucettas eyes rendered his dismissal
necessity.
where's Saracen? / declare I'm
nothing but fool without that dog. :"
shouted William. IF he has to be tied
up another day. But even he has
some sense of shame in his breast, for
at Lucetta's reproachful William I"
he dropped his head sheepishly on his
breast and strobe out, muttering some
words was fain to accept as an apology.
had expected to encounter wreck
in Lucetta. AS this episode in her life
closed she turned toward me. But did
not yet know this girl whose frailty
seemed to lie mostly in her physique.
Though she was suffering far more than
her defense of me to her brother would
seem TO denote, there was spirit in her
approach and steady look in her dark
eye which assured me that / could not
calculate upon any loss in Lucetta's
keenness in case we came to an issue
| over the mystery that was eating into
the happiness as we'll as the honor Of
this household. And this in measure
was gratifying to me- should hate to
take advantage Of her despair to discover
| secret she would have been able to
keep in her better moments.
II am glad to see you, were her un-
expected words. 1.-THE gentleman who
| has just gone ont was a lover of mine;
at least he once professed to care for me
very much, and I should have been glad
| to have married him, but there were
reasons which once thought were very
| good why this seemed anything but ex-
| pedient, and so I sent him away. Today
| he came without warning to ask me to
| go away with him now, after the hasti-
est of ceremonies, to South America,
where splendid prospect has suddenly
| opened for him. You see, don't you,
that could not do that; that it would
| be the height of selfishness in me to
leave Loreen-to leave William
"Who seems only too anxious to be
| left put in as her voice trailed off in
| the first evidence of embarrassment she
| had shown since she first faced me.
William is difficult man to under
stand" was her firm but quiet retort
From his talk you would judge him to
be morose if not positively unkind, but
| t. ta11 hour