The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1900-06-21

1
frolic all the same"
Another and a higher peak tempted
her when she had sat for awhile upol
boulder browning the first, reyeilne
In the view of valley and hill. lnciud
ing the basin in which nestled the
house, and the plain opening eastward
toward the sea and civilization. the
second height was precipitous, in some
places almost perpendicular. From
treading fearlessly and rapidly from
crag to crag, she came to pulling her.
self up gravelly banks by catching at
the stout underbrush, and steadying
| herself among rolling stones by TUFTS
OF wiry grass. But she kept on. AMI
forgot aching feet, scant breath and
blistered hands when she stood finally
upon broad plateau hundreds or feet
above the house, that had dwindled
into toy cottage, and the environing
plantations Of trees like patches in an
herb garden.
This is life" she cried out In sud-
den transport, and she sat her down
upon cushion of gray moss in the
shadow of cedar to gaze and wonder
and rejoice.
She made discovery presently. A
spring, clear and impetuous, burst
from between two overhanging rocks,
and chose the shortest route to the
valley, babbling with all its little
might. 1t was joined, before it had
gone many feet, by other rivulets, and
from point midway in the descent,
where the cliffs were steepest, came up
the shout of a waterfall This, and the
tireless murmur of the evergreens,
made up the music of this upper sane
tuary, until Constance's voice rose from
the rocky table, sweet, full, exultant:
"The wild streams leap with headlong
sweep
In their curbless course Ger the noun
tain steep;
All fresh and strong they foam along,
Waking the rocks with their cataract
song.
My eye bears glance like the beam on
lance
AS l watch the waters dash and dance
burn with glee, for love to see
The path OF anything that's free.
love-I love-oh, love the free!
l love-I love-I love the free!
THE skylark springs with dew on his
wings,
And up in the arch of heaven he
sings
Oh, sweeter far
Than the notes that come through
golden bar
The thrall and the state of the palace
gate
Are what my spirit has learned to
hate.
The strain ceased abruptly, and, in
place OF the rapt musician, borne above
The power of earthly woes to crush and
petty vexations to sting, a woman grov-
elled upon the messy cushion, weeping
hot, fast tears, and beating against the
rough rock with child's folly of des-
peration the white hand that wore the
badge of her servitude.
What was she but Gagged bird, bid
den to preen it's feathers and MARBLE
The notes its master dictated between
golden bars? A slave to whom state
and thrall meant one and the same
abhorrent thing? What had she to do
with dreams of beauty
and freedom-she, who had signed
away her liberty of spirit and person,
voluntarily accepting in their stead
he most foul captivity pure and up
right woman can know? She felt her.
sci, to be utterly ile-plague-spotte
n soul and flesh in the lonely sublim.
lty OF this mountain temple-a leper,
condemned and incurable, constrained
10 cry out at the approach of every
passer-by, "Unclean! uncIeanp II
would have been better for her to beg
her bread upon the doorsteps of the
wealthy, and, failing that. to die by the
Tayside with starvation and cold. than
o live the life of nominal respectable.
ty and abundance, of real degradation
md poverty, which were now hers.
The tears were dried, but she still sat
On the gray carpet, cIutching angrily
1t 1t and the wild flowers peepins
through the crevices of the rock, rend.
ng them as passion had torn her; her
BOSOM heaving with the unspent waves
d excitement and a mutinous pout
lpon her lips, when a cracking among
he bryshwood thrilled her with an un.
sensation Of alarm.
Before she could regain her feet or
concert her scheme Of defense or
light, the nearest cedar boughs were
pushed aside, and man stepped into
he area fenced in by the hardy noun |