Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1900-07-02
CHAPTER XIV.

folded. his hat drawn over his eyes. :
Kaflr boy sat on the front seat driving
and at his feet sat Doss, who now anC
again lifted his nose and eyes above
the level Of the splash board 20 look
at the surrounding country and then,
with an exceedingly knowing wink OF
his left eye. turned 10 his companions
thereby intimating that he clearly per
cc!vcd his whereabouts. No one no
ticcd the cart coming. Waldo, wh'
was nj work at his carpenters table
in the wagon house. saw nothing till
CHANGING 10 look Gown, lie perceived
Doss standing rAforc YIN, the leS5
trembling, the little nose wrtnkled anc
6 series of short. surocatlng baTks CIV
ing uttcrancc to his JOY AZ reunion,
En-. whose eyes had ached with look
ing out across the plain, was now n
work In back room and knew nothing
! till looking up, she saw Gregory. witt
his stray lat and blue eyes standing
In the doorway. He greeted her quiet
| ". hung lis lat up Ia its Old place be
! hind t..t door. and for any change II
! his manner or appearance he NIGH
have been gone only the day before e
| fetch letters from the town. Only hi.
! beard was gone and his face was
| grown thinner. He took of his leather
! raitc.5. said the afternoon was hot
| and tLy roads dusty and asked fol
some l-a. they talked Of wool auC
| the cattle ana the sheep. Ial I'm gave
| him the pile Of letters tllat hAd com'
| for him during the months Of absence
but ~ the thing that .ay NJ theil
hearts neither sail anything. Then h'
went out 20 look al the kraui3. and n
| supper ~: Zavc him k"j C!Ikra ant
coffee. Glry ;uikou about the scsy
ants and then ate their meu! IL quiet
She came and sat on Il fcotstool neal
! him
"Do you wish TO hear auythlngr' h,
asked.
She whispered, Yes. If 1t does no
hurt you"
Yet he lay quiet for long time. The
light through the open door showcc
him to her. where he lay. with his arm
| thrown across his eyes. 1t last h'
spoke. Perhaps it was a relief TO hin
to speak
To Bloemfontein. In the Free State
| to which through an agent he had trac
ed them, Gregory had gone. At the ho
| tel where Lyndall and her stranger
had staid he put up. He WIGS showI
| the very room IN which they had slept
! The colored boy who had driven then
| to the next town told him In whlcl
house they had boarded, and Gregory
| went on. In that town he found the!
| had left the cart and bought a sp!dC'
and four grnys. and Gregory's hear
rejoiced Now, indeed, It would b'
easy to trace their course, and he turn
ed his steps northward.
At one desolate farm the Boer had {
good deal TO tell. The lady had salC
she liked a wagon that stood before
the door Without asking the price th'
Englishmau had offered $50 for th'
old thing and bought oxen worth III
for f1G. The Dutchman chuckled, 70
ne had the "Salt-reims" money in the
! box under his bed. Gregory laughed
| too, in silence He could not lose sigh
| of them now, so slowly they woult
| ha~e to move with that cumbrOus o!
wagon. Zet when that evening cam,
and he reacheu '.-little wayside inn nt
| one could tell him anything IL the ira 2
| elers.
The master, Il surly creature, hal
! stupid with Boer brandy, sat on til
bench before the door smoking. Greg
ory sat beside him, questioning, bu
| he smoked on. He remembered moth
ing Of such strangers. How should h
! know who had been there months AM
months before2 He smoked on. Gre2
ory, very weary, tried to awake hi
memory; said that the lady he wa
seeking for was very beautiful, had
! little mouth and tiny, very tiny feet
The man only smoked on as sullenly a
| at first. What were little, very little
mouths and feet to him? But hi
| daughter leaned out in the windoN
above She was dirty and lazy an
liked to loll there when travellers cam
TO hear the men talk, but she had sol
heart. Presently a hand came out o
the window, and a pair Of velvet sliI
| pers touched his shoulder, tiny sltI
pers with black flowers. He pule
them out Of her hand. Only one VIZ
mans feet had worn them; he kne7
that.
Left here last summer by lady,
said the girl; might be the one you al
looking for; never saw any feet S
small"
They might have come In L WACO
and spider; she could not tell. But th
gentleman was very handsome, tai
lovely figure, blue eyes, wore glove
always when he went out; an Englis
officer perhaps; no Afrikander, ce
tainly.
Gregory stopped her.
The lady2 Well, she was prett.
rather, the girl said; very cold, du
air, silent. They staid for, 1t migl
be, five days; slept In the wing owe
against the "stoep;" quarreled SOM
times, she thought-the lady. She ha
seen everything when she went in
wait. One day the gentleman touche
her hair. She drew back from him {
though his fingers poisoned her; wei
to the other end of the room If he eau
to sit near her; walked out alone; col
wife for such handsome husband, Il
girl thought She evidently pitied hlT
he was such Il beautiful man. The
went away early one morning, how ,
IN which way the girl could not tell.
Gregory inquired Of the servant
but nothing more was to be learned,
the next morning he saddlcd his hOrl
and went on. At the farms he came
the good old looms" and ''tantes" as
ed him to have coffee, and the lit
shoeless children peepcd out at Il
stranger from behind ovens and gable
but no one had seen what he asked 70
This way and that he rode to pick I
the thread he had dropped, but Il
spider and the wagon, the little lad
and the handsome gentleman, no OF
had seen. In the towns he Jared y
worse.
, Once indeed hope came to him. 9
the "s,nyp' If a hotel at which
stad lie uight In a certain little v
lage there walked a gentleman, graz
and kindly looking. 1t was not hal
to open conversation with him abo
the weather, and then Had he ev
, seen such md such people, gent
man and lady, spider and wagon, a
rive Mt that place? The kindly gent
man shook his head. What was Il
lady iizef he inquired.
| Gregory paintcd-hair ike SILK
floss. small mouth, undcrlip very fl