The Holly chieftain., 1901-04-05
CHAPTER K.

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80 CHAPTER K,
;s L Dyen .ths maddast, msrrtest os ,sv.
easss must grow wsasy r
Ths Christmas msrTymakers nagred.
the gay music dragged little slowly:
here and there tired child-susst
yaNnsd dn, corner. then nodded. -
finally was carried sway in ! 0Ssp
sleep.
Z outsids. under the starr, loer iins
d carriages waited. and the hostsai
With tired eyes. wondered why psop,e
did not 60 - -s.ssi q.
II had been . fatisuing day sS;sr III
hfay, Jane and for Leila, who had snet
spared hetsSK Il helping. She saA
Lady Jans, side by side. ran the CAN'T
let Of the interminahle good-byes from
exhausted but delighted guests;
The Christmas gathering had bssn
the greatest sucesSs the, coaAty had
known for years, and Lady Jans ~
excited BY the .natfefiEs ard thanks
OF the departing guests.
Where's your 1ifs.a deaf itshs
ought to havs been here to ~ tho
guests on" A,'s''s's'ss;s.s. IL.
Lady, Jane laid her hand on her Sons
arm. She was. In her hred state, ready
to be cross even with the heiress.
GLADLY? I'm sure l don't know.
mother dear"
Gervis yawned. He was pining to
get OF his Santa Claus trappings, and
to have quiet pipe by himself.
A quarter OF an hour later nearly
every soul under the Temple Dene
root was echoing. Lady James que,-,
ton. ~. IF
Where was the bride.
Not in her own room, not in the
hot. deserted ballroom; she was not
In the upper gallery, where the lights
were already being put out.
All sense of fatigue was put to aifht
by vague terror Of some evil hang 3
ing. over the house Of Temple -Dene.
Under the ancient roof only two
persons did not shars. the terriptdi OK
citement when It was discovered that
Mrs. Gervts Templeton was nowhere
to be found-its master and the Amer,
lean guest.
Gervis himself Nas petrlned. He had
bfol$ht all his strsntth Of WIN to
bear oh aesly sdglpE his duty to the
woman he had Won l6t bis wife. No
one but he would ever know how
bard the nsht had been I, ~ iif
~ Ard Aow it.sNas all In Win. for
GLADLY had gone Whsre. no one knew.
Since tie journey on the Canadian
Pacific railway. over the ,snow-covered
prairiss, GLADLY had been a bewilder-
ing pussle TO her husband. Her vaear-
len had made him secretly wo1der ~
times ~ he had harrsed lialasic.
Then again = srea4 fssr would loom
up that bis wife, had Inherited soms
terrible wasting disease. and was about
to slip through his fingers and out Of
life itself. VI
But this catastrophe on Christmas
night eclipsed all that he had even
dreaded. E9
GLADLY gone!. She who had been the
merriest gladdest, happiest OF all the
"goodly companie!"'~ 1t was inscrut-
able. horrible. maddening!
Out into the freezing night went
parties OF searchers. Not man un-
der Temple-Dene's roof, gentle or
simple. save two-its master and the
American guest. Paul Ansdell-but
| Joined the anxious hunt.
All was in vain!
Nothing more can be done until the
daylight comes," hoarsely said Gervis,
as he strobe into the still gayly lighted
hall, and stamped the hard iced snow
of his boots. M
His face was gray. and strange
look OF age had crept owed It. which
made 1t startlingly like that OF his
mother.
Lady Jane. worn out and spent,
crouched down beside the great yule-
log, that cracked and roarsd, the only
cheery thing around.
shs,And Gervis gazed blankly at each
Epthsr. What had they done. the two
were Asking one another silently. that
thisjsdtAGsace should have come to
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