The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1901-07-19

WIS driven TO tine F1etCher H0ihestS I'D
on taeasdl4ka4 ufrtrAstswn4 He went
s g. te esb { St rs e9S I'D 4sts t
ne ft65dnu III oldsfash ione d>:~ednh tgy
|'phce-Sa &Ag;H~honeliAe& honse.;sur.
oNndedassN,ith< ,gsrea trees in the midst
lot q farm. ct great natural beauty,
rolling meadows and fruitful fields
traversed byyH ripping Brook ~.
lin responseytu,Ahe ,knscker @A>grim
old woman Qpensd the, fQ la4nt.de or for
enough to let the majpr, see that it was
fastened with, a chaina inside, ana in re-
Spouse to his request to see Miss
/. Fletcher was told to wait ON the porch
and sheawould see him there AZ the
major stood smiling at the crude at
tempt to thwart the edict of. the law,
and inwardly Tuning at the trivial ne
cessity for taking him so far from his
snug bachelor apartments, the door
opened and Immediately he heard the
chain rattle into place again. Turn
ing, he lifted his hat to the~girlish fig
ure in the doorway. 1t was perfect
type of budding womanhood, tn.
major noted briefly, just before hts
eyes rested on her face. Then with a
start the hat dropped from his hand
and he grasped tie railing for sup
port.
"Amy!" he gasped, his hand seeking
his brow with gesture of bewilder-
ment. For there before him. in the
flesh stood Amy Lester, the. sweet
heart of his boybood, just as she had
looked on the day he had left her to
go to the war. Not day older, not
feature changed! And he knew she
had died these ten years ago. Had he
lost his mind? Had paresis overtaken
him in the prime of life? He stood
transfxed, with trembling limbs and
staring eyes.
"Amy Fletcher, if you please, sir"
replied the young woman, with some
spirit. ':And what is your business
here, may ask?''
II must beg your PARDON said he,
with courtly grace. "You reminded
me so strongly Of an old and very dear
friend"
'You were a friend of mammals,
then?" inquired the girl. "Her name
was Amy Lester"
Eyes; she was once very dear
friend of mine,"' replied the major,
gravely.
The girl, who had been'standing de-
family, with eyes flashing, softened
visibly. 49,
"Oh, I'm so glad you !came. I'm in
the most dreadful trouble, and they
are trying to take the old place away
from me; but they won't do it. III
never let them. I'll die first. Grand
pa told me never:to let them do it, and
that they had no right, and I won't.
But it's so hard for girl who don't
know anything about business or law
or anything to combat all those men.
I need a friend. Indeed do, and if you
were friend of mammals you will be
my friend; I know YOU will You will
help. me, won't you24' You are 500 big
and strong; And you know all about
these hiorrid business things; know
your dos fAndLand, yodIyou*are kind
land honest; know you xre. Tell
me-telkme what.tb do" ;Hf
>'.Tells me. all about it," he said, with
q tremnr in his voic e. '*''
They sat down on the rustic bench
the majors tall, sol
dierly figure thrilled as 1t had not for
20 years, and he could not realize that
it was not the other woman-the wom-
an of 20 years ago-who was seated be-
side him, as she had been so often in
the old days. She told him her pa
thetic story-how she had been left
an orphan to her grandfather's care,
md how he had died a year ago in the
midst of a quarrel with big land syn
dicate that sought to acquire his prop
erty, and had told her that the nego-
tiations had not been closed, although
some papers had passed. He warned
her never to yield possession of the
property. Then there had been law
suits, and now they were trying to
eject her from the house in which she
was born and to deprive her Of all she
had in the world. Going further into
the matter, the major learned many |
things that had puzzled him during the |
trial of the case involving the proper
ty, and discovered how a great injus- |
tice had been wrought.
'Do not be afraid" said he, rising alb
ruptly, "You will be harassed no
more"
He went straight back to the city,
md there was an interview with Van
stormiest, it : is said,
that ever occurred in the majors old
fashioned back room-and the result
was that certain checks bearing the
MAJORS signature passed to Vandel-
meier and the deed to the Fletcher
estate passed to Amy Fletcher.
There was the glow of long-deferred
7outh on his face and the agility of
10Y in his soldierly carriage as he
;prang up the steps with the deeds in
lis pocket. She did not entertain him
m the veranda this time, and before
he day was over she invited him to en-.
oy a short season on the estate he had
aved for her-she did not know at
What cost. He remembered Eastman's
Ldmonition that he needed q vacation,
md he decided to spend it.
There really is no need of telling the