News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1901-08-28

The messenger led his horse away,
and Craig stepped through the door
into a lighted ROOM. He studied the
direction on the envelope a moment or
two and then gingerly broke the seal.
Then, while he read the contents of the
short message, his eyes opened wider
and wider, and at last he uttered a
long, low whistle.
The missive was written in Isles
hand upon stationery of the Palace no.
tel, San Francisco, and was as fol-
lows:
Dear Craig-You will be surprised to learn that
! left Crescent and Cross the day following your
departure and came directly here. Since then
have been very much occupied, as you may sup
pose. l shall leave here tomorrow for the city Of
New York and will establish myself at the Hol-
land House, where ! will await your coming, for
/ know that you will come. You may travel at
your leisure, as there IL no need for haste. Then
after we have met and discussed things a little
we will call together upon my fathers lawyer.
You will find me arrayed in feminine attire, but
] will offer no e1rther explanations here.
Isle MAXWELL.
The look of perplexity upon Craig's
face deepened, but it was softened by
a tender smile, which somehow won
derfully transformed it.
"Grit! Clear grit" he muttered.
"She's a rustler! Lisle, I'm proud of
you! And all the time / was jackass
enough to suppose that you were
a-moping all alone within 80 miles of
where l was a-sitting and awaiting for
you to yell "Tally-ho-o-oH" He turned
abruptly and strobe to the door just as
the messenger who had cared for his
horse was on the point of entering it.
"How far did you come with that let
ter?' he demanded.
From San Francisco" was the quiet
reply.
"What! Did you bring it clear from
there?"
eyes. Those were my instructions.
l came by rail as far as Reno, and from
there I've made the trip on horseback.
by way Of Belmont "a roundabout
way, but the best travelling. l was
born there and know the country thor
oughly. I used to know you when l
was a boy"
"Shake! You're all right! Now I'll
find you something to eat"
One week later Craig Thompson ar
rived in New York, and it is doubtful
if his familiars in Nevada would have
known him had any Of them CHANGED
to encounter him on the street. All the
%roughness had disappeared. His I'M
kempt beard was gone. His mustache
had been trimmed and trained, his
hair was shorn, and his costume was
all that the most fastidious city bred
man could desire. But the strangeness
Of it all was in the fact that the alter
ations seemed entirely familiar to him,
and he was as thoroughly at case as
if he had lived all his life in the sphere
to which he had been born.
"Home" he said aloud as he stepped
from the train to the platform. Home
again after all these years, after hay
ing sworn that | would never again put
my feet upon the pavements of New
York! Twenty-Five years since l left
home and lost myself on the Nevada
plains and among the mines in the Sier-
ras! Eighteen years, or nearly that,
since l came back for that one flying
visit-arrived in the evening and left in
the early morning, bitterly sorry that l
came, more than yer determined new
er to ~return-and here | ami"
He signaled to a cab, entered it and
was taken to the Holland House, where
he knew that he would find the object
of his journey, and an hour later he
rose from the couch where he had
awaited the return of the boy who had
taken his card to Miss Maxwell-rose
to meet a tall, faultlessly clad figure
that entered the room, a figure which
rapidly approached him, which had
Isles face, which looked upon him
out OF Lisle's eyes, which spoke to him
in Isles voice of rich contralto, but
which in no other way resembled the
young friend from whom he had parted
on the plains of Nevada.
Craig" she said and hesitated. Her
surprise was as great as his, for the
transformation in him was not less
marked than it was in her. But the
hesitation was almost imperceptible,
for with both hands she drew his head
down and kissed him upon his brow.
"Have you been undergoing a course
of instruction also?" she asked, seat
ing herself beside him. '"The change
In you is as great as it is in me. 1t is
an Improvement in both cases; don't
you think SOP"
Eyes. With me, Lisle, it is simply
the resumption of my own. I was born
here, lived here until l was IS; then l
went away. Once l came back. That
was Is years ago. l intended never to
come again, but you needed me, and
here | am"
"Have you forgotten how to swear,
Craig?'
"No; have only laid the habit aside
with my other clothes. They fit each
other and are to be worn at the same
time. Lisle, has any one told you that
you are a beautiful womanY'
"Yes"-laughing gayly-"I have not
lacked for information on that point"
"You were a handsome boy, but now
you are superb. Before you go into
anything else l want you to tell me all
that has happened during these two