Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1902-03-27

s. Rickerby's Folly $
. y BY TOM GALLON



which lay before him. In q .
little column Of gmoka went MP. and
then a little line OF Fame leapea along
and ran swiftly from one point TO anoth-
er. Learhwooa chuckled softly 10 him
ssff. ran around the room. dropped q
Light here and there and then ~retreatA1
10 TIE door Quite d respectable blaze
had started BY the time he closed the
the seccnG house
Now. he had glgen very careful in
sVrucfiors to Mr.. Corns1ius Viewers
that that gentleman and the girl Olive
acre 10 De in waiting for him at the
door ready to depart instantly. There
fore. when he slipped through the pas
sage which led from n house to the
other, calling softly as ne went be was
naturally very much astcrlshsd AT re-
{ living 10 reilly. He ran mp On the
stairs and thrust ep=n ne door Of o.
ives room. syE dreaming for a mo-
meat that the girl and Mrs Reeks were
crouche6 within. with the dead Come
AI-s AZ their fest Hearing no sound.
he a on, higher stfll impatientIy call
Ing 10 the old and still receiving
DO reR-. AT the TOP OF the stairs he
stopped. 6@wiE6e-e5 and . little fright
snei.
y wonder IL that old rascal has sold
me- he ulEttered 10 himself. Hes
inst the SORT 10 tuyE tail at the last and
make 6 bolt for Il. he never liked being
MIXED up In that first affair. and it's
oaite possible he may funk this second
one But what On earth has he done
with the giri="
His one desire was 20 get away from
the place and leav. = fire &c had
started 10 90 its own work tut he did
DOT mean 20 go without the girl He
bad StrIvrn hard enough 10 rain haT.
and the way was now absolutely clear
he had put his hand 10 the business.
and did not mean TO be defeated 81 the
LAST moment Re started down the
house again. calling The girl sharply by
name.
But II seemed TO be q house OF the
cea6-nor q whisper in it anywhere 4
strange feeling OF dread erepg over him.
al b foCS OF the stairs he hesitated q
moment Matchmaking UP his mind 10 go
away frohn the piece alone, without
troubling about DIV but the thought
came 10 him only for a moment the
next he set his teeth and swore that he
wculd find her. whatever happened.
Coming T. the very bottom OF the
house. snd finding nothing. a sudden
thought came 10 hina-a thought which
appeared to give q direct solution of the
matter He laughed aloud as il struck
him.
II never thought OF that" he whis-
pered- The little fool has gone TO End
her lover. she has been IN the habit OF
going into that house; missing him
here, she'd so. naturally enough. to
look for him there. Wen. my mad
beauty. III have you out % that's"
he pulled open the door OF the pas
sag which led from one house to the
other and darted sIong it As he burst
Into the room into which Ii opened. be
xAw. al the farther side, the figure OF q
woman just opening the door which led
20 the staircase communicating with
the uTpe rooms OF the house. She car
RED a light In one hand, turning, and
seeing him, she dropped t. and was in
stantly IN darkness: he heard that far
Their door close behind her-hear6 hur-
RED steps upon the stairs. he ran for
ward CRYING I her. franticaIly: "0i-
i've Olive. For heavens sake. come
back. OIiye."
He stumbled across the room and
was scme little time in finding the door.
Blu; he found II at last and pulled u
open. and went laundering up The
stairs. stiil crying her name. Reaching
the FIRST Hoor. he glanced down the
other staircase. which led 20 the room
IN which he had kindled the IRE The
smoke noated mp TO him ehokingiy. and
h could hear the fierce cracking OF
the burning wood With his excite
raent and anxiety az fever heat. he
dashed up b stairs. past the room in
which he had left Gilbert, sim crying
the name Of the girl And, above him.
he could hear the feet going n
shes mad. tndeedg" ne muttered as
he stumbled on I'll be lucky III get
her ont before we're overtasea by the
flames. ] almost wish I'd left her alone.
Curse this darkness. How the smoke
comes rolling up"
He stopped nj last. b~ewiidered. and
struck . light: CHANGING up as he did
so he saw b Hitter Of q wornan.s
dress just above him- stu crying that
name. he started in pursuit once more
begging the ryiag figure before hfra-
with every word al endearrnent that
occurred 10 hiras 90 stop and listen 20
him.
He had reached the top o< the hcuse:
funabliag blindly in the darkness. AMI
hee ring with terror the roar Of the
flames belyw. he plunged through an
open doorway an6 found himself In .
room struck a light again and sAw
the figure ne sought a. rAe farther end
Of IT, H0EGs-g he r1ay fame above his
bead. he advanced toward the Egure.
with hand strstched CIT 10 touch Il.
and sg0SS "a a F0sns Of sntreaty
-OhTe rry sweet girl 6s1't run away
from me .ak4 shas- We are an danger.
+ have cone 20 tad you-fD save yoa
You have roshing 10 fear craiy come
with ms ss ca>s GEre. do yon bear
me-
Tie wesnan before hirn came sz0xly
forward keeping csos4 sgzf1s1 the wzn
BY the ficke-fng ilgfh Of the match n
saw her coming ssOng. shrinking fr0rn
bsEn. ana wi1h her face bent 6oMn, 20
that he co1s3 not See H. TAsn. as she
got near him she c&rfe3 past and
gained the 600T slammed N quickly