Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-03

Hay, and poor Nannette! said all Fort
Frayne, their distrust of her buried and for
gotten as she lay refusing herself to every
one; starving herself in dull desperate
misery in her lonely room. Even grim old
BLACK Bilr' whom she had recognized at
once-Bill who had been the first to con-
firm Blake's suspicious as to her Identity
had pity and compassion for her. IT'S the
way of the Blood said Blake. "She is
Bred out Of that bloody strain
That haunted us in our familiar paths.'"
''She could do no different" said the gen.
eral, "having fixed her love on him. It's
the strain of the Sioux. We call her con-
duct criminal-they call it sublime
And one night, while decision in Nanette's
case was still pending, and still self-seclud-
ed, she hid within the traders home, re
fusing speech with any one but little F>aWn
Eyes. a sleighing party set out from Frayne
Platte Wagon bodies had been set on
runners, and piled with hay. The young
people from officers row. with the proper
allowance Of matrons and elders, were stow
ed therein. and tucked in robes and furs,
Esther Dade among them, gentle and re-
sponsive as ever, yet still very silent. Field,
in his deep mourning, went nowhere. He
seemed Inundated beyond words by his
connection with this most painful affair.
Even the general failed to cheer and reas-
sure him. He blamed himself for every
thing and shrank even from his friends.
They saw the dim glow of the student lamp
away They were coming homeward to-
ward 10 o'clock. The moon was shining
brilliantly along the bold heights Of the
southern bank, and insensibly chat and
laughter gradually ceased as they came
again in sight Of the twinkling lights Of
Frayne and glancing aloft at new-made
scaffolding. standing black against the sky
at the crest of Fetterman Bluff. Eagle
Wing roosts high," said thoughtless
youngster 1.-The general let them have their
way to the last. What's that?" he added,
with sudden STOP
The sleigh had as suddenly been refined in.
The driver an Irish trooper, crossed him.
self. for, on the hush Of the breathless Win
ter night, there rose and fell-shrill. quav-
ering, now high. now low, In mournful
minor, weird, desolate. despalrlng ehant;
the voice of a heart-broken woman, and
one and all they knew at once 1t was
Nanette, after the manner Of her mothers
people. alone on the lofty height. alone In
the wintry wilderness. sonplng OUT her gIieI
song to the sleeping winds, mourning to the
last her lost, passionately loved brave.
Then, all on a sudden, it ceased. black
form started from under the scaffolding to
the edge Of the bluff. Then again, weird,
strain burst from the lips Of the girl.
Mother of heavin! cried the driver. Can
no one sthop that awful keen. It's her
death song she's singin!'
Two young officers sprang from the sleigh
but at the instant another cry arose. An
other form, this one of horse and rider, ap-
peared at the crest. silhouetted with the
girls against the stars. They saw the rider
leap from saddle, almost WITHIN arms
length of the singer; saw her quickly turn,
as though, for the first time, aware of an
intruder. Then the wailing song went out
in sudden scream of mingled wrath. hatred
and despair, and, like the Sioux that she
was at heart the girl made one mad rush
to reach the point of bluff where was
sheer descent of over eighty feet. A shrek
of dread went up from the crowded sleigh;
a cry Of rejoicing, as the intruder sprang
and clasped her. preventing her; reaching
the precipice. But almost instantly fol-
lowed a moan Of anguish, for. slipping at
the crest, together. firmly linked; they came
rolling, sliding, shooting down the steep IN
with stunning force among the ice blocks,
logs and driftwood at the base.
They bore them swiftly homeward-Field
senseless and sorely shaken - Nanette's
fierce spirit slowly drifting away from the
bruised and broken tenement held there, so
pityingly, in the arms of Esther Dade. Be-
fore the Christmas fires were lighted in the
snowbound frontier fort they had laid all
that was mortal Of the brave, deluded girl