The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1903-03-05

n speak. Her. head lay on Rothesayi
4 breast; her eyes half closed, wft
o filled with the rapture that flooded lnl
a whole being. /
Il am free!"-he whispered next
q you know that / am free from mt
r engagement, or, should not haV
dared to come to you. Since | wrot
that letter-ah, could not help wri,
Z ing to yOu!-even since then saw
/ learned of my freedom, and l lost no
, one moment in seeking you"
A joy so intense that it almost CAV,
her a sharp physical pain shot through
Kate as she heard him. She was FREE
to love him-free to take this bount.
less happiness into her heart. She
did not think then of all the othe'
troubles that had beset her-that she
had still to contend against.
You are free?" she repeated, lift
ing her head and looking at him
meeting in the darkness the brilliancy
OF his eyes that she could not have
borne in the daylight.
did you not know it, since L an
here?" he answered.
And he knew that, though she haC
yielded thus, had she still found him
bound she would have babe him 60
when reason and conscience resumed
the control which love had fer the mo-
ment gained.
He went on hurriedly:
Eyes, | am free by Miss Lauriat's
own act. saw in this evenings pa
| per an account of the runaway match
or Miss Laura Lauriat of Philadelphia
1t seems she, also, has found her
chains irksome, and, thank God! she
has broken them. Perhaps the shad-
ow of suspicion under which lie has
tened the event. At any rate she has
freed me. It was an engagement en-
tered into when we were both too
young. Still, | had supposed, of
course, that / had loved her. |, who
had never known love until had seen
YOU" pressing his lips to the hand he
held. Then | knew what love was.
All! hope never again to know the
torments Of despair and bliss that | |
knew when | was i'll here, and longed !
so to see you, and yet dreaded your |
coming for fear that l might betray |
myself. And you-you were as cold |
as snow. You plunged me in despair.
I, who had no right to wish for your
love, could not repress my desire to
win 1t. You knew that loved your"
bending his face down until he could
see her eyes. "The fire in my cart
must have made Itself felt, though |
denied it all expression. You knew
that loved your"
yes. And yet | thought It could
not be-" she answered.
And your" he persisted
81? | loved you. have spent
hours praying that I might be able to
stiflC the love that was at once so
sweet and so bitter. Oh, loved you!"
She repeated the words with the
abandon Of a perfect passion that
knows itself responded to-that is not
of itself
He pressed her yet closer to him
and poured forth incoherent expres-
sions of a fiery and rapturous emo
ton.
As, in the wistful musings of her
onely life, Kate Purcell had dreamed
Of being loved. so now she was pene-
rated and encircled by a passion that
vas TO change all her life for her. The
happiness of which she had known
herself capable, but which she had ]
leyer expected to know, was hers.
The silence which surrounded the {
wo was full of the emotion which
'uled them; it seemed as II the night !
tself knew their happiness and brood
ID with tenderness above them. I
After a time Kate recalled to her
mind the danger that Rothesay might
AVE braved in coming to her.
She knew nothing of the circum.
tances. She only knew that he had, 4
or some reason, concealed himself of
ate, and that officers of the law were
boxing for him. :
Thinking of this, she said, in a voice h
hat revealed her fear:
"But you should not stay-you NAV :.
e found! Oh. why did allow Won 70 o
emain moment when knew what
earch is being made for you! Go Y
owl"
She pushed him from her. and
armed away herself, entirely DOS. n
essed now by the thought that some g
ne might find him there. =
But what lover would not have lin. =
cred moment longer? He could not
D. He detained her, Selling her hand 81
nd holding 1t fast while he said: :,
Il cannot leave you yet. would a
SIX much for a few moments of han. ~,
mess like this. If fate had not wound -
lch web about me l would claim
)u this moment!"
There was an angry rebellion In bis =.
,ice, as we'll as a terrible impatiepce vi
Kate could not help reiterating her
ars, and her wish that he should NOT
lger a moment. The thought that
might be arrested was unendur. NJ
de- SIX
Now that she knew that he loved yo
r. and that she was free to love him az
e felt that she could endure absence rl'
ON him--everything but that he
ould be in danger.
Is there, then, so much danger tb.t
shall be arrested" he asked. that on
u tremble so, and that you cast such %
oks into the darkness as if you could .a,
cree it?" N II