Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1903-10-17
CHAPTER XVIII.
IEIIAN,S STORY.

bllShiJ cNS- lhC bloWhs
frostbitten turf. A couple Of Ieuan's
followers trotted after us, keeping up
easily with the mountain pony which
carried their tail leader. We held our
way southwark for several miles along
valleys and through solitary ravines.
ran, one on either flank, along the
ridges, and watched the country.
At last we came to slopes dotted
with sheep, and Ieuan rode slower and
his followers secuted more cautiously
still. A tiny hui, more of s~harpened
fir poles driven INTO the ground and
Wattled with furZe, came into sight.
L had seen several of them about the
hills when riding with Owain and knew
that they served the hardy shepherds
for shelter when it was necessary to
spend a night upon the mountains.
w will fasten our horses in this"
said Ieuan, and go a little on foot to
see what they are doing
The hut afforded just sufficient cover
from the cutting wind, and / slipped
Whitesock's rein round a corner pole,
and followed leuan, who was watching
for a cluster of boulders scattered on
the crown of a rise before US. He
reached them before me, and placed
himself in cover of the tallest. / e
up and glanced over mis- shoulder. Half
a mile away to The west the windows
of Nant-y-Bryn flashed redly in the
light Of the sinking sun, figures moved
about the front of 1t, the long, cooling
cry of the women who herded the cat
tie lose family up the hillside to US,
and the feeling that they were at ease
and going peacefully about their usual
tasks came insensibiy to the heart.
w shall go now to those trees"
said Ieuan, pointing to a clump OF
larches some distance to the right. II
must see what people shall come back
with Owain."
IL ,A,rn &c - - -
said: But what OF the animals? Will
they be safe there, " we leave them ?"
Safe enough" returned Ieuan;
there is but one path which leads near
the hut, and no one will be following
1t. 1t leads to From, and From is now
empty
From" though. L; that is the place
where we went or the day of the heavy
mist" and l admired the quick chance
which had banded me from the one
sid to the other.
Where does this path lead to?" 1
asked.
ITO a farm called Tai-fryn, up the
hill there" returned Ieuan. He caught
his breath, and his n~ostrils dilated.
They are no friends Of yours, then ?"
said l, marking his emotion.
Who said l was no friend to Winny
Tal-fryn?" cried Ieuan, his eyes blaz-
ing darkly. Come now, who said that?
You have heard OF Tal-fryn before!
Yes, yes, you have been told"
Never In my life" said I. Il know
nothing Of the place or the people who
live there-I never heard the name till
you mentioned 1t a moment back"
Then what made you say that?"
cried Ieuan.
You looked ang1J enough to eat the
people," I returned.
Angry" said he, "ay, we'll angry.
Yes, but not with her. No, indeed, not
Utf a IlAn~ lara t~1~~ Z iii ---.
er blame her" He stopped, and his
features worked curiously. His face
had the look often seen upon that OF a
child too proud to weep, yet having a
hard struggle to keep tears back. In a
few moments he had regained his COM
posure, but remained silent, his ewes
liked on the road.
A sound caught my ears and 1 looked
UP.
Hist" said 1, some one is coming
through the wood"
The whisper a scarcely left my
lips when a young woman with a child
running at her skirts came round a
bend in the path. She was tall and
straight, dark-eyed and fresh -colored.
leuan had sprung to my shoulder and
was peering over 1t. At sight of her he
fell a-trembling, until he shook me. I
glanced back and saw that his face
was drawn hard and white, and set in
a pitiful smile.
The young woman came on, and
when she was within a yard of the
brake in which we lay, Ieuan stepped
out and confronted her.
She gave a cry, not, as 1t seemed to
me, of fear, but rather of sorrow and
surprise, covered her face with her
hands and burst into tears. The little
boy set up a shout of terror and clung
to her, but she took no notice of him
and continued to weep convulsively.
leuan began to speak rapidly in the
softest and most caressing tones of his
beautiful voice, but l understood and
wished to understand nothing Of what
ne said. AS the couple approached us,
something inedfinably familiar in the
child's face had riveted my attention,
and the sad meeting before my eyes
began to make the situation clear
enough. Porr Ieuan! Poor Winny!
They had been driven apart, that was
clear, and l was at no loss to lay my
hnger upon the pers IN who had driven
them.
turned back deeper into the brake
n left the poor souls to themselves,
n In q few minutes Ieuan came back
to his post, tears dropping from his
fierce eyes. He made no shame of
them, as an Englishman would have
done, but began TO speak in a low, un-
steady voice.
Yes" said he, II am sure you can
pNN " IL 1873 WIFI us. mat ISIS the
young woman who wass to have been
my wife, but that bad old man robbed
her away from me, and not honestly.
either, and married her to a man who
ISIS not fit to be Ter servant. Yes:
Siencyn wass very glad to marry Win
NY, n get a good farm for a reward
i had gone to England with a drove OF
ponies to the markets, and wass not
back for months and months, and then
] came to find her lost to me-"
He stopped speaking and set his face
savagely in the direction Of Nant-y-
Bryn.
She will not say that she has seen
U.S." I suggested.
Not II you should offer her a noun
tain of gold" cried Ieuan; mot # you
should make her a queen on a throne"
ana II was after that when you shot
at Sir Arthur. leuan?"
1T wass," he replied. II had two
tries to shoot him. but 1 am worth
nothing In shooting, and missed him by
far both times. If 1t had been the
sword between us, now But he took
care about that. He rode with too
many for me to try hat. And next,
what did he do?" cried Ieuan, with
heightened color and blazing eye. HE
tried TO sell me as a slave. A slave!
Yes, i, a free son Of the free hills!" '
The trick is but too common nova
days / replied. II, myself, have known
three gentlemen of birth and fortune
~trepanned and sold TO the plantations.
But how did he get hold of your"
1T wass like this" replied Ieuan !
Gwyllt. Il was one day in the market T,
of Aberystwyth, over there by the sea-
side, when O man with big golden rings
IN his ears came to me and asked for
news OF two or three people who live
about this country. l told him what /
knew, n wondered why he should
ask, for l could see that he wass q
sailor, and, as I fancied, a complete I,
stranger to us. But he heard what l