Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1903-11-04

IRENE anxiety to return TO her, ana
to return safely.
so urgent did this necessity be-
come, that at length I arose, deter
mined to slip away so softly that they
should not perceive me. l had not
gone many PAGES, however, until an
angry exclamation from one of them
warned me that l was discovered. I
rushed down the path at the top of
my speed, without looking behind;
but I heard their heavy feet close on
my heels, and I knew that did they
but lay a finger on me my life was
gone.
Scarcely had this last thought
shaped itself in my mind, when my
foot slipped, and l stumbled to my
knees. The next moment | was in
their hands.
"'Spy!' Kissed one, furiously; who
sent you here?'
eff 1 had any presence of mind, I
would have feigned ignorance OF
French; but I began to implore their
mercy, and to explain how | happen
ed to be alone on the 'Hohe Felsen.'
"'Throw her over the rocks NUT
tered one of the wretches, or she'll
alarm the whole duchy before morn
ing
zone of them threw his cloak over
my head and began to drag me back
to the High Rocks despite my fren-
Of
a crashing among the fallen branches,
and while a soft, strong hand hand
caught mine, a threatening voice
cried out in English, my own blessed
tongue:
"'Unhand her, you villains! Or I'll
shoot you through the heads!'
II was whirled in the grasp Of the
stranger to a position in his rear, and
before I could tear the cloak from my
head, the sharp report of pistol told
me that he was as good as word.
When l could see l found them all en-
gagged in a fierce melee, while my de-
liverer, a fair-haired young English
man, cried frantically:
"'Fly, madam, to the Alte Schloss
-fy!'
"You may be sure obeyed him. In
five minutes I had reached the old
castle and was telling a party OF
French tourists, who had just arrived,
of the combat going on.
"My mother was wild with alarm.
She had heard the report of the pistol,
and marked with terror my pale face
and disordered appearance. I claimed
her as we'll as I could, saying I had
lost the path, and then I hurried her
into the carriage and we drove down
to Baden-Baden in hot haste, lest news
of my peril should reach her ears.
"That night I told my adventure to
the councillor, and committed to his
care a letter, expressing my gratitude
to my brave deliverer, when he should
should make himself known.
1--WE left Baden-Baden the next
morning, a telegram from home re-
quiring our immediate presence there;
and so I never met again the fair
haired Englishman. But. he did he
roic thing-did he not?"
"He could scarcely do less, could
he?" replies Mr. Stanley, with deep
red stain in each thin cheek.
Miss Cheswick marks the grudging
praise, the flushed check, and her face
grows stern.
''That man lives in my memory"
she says with cold distinctness, while
her large eyes deepen and glow. "He
is the one hero whom I have met-the
one man whom I would we'd"
would you?" murmurs Mr.. STAN
ley, and he laughs incredulously, and
his lips culver as if in scorn.
cat least" says the lady, goaded in
to hostility by his scant, while that
mans noble courage lives in my heart
I will never love a lesser hero. 1
shall remain faithful to his memory
forever"
Perhaps if you met him you would
not love him." remarks Mr.. Stanley.
"Ah! that l should. If he were the
poorest, and plainest, and humblest
man on earth, he would still be my
hero"
"But, if you did not know he was
your hero?-if he loved you madly,
neither knowing you had met each
other before"
ooh, if he would only love mel
signs Miss Cheswick, clasping her
hands, while a rich flush bathes her
yearning face. 81 could never, never
mistake him."
FThen your heart must sometimes
have pleaded for-me," murmurs her
companion, a strange light in his
eyes.
"For you? Oh, sir, why are you SO
mad? Have 1 not told you this story
because I esteem you too much to al
low YOU"
miss Cheswick, your hero got the
letter, but after weeks of illness. The
| pistol-shot which you heard was not
| fired by him, but by one of the rob
| bers at him. and it pierced through