The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-12-04
But SO many there viii know YOU

But so many there viii know YOU
Il fear nothing but my voice" I an
swered; that is, above everything, the
most difficult for me TO conceal. I
would I could act as If I were dumb"
And you shall be as good" cried
Enid. Play your part right out. Geof-
frey. You are dressed as a Welshman
from the hills; act as n You have
but to learn two words, Tn Saesneg,'
Shake your head ~clunlsiIy and say, I'm
Saesneg.' No English
1 looked up into her eager face and
shining eyes, n was delighted with
the completeness of this finishing
touch.
Enid. dearest" I said, you lave hit
on an excellent device. Everything
plays to It Come. give me the words"
l had them in two minutes. During
up a few words n comon phrases,
though l could neither make up nor un-
derstand a sentence of my length and
what l knew 1 now rebearsed. Enid
and SIAM seconded my efforts with
great delight and proceeded to teach
me to recite-parrot fashion-seyeral
mysterious sounding sentences, full OF
g~utturals. Not that they expected to
communicate with me in their own
language, but in order that l might be
able to say something to them in the
presence of strangers, and SO give a
better color to my assumed character.
For this purpo it mattered not what
gibberish l uttered, since the Welsh
tongue was utterly unknown about
Butley Croft. AS for the cultural, I
could rasp it out a little already, and
now rapidly improved under the earn
est drilling l received. A village came
in sight and I sank to my place beside
the led pony.
Columns OF blue wood smoke were
curling above the deep-thatched roofs
as we rode through the place, the clink
of the hammer at the forge told that
the labors OF the day had begun, and
peasants We're moving to the fields. For
two or three miles further the roadside
was dotted with cottages. and we
marched in formal order. The beauty
of the morning sank deeply into my
heart. On the high stations of the
hills the spring had been cold and
stern and backward; here it vas at Its
loveiest. The air was soft and sweet
and scented; the meadows full of cow
slips; the blackbird in the copse, futed
his rich, mellow, careless notes; the
lark, hidden in the high radiance of
the dawn, poured a rain of joyous song.
and the fragrant, blooming. Tell-or-
dered English countryside delighted my
eyes as those Of a man returned from
exile.
Halfway to Ludlow. we turned our
horses heads to the left and rode south,
but easily and loiteringly. for we had
time and to spare for our days journey.
At midday we made a long halt at a
solitary inn, and here I changed my
last J%acobus.
There Is no room for a moneyless peo-
Die in the wide world, and the simple
truth was that I had no other resource
at hand thar to head for Butley Croft.
The afternoon was spent In moving
at a foot pace through the mild, sweet
GnTjn0 EJIncHjnn l1r cnJtAnry l-lSla
tracks and. oyer wide. lonely heaths
stepped in the delicious heady fragrance
OF the gorse. for now I knew every |
ward Of the country, and was aiming
to come to our destination by unfre-
Quented roads, since 1 could not say
for a certainty what reception lay be-
fore us. and wished to feel my way
carefully into the place.
1t wanted an our to shutdown, and
we were four miles to the west Of my
house, crossing an ~undulating. furry
common. We were marching very
along a broad grassy ride, when
l became aware Of a horseman COM
ing rapidly up behind us. Luckily I
had been for a long time riding in my
proper station lest we might be OBJ
SO We had no disposition to al
ter, I stared over my shoulder and my
uneasiness vanished at a glance.
LAS I live" 1 cried, here comes Rog-
er Thorne, my steward"
You will be all right, won't your"
cried Enid. You do not fear him?"
Fear him!" I laughed; no moro
I do my shadow. No more than
I do you. and what can I say more?
But soft; ride steadily on and let us
see how he will take us?'
l had no time to say more, for Rog-
er's strong chestnut hackney was com
ing at a round trot and was soon at
our heels. My sdrrup feathers were
drawn short on purpose and my knees
stuck up; my hat was over my eyes,
I rounded n bumped my shoulders, |
and sat the gray pony with the tree
slouch of a lazy groom. AS I glanced
over our party I felt that we played
our parts to perfection: I and the led
pony in the rear, Enid in front, looking
a princess IN her handsome riding-hahit
n sitting Whitesock like a picture.
her waiting maid riding at her side and |
a little behind.
Roger will canter by and Will hall
loo after him." thinking. in my foolish |
ness. OF myself alone.
Continued Next Weekly