Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1903-09-03
tSw~ry ReDh FsrI)

Of the road a gust of wind lifted the
Sid palm-leaf from his woolly head, and
carried it far away Now, dear marsr,
said Bill, laying his hand on that Of Mr..
Delafeld, you'll sartn let 'em breathe
while l picks up my hat case you see
how'll you look gwne into town wild
me bareheaded."
CHANGING over his shoulder, Mr. Della
field saw the hat away over the ileld',
and quietly taking bill from his pocket
and placing 1t in the Negroes hand, he re.
Piled, "That will buy you five such hats
"Yes, but de bosses, de hosses. OK
claimed Bill, almost frantically. Don
you see Ferd is ,gwne to gin outT
Mr.. Dela6eld feared So too. and more
to himself than to his servant, he SAID,
perhaps the cars will be behind time
they usually are" ..'..
Without considering the consequence,
Bill answered, mo, they wont; case
hear how they hired an engineer who
drives all afore him-gits ahead OF de
time an all dat"
The next minute he repented a speech
whose disastrous effects he foresaw, and
he was about to deny it as a fabrica-
ton of his own brain, when his master,
who really saw signs of Tagging in the
nervous, fiery Ferd, said "Bill, you have
a peculiar whistle with which you spur
up the horses. Make 1t now; Ferd has
run himself almost down"
As they approached the town, they
heard n heavy rumbling sound. 1t was
the roll of the cars In the distance.
few more mad plunges aud the horses
reached the depot, covered with foam
and -frothing at the mouth, just AZ the
train was moving slowly away. With
one -ptying farewell glance at his dying
grays, Mr.. Delafeld exclaimed Cut the
harness instantly" and then with a
bound bound sprang upon the platform,
which he reached just as Bill called af-
ter him in mournful accents, "Ferd's
dead, marsr, Ferd Is"
But little cared he for that. Rosa Lee
was to be overtaken, and to accomplish
this, he would willingly have sacrificed
every horse of which he was owner, even
were they twice rs valuable as the dap
pied grays.
Mr.. Delafield, with closely knit brows
and compressed lips, sat musing in the
car of the time when Rosa Lee would
be his wife. They were about half way
between Augusta and Charleston and go
Ing at great speed when suddenly at II
short curve there was q violent commo-
tion.-the passengers were pitched for
ward and backward, while the engine
plunged down steep embankment,
throwing the train from the track, and
dragging after it the baggage car, which
In some way became detached from the
rest. Fortunately no one was seriously
hurt except Mr.. Deafeld, whose injuries
were simply mental, as he knew this &C
cident would probably detain them for
many hours.
The sun had long been set and the
stars were shining brightly ere they
were able to proceed. and it was after
midnight when they ut last reached
Charleston. Driving Immediately to the
landing, Mr.. Deafeld, to his great JOY
found that the steamer bound for New
York still lay at the wharf and would
not start until morning. But was Ross
Lee on board2 That was a question
which puzzled him, and as there was NJ
way of satisfying himself until morn
ing, he sat down in one of the state
rooms and rather impatiently awaited tn,
dawn of day.
The hurry, the confusion and the OK
citement of starting was over. We wer,
out upon the deep blue sea, and from III,
window of my state room | watched tn,
distant shore as it slowly receded from
view and felt that l was leaving the Ian,
of sunlight and flowers. Notwithstnnd
ing the fatiguing journey of the prevou
day, | was better this morning than
had been for many months before, for
had slept quietly through the night
An hour or two after breakfast Char
lie came to me with very peculiar eN
preston in his face, and asked me TO &
upon deck. saying the fresh breeze wOul
do me good. consented willingly, on
throwing on my shawl and n simple Les
horn hat which had been of much serviC
to me at Cedar Grove, and which NJ
Deiafeld had often said was very becOn
ing | went out with Charlie, who lie
me to the rear of the boat, where
said we were not SO liable to be disturb
ed. Seating me upon small settee, |
asked to he excused for few moment
saying ! should not be long alone. III
motion of the boat produced slight di
illness In my head and leaning my clbo
upon the arm of the settee, | shaded II
eyes with my hand and sat lost in thong
until / heard the sound of footstep
1T was Charlie" l said, so | did n
look up, even Wnen ne sat uOWn ny II
side and wound his arm round me- wra
ping my shawl closer together, oh,
gently Charlie is very tender of I
since my Sickness" thought, and mu
! loved that he should thus caress IL
1t thrilled me strangely, bringing ba
to my mind the night when l sat in {
vine-wreathed arbor, where should nt
er sit again. "a es I n 70 RI
For a moment there was perfect
lence, and could hear the beating
Charles heart Then leaning foriF,
and removing my hand from My eyt
ne pressed kiss upon my lips and VIII
perad as he did so, my own Rosa?
Once, when 1 was apparently ,dyiI
the sound of that voice had called
back to llfe and now with a cry of
i sprang to my feet, and turning roul
stood face TO face with Richard Delatie
who, stretching his arms toward u
said, "Come to my bosom, Rosa Hen
forth 1t Is your resting place"
The shock was too much for mo in
weak state. A faintness stole oyer
and IL obeyed his command, 1t was
cause / could not help Il. When /
turned to consciousness, Richards ar