Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-02-08

me-"
Has the one behind the wall in
you to say this to me?' he
asked miserably.
"She has not l do not know her |
heart. but am a woman and have a
woman's foresight. If you wish to be
kindsand good to her, CO.
~ cannot he exclaimed, his pent |
feelings bursting forth. Il cannot go!' |
You will not be so selfish and so |
cruel as to increase the horror of the |
wreck that is sure to come" she said, |
drawing back.
You know, countess. of the life saw
ing crews who draw from the wrecks
of ships lives that were hopelessly lost.
There is to be a wreck here. Is there
to be q life saver? When the night is
darkest. the sea widest, when hope is
gone, is not that the time when rescue
is most precious? Tell me, you who
know all there is of this approaching
disaster"
81 cannot command you to leave
Edelweiss. / can only tell you that
you will have something to answer for
will you help me if l show to you
that | can reach the wreck and save
the one who clings to it despairingiy?
he asked smiling, suddenly calm and
confident
"Willingly for love the one who is
going down in the sea. | have spoken
TO you seriously, though. and | trust
you will not misunderstood me. like
you. and like Mr.. Anguish. You could
stay here forever so far as l am con-
Serned."
He thought long and intently over
what she had said as he smoked his CT
gar OF the great balcony that night.
He saw in one moment the vast chasm
between the man and the princess; in
the next he laughed at the puny space.
Down on the promenade he could see
the figures of men and women stroll
ing in the moonlight. To his ears came
the occasional laugh of a man, the sill.
very gurgle of a woman. The royal
military band was playing in the stand
near the edge of the great circle. There
were gayety, comfort, charm and secu-
rity about everything that came to his
| eyes and ears. Where was she? He
| had seen her in the afternoon and had
| talked with her, had walked with her.
| Their conversation had been bright, but
| of the commonplace kind. She had
said nothing to indicate that she re-
membered the hour spent beside his
| couch a day or so before; he had ut
| e @I1a fh0f CTR 11C rO oh
to rush from his lips-the questions, the
! pleadings, the vows. Where was she
now? Not in that gay crowd below,
for he had scanned every figure with
the hawks eye; closeted again, no
doubt, with her ministers, wearying
her tired brain, her brave heart into
| fatigue without rest.
Her court still trembled with the ex'
element of the daring attempt of the
abductors and their swift punishment
| FunctiOnarieS flOcked to EdelwelSS tC
inquire after the welfare of the prln
cess, and Indignation was at the high
est pitch. There were theories innu
merable as to the identity of the arcf
conspirator Baron DanglOSs was a
sea completely. He cursed himself
and everybody else for the hasty an(
i'll timed execution of the hirelings.
was quite evident that the buzzinE
wonder and intense feeling of the PEG
pie had for the moment driven out al
thought of the coming day of judg
ment and it's bitter atOnement for al
Graustark. Today the castle was full
of the nobility, drawn to it's walls b.
the news that had startled them be
yond all expression. The police wer
at work, the military trembled wit
rage, the people clamOred for the ar
prehension of the man who had bee
the instigator of this audacity. Tn
general belief was that some brigan
chief from the south had planned tn
great theft for the purpose of securin
; a fabulous ransom. Grenfall LORI
had an astonishing theory in his min(
and the more he thought it over tn
more firmly it was imbedded.
The warm, blue coils from the ciga
waited away into the night, carryin
with them a myriad of tangled thought
l. of her. of Axphain, of the abducto
; of himself, of everything. A light ste
on the stone floor of the shadOwy ba
l cony attracted his attention. He turf
ed his head and saw the Princess Y
tive. She was walking slowly towar
the balustrade, not aware of his pre-
y ence There was no covering for I'll
. dark hair, no wrap about the whit
shoulders. She wore an exquisite gov
of white, ashimmering with the ref1e
tions from the moon that scaled tt
J mountain top. She stood at the balu
trade, her hands clasping bouquet {
red roses, her chin lifted, her eyes ga
ing toward the mountains crest, II
prettiest picture he had ever seen. IT
strange dizziness of love overpowere
- him. How long he reveled in the glol
of the picture he knew not, for it W;
= as if he looked from a dream. At la
he saw her look down upon the rose
lift them slowly and drop them ov
{ the rail- They fell to the ground: b
j low. He thought he UNDERSTOOD