The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1904-07-20
CHAPTER xxi.

ALAt
Maggie lay sobbing and weeping on
her little bed In a shabby room, till gem
tie sleep closed her eyelids with merci-
full oblivion, and the cool evening air
woke her up with faint zephyrs. Mrs.
Atkins enters the chamber and tells her
that tea is ready, and asks il she can
do anything for her.
"No. thank you," replies Maggie; and
then, when the woman has gone, she
laves her face and brow in cold water
and smoothes her hair, and goes down
to tea.
1t is very lonely for her, poor girl,
after Mrs. Cholmondely's gay household,
but she makes the best of il; and it Is
only now and then, when she thinks of
the happy past, that a shadow comes
over the face, or a tear springs to the
bright eye.
After tea she returns to her room, and
draws the table to the window, to catch
the cool breeze. and commences to write
her letters.
She writes to a Mr.. Royston of Chang
moor House, who has advertised very
dignihed, clever little note, giving Mrs.
Cholmondely as a reference, and enclos-
Ing the name OF the firm of solicitors
through which she may be communicated
with. and stating her qualifications and
ability and willingness to undertake the
situation. And then a long and rather
apologize letter to Burnham, excusing
herself from coming down, and sending
her loye-her dearest love-to George,
when they write again.
She says nothing of writing to him
herself. for as she looks ont of the win
OF his letter, and his ~anticipations of
~roughing it in the future, are exceeding
~ distasteful to her.
And so she dreams on, while the old
ladies read her letter, with great mis-
givings and many tears.
fShe is not coming to us, dear, after
all" the eldest had said, after reading
her letter. "She has sadly forgotten her
old friends, I'm afraid"
They wrote to George a long letter,
full Of commonplace topics, telling him
that Maggie had left Mrs. C~holmondely's
and hoped 70 get another situation in
Devonshire, of which, they would apprise
him il she were successful
And now the poor prisoner began to
weave wild tissues Of ingenuity In his
brain, and to long madly for escape.
There was something in this letter so der
spairng. lacking so much the cheerful
elasticity OF the usual epistles from his
annts, that, coupled with the fact that
Maggie, his own wife, had never written
"A line to him all this long time, almost
maddened him, and brought many a
white streak to his once bright hair.
Slowly, little by little, unknown TO the
prison authorities, George Temple was
going mad. With but one dominant idea
In his mind. that he hid away as cum
ningly as al miser does his gold-and
that was to go to his darling again-to
escape, and rush to Maggie's arms, and
feel her loving embrace once more.
Maggie heard from Devonshire a few
mornings after the dispatch Of her letter,
and the answer was very favorable to
her hopes: 80, knowing Mrs. Cholmon-
dcly would speak well OF her, she began
her preparations for mo1ing into her new
home.
Now that Maggie was actually likely
20 be soon leaving, Mrs. Atkins was very
s~olicitous, and rushed hither and thither
to help her, and the two women got to
like each other, or rather to understand
each other better, than they had ever
done before.
At last a letter came from Changmoor
House, stating that the reference that
had been received from Mrs. Cho'mon-
dely had proved highly satisfactory, and
would Miss Dunconlbs make Il conxsn.
tsut 70 come down by the 1885 and ths