The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1904-08-10

Anu ucCOTuluBly MuSSle uiheS Ou lhe
ring-Randars gift of ~betrothal, and
gives it to the hard-faced woman Then,
with a sweet smile on her face, Maggie
departs.
Mr.. Atkins comes home by and by,
and his wife seeing that he is sober,
breaches the plan to him.
Il will just drop down to the village
after it grows dusk, and see what can be
DONE" he says.
So Mr.. Atkins goes down to the beer
house again, and finding BLACK Jem still
loafng round the door, pats him on the
shoulder.
Il say, my friend" speaks Mr.. At
kins, you are rather hard up, amt you?
not a pocketful Of money to throw
away, eh?"
Black Jem looks suspiciously and sour
ly at him for a moment, and then re-
plies. gruhly, NAY, there be little brass
that falls to the share o. the likes o
me-"
'Ah, | thought so. Now, IL / could
put a job in your way worth, say, q cou-
pie of dollars or so, | suppose you could
do it. and keep it quiet, eh?"
"A couple o. dollars!' said Black Jem.
what be it? I'm your man. Quick,
mate-out wi IT."
"Well, it's about that lunatic fellow.
Now, my idea is he's got away from
some asylum, and l think that if we can
get him back, we may get a fve-dollar
note, and then we will share it, you
know. You help me-; I'll chance the
rest
"Oh, I'll help you. I'll ketch him for
ye, If that be ALL"
get him to my house, l can coax him to
tell me where he came from, and per-
suade him to go back again"
So it is settled. And this mad fellow,
who is the subject of so much delibera-
ton, is crouching in the wood, watching
the lights fitting hither and thithcr in
the noble mansion Of Mr.. Royston. and
muttering eagerly, as a shadow passes
the window now and again. 1T is she,"
he says presently. "No, it is too tall for
my darling. Shall / never see her? Why
does she not come to newly not?' he
whispers; then he shivers, and cries out
softly; and there he will wait until the
last light disappears, and the house is
In darkness; then he will go to his straw
in a loft, forgetting hunger, and rags,
and Indebtedness, in gentle thoughts of
her who is making ready for her soft,
luxurious couch, with no feeling for him
in her heart, but one of dread and aver
sion.
The alchouse is closed at last, and his
two enemies sit still and motionless in
/ the dark shadow of a tree.
Another hour, and the men are begin
ming to get cramped, and they get up
quietly, and walk up and down the mar
row lane leading past the Hall away
from the village, one on each side, in
the shadow of the hedges.
Then twelve o'clock sounds from the
UNCOVERED steeple of ChangInoor
Church, and Jem ticks off each stroke
on his fingers, and stops at the tenth
stroke, for his practiced ear has caught
the rustic of garments; and presently
this poor beggar lunatic, with his shoes
so thin as to make no football. and his
rags so caught by the wind that every
now and again they catch in the bram-
bles of the hedge, almost passes him
like a shadow.
He is droning out a few lines in a
low voice, unutterably sad in its trem-
bling Indebtedness. He is almost past
them in the darkness, but Black Jem
remembers the voice, and springs ON
him like q tiger, bearing him down heav-
lily, but very quietly, and twisting his
handkerchief tight, till he can hardly
breathe for the pressure on his neck.
He Is exhausted; they allow him to
get his breath once more, and then Jem
takes off his cravat, and, whispering
to Mr.. Atkins, gags the beggar with 1t,
and they drag him on to his feet and get
him to the lodge.
Mrs. Atkins is on the lookout, and
comes forward eagerly to look at this
man, who calls himself George Temple,
and says that Miss Duncombe is his
wife. Her face lights up with pleased
surprise, and she slips the bolt of the
door after they have brought him in.
He is deadly pale, his eyes half start
ing from their sockets, a red rim round
his throat, and hands that open and shut
~nervously. But she is not unkind to
him; she is womanly enough to suggest
that the gag shall be taken from his
mouth: when he gasps out, Water
water!" brings him some; and after he
has drunk eagerly, she iaves his face and
hands, and says soothingly to him,
There Is nothing to foar-nothing to
fear: only that you must be kept quiet
for a few days"
Eyes, yes" he says, taking the wom-
ans hand: but you will let me go. You
are good and kind, not cruel to me.
must so. and look for my darling, my
Maegier
YES, yes" she says, humoring him;
.to-morrow, not tonight You must be
tired. and must so to he'd, not so out
again tonight"
Tired" he murmurs. YEARLY. Very
tired: God bless you!' And avaricious
as she Isl, and dearly as she loves gold,
<bara II onau0h n This moor fellows wnr