Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1904-05-12

pated or expected. There was moth
ing to fight, and fighting was the very
blood Of the woman: there was Moth.
ing to do, and action and the necessity
for it were as nature to her.
In this mood she had started out
from the house into the moonlit
grounds after her solitary dinner, and
had been glad to feel the pure, sweet
air of the night upon her face. She
had begun to recognize, too late, that
one Of the penalties Of her fraud must
be that she could have no friends
whom she knew about her. Having
cut off that shadowy past of hers, as
it We're, and dropped it behind her,
she could not possibly lift any one out
of it to be her companion; nor would
she have done SO if she could
With an instinct born of the life she
had led, she turned naturally to the
wilder parts of the grounds. The
night was SO fine and warm that she
had no sensation of cold, even in the
thin evening dress she wore; she had
thrown over her dark hair fine black
lace shawl, and, her dress being black
also, she was scarcely to be distin-
guished from the shadows among
which she moved. Not that she had
any conscious desire to hide, but rath
err that the ever-present remembrance
of the fraud she was practicing made
her suspicious OF everything and ev-
cry one
The night air revived her tagging
spirits; she drew herself up and
breathed more freely.
I'm frightening myself for moth
ing, she muttered Here am l, bur
led away in quiet corner Of this
peaceful England--my claim substan-
tiated, and every one ready to recog-
nize me as what l assert myself to be
Grace Yarwood." She stood still
and looked about her, at the broad
lawns and woods and fields, lying
uiet in the moonlight-all belonging
to her. What shadows are there to.
brighten me?" she asked, with laugh.
"a girl, dead and buried long since in
far-away Nevada; a wastrel Of man,
lurking about the purlieus of San
Francisco, and hiding from the sight
of every one; a wretched old man,
with an opium soaked brain and body.
How shall they touch me here!
The idea was so absurd that she
laughed to think it had ever troubled
her; she sauntered on again through
the grounds.
81 know what FIJI do" she said. I'll
get them to put that London house OF
mine more rapidly in repair; I'll throw
money into that to hurry them up a
bit. Then I'll plunge into London
and III show these nervous. dainty
| Englishwomen how l can ride and
drive; i ought to be able to create
something OF a sensation that way;
III show them can ride anything that
could ever hold a bit. ! shall go mad
if / stop down here; it's all too SOL
emn and calm and slow for me"
She had come at last TO neglected,
weed grown corner OF the estate, and
to fence with gap in it. Beyond
that, down below her, lay dense
woods, rustling and whispering under
the light of the moon. With little
shiver, she turned back toward the
house, and then, for the first time, no.
ticed little path through the under
growth, leading off toward the right.
Carelessly enough she followed it, and
came straight to the ruined garden
er's cottage hidden among the trees.
With some curiosity she thrust open
the door, and, after a moments hesi-
tation, gathered her skirts about her
and stepped inside.
ITO Be continued.)