Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1904-03-05

should carry such young faces, or perl
chance their hair had turned gray ear
lier than was Its wont In the colonies.
And, too, they seemed sadly disfgured
with boils, for on the chin or cheek
Of nearly every one there showed a
patch of black sticking plaster. Poor
thingsi / BORROWED for them, Ii was
so humiliating. Verify, ! pitied them
all, and ~speculated on the wonderful
compensations of Providence. With all
their wealth and rank, their lordly
castles and their Jewels, these noble
danes could not purchase that which
the humblest serving maid in Quebec
had, and to spare-a clear skin and
sunny locks.
1 touched upon these matters to
Jerome, but he only laughed immoder-
ately. He was ever a light-headed
young spark who gave no contempla-l
ton to deeper questions than present
enjoyment.
OF a sudden my wits almost left me
at a terrible outcry from one end Of
the great hall, a cry not Of human be-,
ings but of wild beasts, muffied and
menacing. The dancing, the music, the
hum of voices ceased, and a thick ST.
lence as Of direst fear fell upon them
all. The there came q loud cracking
and shattering of glass, a woman's
scream, the first of very many This
for aught l know might nave been a
usual happening at q ball, / had never,
been to one before.
1 looked for Jerome. He was gone,t
speeding toward a young lady sur,
passing fair, with whom he had been
speaking but a few moments since. I
fain would have assisted him, for the
damsel appeared wofully beset, but the
whole throng of mincing lords and
screaming ladies, in the rankest riot,
overran me. They swept me from my
feet and bore me back to the farthest
wall, where / found myself pinned tight
and fast against a window
What the danger was l could not
see, but 1t must have been dolorous
from the headlong terror OF their flight.
Soon by the thinning Of the crowd
through the doors l saw a cause. 1t
was a motley and a moving spectacle.
For by some mischance a flock of sheep
had broken into the ballroom, and
frightened out of their shallow senses
by the lights and music, they rushed
pellmell here n there, upsetting with.
out discrimination whatever stood in
their path.
Verify such an onset would do brave
I work against an enemies ranks, for
could our knights but make a gap like
that, an army of children might march
through u~nhindered. All went down
alike before their charge, my lord and
M AoNJS IN PAAANS NHN S'NNNf $500
the humblest page who bore his
! pouncet box. Such a slipping and a
sliding across a floor slickened with
much wax and polishing, was never,
In a ballroom before, nor ever was
again. One old ram regarded each mir
ror as a certain avenue of escape, n
the ~radiating fracture OF each taught
him no greater wisdom concerning the
others.
Standing s~pellbound as a statue in
the midst of the ruins, l caught sight
Of q florid, rotund lady, speeches. in
her horror and her misery.
THE duchess does not enjoy her
quaint surprise" laughed a light voice
behind me, and a slim finger directed
my gaze toward the lady whom l had
just noted.
L observed her at my back. stand
ing upon a chair where she could see
the better, a young woman of distin-
guished appearance, rather more plain
ly attired than the balance. She APP
peared greatly to enjoy the cenfu-
sion.
Continued Next Week.)