Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1905-10-16

Her life hitherto had been so gray
dents which had been crowded into
this day had almost bewildered her.
She ought, in common fairness to
that individual, to have thought first
and most of Ralph Duncombe; but il
was upon the other young man who
had plunged into the waves to rescue
Dick that her mind was fiexd.
Beauty-man's beauty-doesn'tc count
much with women. Indeed, it has
been remarked by the observant that
some of the ugliest men have married
the prettiest girls; and it was not
Yorke's handsome face that had i'm
pressed Leslie. 1t would be hard to
say exactly what it was in him that
had done so. Perhaps it was the frank
smile, the free and musical voice, that
devil-may- air OF his, or the pleas
ant voice which seemed to float in
through the window upon the moon,
beams and find no echo in Lesl1e's
heart.
Once Or twice she tried to cast him
out of her mind. There seemed to her
! something almost approaching unmaid-
enliness in dwelling so much upon this
stranger-this young man whom she
had seen for only few minutes, AMI
whom she might never see again.
Why, she did not even know his name
or, at any rate, only part OF it.
"Yorke," Mr.. Temple had called him,
and she murmured it absently,
''Yorke."
| It seemed to fit him exactly. 1t had
an alert sound in it. She could fancy
him ready for any danger-any emer-
gency He had plunged into the waves
after Dick as if it were matter or
course that he should do so-had done
it as naturally as if there were no
other course open to him.
She could see him now as he came
out with Dick in his arms, his hair
plastered on his face, his eyes bright
and laughing, And how anxious he
had been to avoid any thanks or fuss!
It was wicked OF him, of course, to
! tell story and account for his be-
soaked condition by saying that he
/ had fallen off the break-water. Leslie
smiled as she thought of the thin
ness" of the excuse; but she under
stood why he had fb5ed, and forgave
him.
Don't you like Mr.. Yorke, Dick?
You ought to do so, for it it had not
been for him you would be at the bot
tom of the sea, little doggie, by this
time"
Probably Dick would have liked to
have replied:
"And if it hadn't been for him
shouldn't have gone in at all"
Then her thoughts wandered to the
crippled hunchback, and her heart
throbbed with gratitude as she thought
of his kindness. Mrs. Merrick had
said that he was a nobleman; but
there had evidently been a mistake.
! Very likely the Supplemented land
lady had concluded that no one travel
! ing with a man-servant could be less
than man of title.
Leslie thought of the two men, but
most Of Yorke, and all they had said
and done for some time before Ralph
Duncombe insisted upon his share in
her affections. And as she thought or
him she sighed She pitied him and
want to see him again He had fright
ened as well as touched her by the
passionate avowal which had accom-
panied the ring.
The ring. She had clean forgotten
it. She put her hand in her pocket,
turned it out, burt the ring was not
there. What had she done with it? 1t
was fast closed in her hand, she re-
membere !, when she heard Dicks pite-
GUS zap, and then she had sprung up
and ran down the beach. She must
have dropped it among the pebbles.
Her heart smote her reproachfully.
The least she could do in return for
the passionate love Ralph Duncombe
had 1avished so uselessly upon her was
to keep his ring.
She rose, troubled and remorseful.
The tide had been going out when she
dropped it. 1t was not likely it would
be seen by anyone, and it was proba.
bly, lying where it had fallen. She
seemed to see the plain gald ring ly-
ing there in the silent night, neglected
and despised.
Her hat and Jacket lay on the bed.
She snatched them up, put them on
hastily, and left the house. A light
burned behind the windows of Marine
Villa opposite, and she glanced up at
it, trying to picture to herself the two
men in the sitting-room; the one so
strong and stalwart, the other SO weak
and crippled.
AS she went quickly down the street
she was conscious of new and
strange feeling; it was half pleasant,
half painful. It seemed to her as If