The Morris County chronicle., 1905-02-14

had fallen from the ledge. 1t rolled
| nnder bis weight He staggered back
swinging his arms in the vain attempt
to get an equilibrium, then he shot
forward and fell headlong down, down,
down into the abyss.
l held my breath; it seemed minutes
before that hollow pong reached our
ears, telling us that Van Hoeck waa
gone forever, and the Great Hespel
with him.
There was cord, and to spare, III TIE
coils. Weighing one end with q
stone / threw an end across to Brace.
and when the cut ropes were knotted
and a bridge once more formed, he
crossed, and knelt down by me over
poor Lola.
He examined her wound and shook
his head in silence; there was no hope
We made. mattress of the rugs on
the smoothest part of the rock and atI
tempted to lift her upon it. But the
movement gave her pain. and she mo-
toned us to desist Then pointing up-
ward, she made signs for Us to leave
her
Not while you are with us. my poor
GEL" said her father, with more ten
derness than I had ever heard in his
voice
We had the flask. and some food in
wallet. We ate when we We're hun
CRY, seated beside Lola.
u, -. r., fn4 n
the terrible strain we had been SUBJ
jected to, we unconsciously II asleep,
with our backs resting against the
rock. The last thing of which I was
conscious was the pressing of Lola's
lips upon my hand. i
"A
Brace touched my arm.
'.Pardner,' he said, in tone of awe
''the Kids gone"
looked where had seen her lying
with her face to my hand. She was
gone literally. There was little stain
of blood upon the rock-a drop further,
on, another close to the edge Of the
platform. She had kept her promise.
she had been good; and now the suf-
ferings OF her short life were enGeds
"She knowed it was no good our
waitin' poor little cuss."
felt something in my hand; opening
it, found riAg had bought for
Lola. She had slipped it there before
she went.
Sir Edmund and Edith came TO San
Diego in June, the loveliest season 0f
that lovely land. The air from the sea
tempered the SUMS heat. The planta-
tions were already burdened with fruit
and everywhere there was redolence
of orange blossom-"a very suggestive
fragrance, my dear fellow" said the
baronet pressing my hand.
Edith was charmed with all she saw
"Is this my homer she asked
turned to Sir Edmund.
tWell, we must go through the for
mality Of looking at the books, my
dear" said he
l had no hesitation in showing thems
and when he had seen the splendid re-
suits showed, he formally sanctioned
a renewal of our engagement; but we
had not waited for that consent to let
our hearts join in unconstrained de-
light.
Our second engagement was happily
longer than the first, but we were
married the week after the vines were
cleared.
Brace was at our wedding breakfast.
When it was over, he took some Of the
flowers from the table and disappeared
for some days knew how he had
spent his brief holiday. If had enter
tanned any doubt, it would have been
dispelled when, on his return, he took
the old agreement from his pocket
and pointed to the postscript:
"It is understood between the above
partners that, in the event of lucky
find, the Kid shall not be forgotten"
And, indeed, in my wife had found
dearer prize than any had dreamed
of when signed the compact. 4
THE END.