Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-01-14

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Of hesLenape. roar lingsnear, followed
andssnSot at us tor lard dawn, drES5l
us sn0Eltl1i into the forest, where hs
chase M1tas ahandoBle the traces Gu
and The horses loaded with corn.
Assf6r me- 4 liyAd on. through COLI
and hstt, storm land stress. seeing
nothing. hearing nothing, dumb save
when the demon hidden in6my body
mocked ana laughe3i between my black
eneu lips. &
Now, my dark sQAl, ia hidden realms
addressed returned tame one high
and, listening heafa JjtHe demon scratch.
Ing at my bones. TTHen, weary and per.
picked, inside my hbdy, cftept my SOU
I and drew the lids df both eyes down
SO that w might slaep together before
the busy demon kneH.
Yet ], having my foul again, opened
my eyes to find a star was watching
ME; then, content, 4ay closer to my
soul and slept. And thus the demon
found us and SO fied1back to the sleep.
less hell from whence he came.
Then came a morning when I knew
I was in a'bed and very tired, too tired
to see aught but the sheets and the
sunlit curtains beyond. That night,
however, heard rain falling on a
roof and fell asleep, watching the win
dow for the hidden moon.
Our old Or. Pierson came one day
n caught me watching him. They'll
soon have me In the schoolroom now,
l thought, though I do still play pos
sum all can, eating my Cruel, which
a strange servant brings, and pretend
ing not to see her. Yet | am wonder
ing why the maid is SO silent and that
her gown is so dark and stiff.
The next day l saw DR.. Pierson be-
side me and asked for Sir William.
He said that Sir William was away
and that l was doing well. We often
spoke after that, and he was ever busy
with my head. which no longer ached
save when he fingered it.
Day broke-the bitterest day Of life
was to know. Why was the house SO
silent? Why did all go about SO quiet
ly, dressed in black? Was there some
one dead in the house below? Where
was Silver Heels? Why had she never
come to me? How came / here?
Where was Jack Mount and Cade Re
nard? And Sir William, where was
ne that he came not near meme who
had lain sick unto death in his service
and for his sake?
Dread numbed me. I strove to call.
but my dumb lips froze. 1 strove to
rise and found my body wrecked in
bed without power, without sense-a
helpless. inert thing between two
sheets.
must have cried aloud in my agony,
for the doctor came running and lean
ed over me.
TELL me, tell me-" I stammered,
why don't you tell meT' and strove to
strike him, but could not use my arms.
"Qufet, quiet" he said, watching me;
II will tell you what you wish to know.
What is it, then. my poor boya'
"I-want-Felicity," l blurted out.
"Felicity?" he repeated blankly. "oh,
Miss-ahem-Miss WarrenT"
l glared at him.
Miss Warren went with Sir John
Johnson to Boston a week ago" he
said dryly.
"Why-why did she goY
Il cannot tell you the reasons he
said gravely.
when will she return?"
II do not know"
She is deadv I whispered. 'She is
dead, and all in this house know It save
l, who love her!w
"She is alive and WELL" he said. ION
my honor as a man, lad, I set your
heart at rest. She is in Boston, and I
do know why, but I may not NEEDLE
with what concerns this family, save
in sickness-or DEATH
My eyes never left his.
"Aye." he said softly, "his last word
was your name. He loved you dearly,
And so l knew that Sir William was
dead.
Such sturdy fiber have 1 inherited
from my soldier father that grief itself
could not retard the mending of me,
and in the little French mirror l could
almost see my sunken muscles harden
and grow slowly fuller.
The dreadful anguish of my b%ereave-
ment came only at intervals, succeeded
by an apathy which served as a merci-
full relief. But most I thought of Sill
yer Heels and why she had left me
here and when she might return.
One late afternoon the doctor came
with a dish Of. China oranges. which I
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