Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1905-12-12
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CHAPTER xvI.-fContinued ,

THAT Ell "A fl.--lCOQUlDQe0.)
81 startled you," he said; ''you did
not expect to see me. had no right to
come to you so suddenly; but they told
me you were here, and l wanted so much
to see you-I wanted so much to speak
to you"
The words were insignificant enough,
but there was a warmth and earnestness
In the tones that was new to Isabel.
Faint bushes fickered into her cheeks,
so deathly pale a few moments before,
her eyelids fell over the dark, unfathom-
able eyes, a look of sudden happiness
spread itself upon her face and made it
luminous
i thought you would never, never,
never come. back again"
L meant to stay away, but I changed
my mind, and | came back. / hope you
are glad to see me againP'
what could she say to him? Her ter
TOR OF saying too much kept her silent;
the beating of her heart sounded in her
ears, and she was afraid that he, too,
might hear that tell-tale sound. She
dared not raise her eyes, and yet she
knew that he was looking at her earn
estly, scrutinizingly even.
Tell me that you are glad to see
me- he said. 'Ah, if you knew why
L went away-why l tried so hard to
stay away-why | have come back after
au-after also many resolutions made
and broken-so many deliberations-so
much doubt and hesitation! Isabel. tel
me you are glad to see me once more."
She tried to speak, and faltered out
word or two, and broke down, and
turned nd CHI
looked round at him with sudden impulse,
innocently and child lilly, forgetful for a
moment the lare-built house in the
dusty lane, George Gilbert, and ali the
duties of her life.
Il have been so unhappy; l have been
so miserable; and you will go away
again by and by, and l shall never, never
see you any more"
Her voice broke, and she burst into
tears, and theu remembering the surgeon
all in 4 moment, brushed them hastily
away with her handkerchief
"You frightened me so Mr.. Lansdell, y
she said, land I'm very late, and l was
just going home, and my husband will
De waiting for ME. He comes to meet
me sometimes when he can spare time.
Goodbye"
She held out her hand, looking at Ro-
land neryously as she did so. Did he de-
spise her very much? she wondered. No
doubt he had come home to marry Gwen
doline Pomphrey, and there would BE- u
hne wedding in the bright May weather.
There was just time to go into a con-
sumption between March and May, Mrs.
Gilbert thought; and her tombstone
might be ready for the occasion, if the
gods who bestow upon their special ia
Vorltes the boon of early death would
only be kind to her.
Goodbye, Mr. Lansdell," she re-
peated
Let me walk with you a little way.
All! if you knew how l have Travelled
night and day; if you knew how have
languished for this hour, and for the
sight Of
For the sight of what? Roland Lans-
dell was looking down at the pale face
OF the doctors wife as he uttered that
unfinished sentence. But among all the
wonders that ever made the story of a
woman's life wonderful, it could never
surely come to pass that a demi-cod
would descend from the ethereal regions
which were his common habitation upon
her account, Mrs. Gilbert thought. She
went home in the chill March twihg 1T
but not through the bleak and common
atmosphere which other people breathed
that afternoon; Mr.. Lansdell walked by
her side, and, not encountering the sur
geon, went all the way to Graybridge.
and only left Mrs. Gilbert at the end of
the dusty lane in which the doctors red
lamp already glimmered family in the
dusk