Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-12-26

f t
RJ CHAPTER III Continued.
%1 Down this she passed and stood and
k 5atched her go; for dared not fol-
EEpw. The ride stretched away as
8 Araight as line for 400 or 500 yards,
green path between green walls. To
ser 1T was to be Immediately de-
led, II she turned; while the
srket itself permitted no passage 1
,d baf1ed and raging and watched
~ pass along. 1t seemed an age be-
A. she at last reached the end and,
tping sharply to the right, was in an
Pant gone from sight
IA d waited then no longer. I started
", and, running as lightly and quietly
I'll could, sped down the green al
y.eg. The sun shone on it, the trees
Ikept off the wind, and between heat
|Aand haste, sweated finely. But the
turf was soft, and the ground fell
xslightly, and in little more than
a. minute gained the end. Fifty yards
short Of the, turning stayed myself,
and, stealing on, looked cautiously the
way she had gone.
81 saw before me second ride, the
twin of the other, and hundred and
- fifty PAGES down it her gray figure
tripping on between the green
hedges. stood and took breath and
y cursed the wood and the heat and
madam's wariness. We must have
come league or two-thirds of a league,
nat least. How far did the man expect
" aer to plod to meet him? began to
row angry. There is moderation even.
IN the cooking of eggs, and this wood
|2might stretch into Spain, for all
&Anew!
Presently she turned the corner and
was gone again, and l had to repeat my
maneuver. This time, surely, 1 could
find a change. But no! Another green
ride stretched away into the depths of
the forest, with hedges of varying
shades-here light and there dark,
as hazel and elder, or thorn, and yew
lend box prevailed always high
End stiff and impervious. Halfway
down the ride madam's figure tripped
steadily on, the only moving thing in
sight. I wondered, stood, and, when
Eshe vanished, followed-only to find
That she had entered another track,
Eaittle narrower, but in every respect
& alike.
And so It went on for quite half an
q Jour. Sometimes madam turned to
y the right, sometimes to the left The
maze seemed to be endless. Once or
twice wondered whether she had lost
her way land was merely seeking to
return. But her steady, purposefuI
gait, her measured pace, forbade the
Idea. noticed too, that she seldom
looked behind her-rarely to right or
left. Once the ride down which she
passed was carpeted not with green.
but with the silvery, sheeny leaves of
some creeping plant that in the dis
aance had simmer like that of water
lat evening. AS she trod this, with
8lface to the low sun, her tall gray fig
ure had pure air that for the moment
startled me-she looked unearthly.
Then ] swore in scorn of myself, and
at the next corner l had my reward.
blShe was no longer walking on. She
had stopped, l found, and seated her
ssSself on fallen tree that lay In the
1gride.
a For some time stood in ambush
watching her, and with each minute I
aFgrew more impatient. At last l began
sto doubt-to have strange thoughts.
The green walls were growing dark.
The sun was sinking; sharp, white
peak, miles and miles away, which
closed the vista of the ride began to
flush and color rosily. Finally, but
Enat before had had leisure to grow
uneasy, she stood up and walked on
smore slowly. waited. as usual,
until the next turning hid her. Then
FASTENED after her, and, warily pass
ing round the corner-came face to
face with her!
knew all in a moment-that she
had fooled me, tricked me, lured me
away. Her face was white with scorn,