Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1906-01-18

~ a sweet SAVIOR of earth COM
mingled with the summer air
- when l opened my door and
looked forth upon the courtyard. The
landlord gently deprecated the events
of the previous evening. Offering, as it
might be to a fastidious guest. an apol-
ogy for a headstrong young scape-
grace.
They're not like us Of the eastern
counties. sir" says he. They're 4 bit
Welsh hereabout. It's a contau:na-
ton, to my way of thinking. But,
there, all sorts Of blood go to make a
nation, and that's the truth"
But he volunteered a few additional
particulars about Montgomery.
"Not a bad sort, sir. at heart. but
he's running to seed here. He's taken
a main fancy to you. That l could spy
at a look. But it's a poor prospect for
him, with land %dwindling away to
nothing. and Llanthony is a shabby
house for q young gentleman as he
should be-"
Llanthony, it appears, vas the name
of Montgomery's p%aternal estate in the
Gwent. And, in fact. it was for this
Gwent that l was bound this morning.
The prospect Of those rolling hills at
tracted me with some force. l had an
appetite for the wilderness of that back
country. unsecured, as l learned, by
the track of any railway. 1t was in q
way virgin, at the least a property pri-
vate from the world. AS 1 struck
across the Ray and directed my horse
toward the long red slope of the as
cent I looked back upon the little town
and discovered it wrapped in noun
tain humors.
Llanthony, according to my host, lay
at the back Of the first hill, some four
miles from Raymond, but as the estate
was not my particular aim, aud, if it
had been, l had no one to guide me, I
roamed Indefinitely through byways
over a circuit of the upper Gwent and
finally drew up in the village of Llanel-
Ian about the hour of lunch. This vii
lage lay & mile or SO from the more
open districts Of the GweIt and within
the privy borders of the great forest it
self. 1t would have been easy to throw
the reins upon the horses neck and to
wander, lost in the abysms of that will
derness. for the villages were scattered
at a great distance and the habitations
Of the settlers We're at long intervals.
1t was somewhere about ) in the after
noon, and az l rode down into q spa
cious valley a few miles from Llanel-
Ian. that the monotony Of this desultory
journey was broken by an event of
some moment.
a pretty brook rippied through the
wood and was crossed upon a rude
bridge. As it CHANGED, my horse fell
suddenly lame, and l had dismounted
on the farther edge Of the stream to
examine his hOof when l heard sounds
az Of a struggle in the close brake to
my left, and upon that a shrill shout as
Of one crying for assistance. Leaving
the bay without further ado, for he was
Of mild mettle, 1 jumped into the copse
and ran toward the noises, shouting az
I Went to encourage the wayfarer who
was calling for aid.
The cries had already ceased, but Il
cracking and brushing in the under
growth still directed me, and, bursting
through the fuiZe and brier, / came out
very suddenly upon the verge of the
little brook and almost fell over the
form Of a man who lay doubled upon
the e-rth. AS stumbled and shifted
10 regain my balance I had a glimpse
Of a 1.-THE. lean bodied fellow vanish
ing precipitately into the copse. But
obviously it was TO the victim that |
must first turn my mind rather than 10
any fugitive assailant. He was a man.
az | guessed. of some sixty years or
more, very bald of the head and under
the middle stature. Across his white
and shining forehead was n streak Of
blood. which drew from me an cxcla.
NATION ne ! helped him 10 his feet.