Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-07-27
CHAPTER x-(continued)

was Lazy herh1ll had heard on the
gTavel-path, fought through the long
night for his right to happiness. His
entire horizon seemed blocked by the
unyielding figures of Lady Elizabeth
and Henry; behind them, tantalizing
him with the sweetness of the vision,
he could see Diana's face illumined
with its new light of wonder. The
heavy dews, which gave to the old gar
den Its fragrance, green, sweet odors
drenched him as he paced along the
path under the giant trees. He was
insensible to his wet clothes--to the
tumbled hair which the dampness
knotted about his head in kinky curls
The tangle Of his thoughts proved too
difficult for him to unravel; the night
had been so charged with emotions
that he could hardly look truthfully
into his own heart. The hours passed
az he paced restlessly. dazed and over
whelmed by the chaotic uprooting of
I all his being. Aimlessly he at last
wandered towards the Fairies Corner
and sought rest on the rudely fashion.
ed seat, denied and marked with his
boyish carvings. There he lay haunt
ed by intangible dreams UNTIL over
come by WEAKNESS, he crept close into
his old corner and slept
The strong orange shafts of sunrise
were lighting UP the hillside opposite
Diana's window as she stealthily crept
down and let herself out of the silent
house In to the garden. The mounds
close to the Towers were covered with
great splashes of heather, while the
moor beyond dipped and stretched far
away like trailing, purple, overblown
monster flower. which seemed, musn-
room-like, to have sprung up during
the night. Diana's first sight of the
brilliant coloring that came every
July to the heather-covered hillside,
brought now as always bitter memoir
les Of her first summer in Scotland,
where as young bride the illusions
Of her virgin mind and heart had been
shattered by Henry.
y She turned away from its Haunting
beauty with shudder. No memories
OF the past had been hers during the
night; why should she allow the old
pain and heartache to come back?
She alone in the great house had
given herself up to delicious reveries
mat tempted her; every thought of
\ Henry, her father and the ties that
bound her, she ignored She never
questioned what had changed her
since she had left Henry, outraged at
his vile suspicious. Why probe into
the cause Of her happiness? Enough
that she could rejoice, silently, il
need be, withoutfa reason acknowledge
ed even to herself. for her Joy. But
the lawn brought with it only fever
1sn longing to reach the cool of the
hillside, and now the blooming riot Of
purple tones had struck at her like a
menacing ghost. She plunged into a
thicket and sinking knee-deep in its
luxur1ant growth made her way
across yellow meadoh. Finally she
!, reached the copse of trees through
which she could see the Elizabethan
gables Of the back of the house.
Oh, the beauty of the unstained
day! Like every weary wayfarer ex-
ploring for the first time since child
| hood the fresh virgin countryside
her soul cried aloud its appreciation Of
u this beauty Of soft green, wet gIisten-
Ing flowers, crystal clear air, and what
lis utterly unknown save to the fire.
quenters of the first hours of dawn in
forests and glades, the ecstatic per-
fume Of the early breezes. Across the
hedges from their kingdom, the flower
| garden, came these ripples of scented
(
suckle, rose, phlox, and helioptrope.
Like Jim. she unconsciously turned
! to the Fairies Corner. AS she reach
ed the narrow aperture, and its wet
earthly smell drowned the sweet SEN
suous odors Of the garden blossoms,
she espied the sleeping figure on the
old bench. At the unexpected discov-
cry she gave an involuntary exclama-
ton. Jim was lying on his back
with his head on his arm, all the wet
|, stain Of the night passed in the garden
showing on his unchanged evening
clothes while the unkempt hair gave
A a curious boyfshness. to his face.
Diana waited for him to move, but
her surprised ejaculation had failed to
awaken him. How big and wonderful
he was! The thick lashes swept his
brown face with it's dull touch of red
showing under the olive skin. AS she
bent over him and was about to touch
his hand to arouse him he opened his
eyes.
He had been dreaming that he was
In the hospital in the Hills after the
fight, and in hills delirun he was back
at the FARES Corner with Dinana-
and there she stood looking at him,
but his eyes seemed unable to grasp
the reality of the moment.
"Jim, JIM" she said.
It was no dream With rush of
memory 1t all came back to him. He
quickly rose to his feet and came to-
wards her, ippelled by an uncontrol-
able force Cobwebs of sunlight were
4 making Citing spaces against the
gray-and-green enclosure; movement
began In the tree-tops that brought
back the childish Renaissance of the
rustling fairy wings. He forgot every
thing He only knew that she stood
there like an essence of delight to
ease his aching being. The still won
bder Of the evening before was again
ishining in her luminous face.
He lifted her hands to mis- shoulders
and held them fast there. To her
awakening womanhood he seemed
like young god Of nature, who had
bathed in the primeval springs and
had risen glorified and Overwhelming
lin his forcefulness. They stood speech
Nless their gaze fastened each on the