Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1907-12-24
A CROWN OF FAITH



botshold The clergyman had three daugh-
tiers under the care Of Miss Pritchard I;
the manufacturer had four fostered be-
meath the sheltering wing of the same ac-
complished lady.
Both gentlemen stared angrily at Lionel
Leigh, professor OF languages. Each gen.
tleman felt that 1t might have been one
Of his own fair daughters who had placed
herself in such very critical and compro-
missing position as Miss Jane Wilkinson
now occupied. 1T might have been, only
1t wasn't" as the volatile and irreverent
Dick harrington was heard afterward TO
observe, when commenting on the events
of that most unfortunate evening.
Miss Jane had dressed herself for her
elopement with an eye to romantic effect.
She wore large white hat, with stream
ers Of bright tartan ribbon, and a great
scarlet plume. A scarf of violet velvet
was passed over one shoulder and fastened
under the other at the side of the waist
with a golden buckle. Her bodice and
long sweeping skirt were of lavender-col-
cred silk. On her arm she carried a
splendid cloak of white ermine, lined with
crimson silk; this to be worn as protec-
ton from the cold of the winter night.
Maria, the housemaid, on the other side
of the wall, had tossed over into the road
large, square, ugly brown paper par
eel. This, doubtless, contained Miss Will
kinson's impromptu wardrobe, for the oc-
casion of a sudden flight into Scotland
or France, or Holland, or wherever Rich
ard Darlington, Esquire, meant to sojourn
with his bride. Very pale Jenny looked
and her teeth chartered, and she seemed
ready to cry.
Those two elderly men-the stout
pompous rector, with purple face and
scowling forehead, and the severe, iron
gray man Of mettle from the great Mid
land center of manufactured iron-both
frowned down upon Jenny, as IL she had
been thief She turned away her head
and burst into a passion of tears.
Most scandalous :" said Mr.. Jabez
Howler.
Most dreadful !" growled the Rev
Seymour Cummington.
AN elope aent," said the manufacturer
-sad-sad p cried the purple rec
tor.
II don't care!" screamed Jenny, hys-
terically throwing out her long, lean
arms, and turning her young, foolish
freckled face toward the murky November
n ght sky. II don't care, l will never
wed another-never, never, never ~
Young man." Quoth Mr.. Jabez Howler
staring ferceIy at Lionel, this will not
pass lightly. The law arms itself to pro
tect women and children. Your charac-
ter. your position, your calling is forfeit.
ed, sir, by this attempted abduction. More
than that, believe that, as magistrate
| have the power to order you into Gus
tody. Is this lady ward in ehancery?'
No" cried Jenny; II am not and
that gentleman is our French and German
master-not the one | love. All! no
| Where is he? He would not allow me tc
be insulted and frightened. Oh, Dick
/ Dick-Dick, where are you?"
The elderly gentlemen stared at each
other, and then Lionel spoke.
This young lady leaped into the road
mistaking me for another person. l have
certainly given her French lessons in a
class with twenty other pupils, but there
my acquaintance with her begins and
ends"
The two elderly proprietors looked at
each other. Jabez Howler coughed the
clergyman adjusted his spectacles.
II am sorry, Mr.. Leigh, that there has
been any misconception, said the rector
but YOU must see" and there he
paused.
"Mr. Leigh cried Jenny, ''if 1 go into
that hateful house again, shall die. oh
take me with yon+ta me to Dick he
lives at the Black Wolf | don't care
won't go back to ST. Martha's'
Miss Wilkinson quoth the rector
you must go into the house this moment
| | insist !"
The reverend gentleman readjusted his
spectacles, and then laid his hand on the
lean, shivering arm of Jenny. There was
power, both muscular and moral. in the
rector's grasp. He was a man of author.
| ty, a man dreaded, ridiculed, respected
among the young ladies of st. Martha's
according to their several temperaments
and home training.
Jenny dreaded him, and Lionel had the
satisfaction of seeing the young lady led
of In a species of fatherly triumph by
the rector and Mr.. Jabez Howler.