The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-05-18
THE EVENING STORY
The siIvermeade Hunt.
(By Constance DARCY Macka

sweep of country touched by varying
colors-the russet and crimson of oak
and maple, the green of undulating
fields and hills broken here and there
by the gray of stone walls, the clear
flashes of brooks or stretches of open
| road.
cad! What air!" cried Grattan
Richards, tossing back his head and
taking long whiff.
1 -And what a day for a hunt!"
echoed Rex TeIlingford, looking past
Richards to where Emily Lauderdale
was chattering to group of men in
red coats, checking in her horse as
| the hounds struggled to be off, strain
| ing at their leashes. with every one
in such. good fettle it ought to be a
great old race!' she laughed, tucking
4 a strand of blue black hair beneath
her riding hat.
The eyes of Richards and Telling
1 CLEAN. Each was cognizant of the
/ others thoughts; that whoever
| brought back the brush that day
would win a prize of far greater value.
/ Both men knew that their future hap
piness depended largely on the morn
/ ing's run, for Emily was a horsewo-
| man from the tip of her riding boot
to the ends of her firm, gauntleted fin
gers. She set fmmeasurab BILE store, by
cross-country rides, daring leaps and
| hairbreadth escapes. To say a man
could not keep his saddle was equal
to Emily's mind with saying he could
Though / think there are virtues
/ equally great as cross-country rid
ing" smiled gentle Elizabeth Lauder
| dale, whose love of outdoor excitement
long inheritance as Emily's. g
Emily shook her head.
"Dear Aunt Elsie,'' she answered,
"you don't in the least understand, and
I'm sure I could never explain It's
bred in my bone, that's all. If / had
lived in the olden days I should have
had a Misunderstanding of horses,
slashing of spears, Splintering of ar
mori That's what call a wooings No
mere ambling up to demand { your
heart and hand! And as I flnd 1T hard
to decide Between Grattan Richards
and Rex Telling ford, why, fair field and
fair play and let the best man win" !
Something of this headstrong reso-
luton stirred in the girl as she turned |
suddenly in her saddle and glanced at |
the two men. Assured triumph glow
ed on the face of Richards. Stern de- |
termination was written on Telling
fords. She gave a little nod of sat |
isfactfon- They We're well matched, |
these twoi
The other members of the Lauder
dale house party were not unaware of
the drama that was being played be-
fore their eyes, and 1T added to the
zest of the morning as the signal was
given, the dogs unleashed and the cav
alcade swept gayly down the hill. /
Look at that girl" gasped Mrs |
Royce Thompson novice who pounded |
in her saddle. She's actually but |
the rest of the words were lost, for |
Emily was already in the distance. gal |
Looping at breakneck speed, while at her |
heels followed Richards and Tellingford. |
The rest of the hunt streamed after |
them Luck seemed to favor Richards |
His mares feet scarcely touched the |
earth. She took fences and burrows |
like a winged creature. Tellingford was |
not so fortunate. At the brink of |
stream he was forced to pause and fas-
ten his saddle girth. Partly from ex-
eitement and partly from annoyance he |
fumbled with it longer than he had in
tended, and when he raised his head the |
others We're already far af1eld, Emily |
Lauderdale and Richards still in the |
lead. The hounds had scented their
quarry and were in full cry.
Tellin gford considered. There was a |
crosscut that he had tried once before. t
1t lay through bitches and brambles, /
and was intersected by five-bar fences.
Still, anything at pinch, and he would
back Fleetfoot against every mare in
the county. He congratulated himself |
on this decision some moments later as
Fleetfoot went forward at a pace that
justified her name. Her course now lay
across wide meadows, filled with lush
grass and starred here and there by
purple asters and skirted by low stone
walls, in whose crumbling cIinks vines
twisted, and across whose loose stones
squirrels skipped and chartered.
Bravo. old girlr' cried Tellingford,
his hand on Fleetfoot's glossy neck,
gently urging her forward. At that mo-
ment there reached him sharply and
piercingly the bitter cry of child.
Tellingford drew rein. BY the wall,
circling a ditch that Fleetfoot was
about to make, lay a small, chubby fig
ure, one hand full of flowers.
'Pricked himself with brambles,''
thought TeIlingford. Aloud he said:
Cheer up, sonny, men never cry for
&717fss rfr7rr TAtS%
foot on again when the inertness of the
little heap by the wall smote home to
him. He checked his horse and dis
mounted. An instant later he stood
with the helpless burden in his arms.
The child's yellow head rested against
across his own. With an understanding
almost human, Fleetwood stood by the
wall like a bronze statue while Telling
ford mounted, and then went slowly
back across the meadows toward the
road. The child, recovering from his
stupor began to sob. Tellingford sooth-
ed him with tender awkwardness, and
was guiding Fleetwood to the first farm
house by tie roadside, when woman
ran down the path leading to the door,
untying her checked apron as she went
Her back was toward the approaching !
trio.
.sBebby!" she cried, Bobby" /,
The boy stirred in Te1lingford's
ST think I have found your boy. .
called Teliingford gently,
and in three seconds more was speed
ing for the village physician. The
sounds of the hunt had long since died
in the distance.
1t was afternoon when Tel1ingford
reached the Lauderdales. From the t
dining room came sounds of talking $