The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-05-31


she, not perceiving him, retire. in
doors without knowing her loss. he
had come TO a thinly built part Of the
town. the perfect quiet OF which made
the sound he heard as he opened the
picket gate. OF his cwn home all the
more startling. It was a scream, loud,
frantic and terror stricken.
Eugene stopped, with the gate half
open.
Ont Of the wiater skeleton of a grape
arb0r az one side Of the four square
: -bric,, house :: brown faced girl OF sew
enteel precipitated herself through the
air in the midst of shower of torn
cardboard which she threw before her
as she Ieaped. She lii upon her toes
and heaCel for the gate at top speed.
pursued by a pale young man whose
thin arms strove spasmo3lcally to
reach her Scattering snow behind
Inem, na1r flying. the pair sped on like
two tattered branches before high
wind. for, as they came nearer Eugene
Of whom, in the teGslty Of their flight.
they took no note, it, was to be seen
that both were so stability dressed as
to be almost ragged
The girl ran beautifully, but fieeter
foot was behind her and, though she
lodged and evaded like a creature of
the woods, the reaching hand fell upon
the loose sleeve of her red blouse, nor
fell lightly. She gave a wrench of fren-
w. The antique fabric refused the
strain, parted at the shoulder seam so
thoroughly that the whole sleeve came
away, but not to its owners release.
for she had been brought round by the
jerk, so that, agile as she had shown
herself. the pursuer threw an arm
about her neck before she could twist
away and held her.
! There was a sharp struggle as short
as 1t was fierce. Neither of these extra
ordinary wrestlers spoke. They fought
Victory hung in the balance for per
| haps four seconds. Then the girl was
| thrown heavily upon her back in such
a turmoil of snow that she seemed to
be the mere nucleus of a white comet.
She struggled to get up, plying knee
and elbow with a very anguish of de-
| termination, but her opponent held her,
pinioned both her wrists with one hand
and with the other rubbed great hand
fuls of snow into her face, sparing nei
ther mouth nor eyes.
You willr' he cried. You will tear
up my pictures! A dirty trick, and you
get washed for it,
Half suffocated, choking, gasping,
she still fought on, sQuirming and
kicking with such spirit that the pair
Of them appeared to the beholder like
figures of mist writing in fountain
of snow.
More violence was to mar the peace
of morning Unexpectedly attacked
from the rear, the conQuer0r was seiz-
ed by the nape of the neck and one
wrist and jerked to his feet, stimuli
taneOusly receiving a succession of
kicks from his assailant Prompted /
by an entirely natural curiosity, he es-
sayed to turn his head to see who
this might be, but a twist of his fore
arm and the pressure of strong fingers
under his ear constrained him to re-
AAdiA do AV vas, thClCAOlCs
resistance and, oddly enough. accept
ing without comment the indication |
that his captor desired to remain for |
the moment incognito. he resorted !
calmly to explanations.
"She tore up picture of mine" he |
said, receiving the punishment with
out apparent emotion. "She seemed to
think because she'd drawn it herself |
she had right to-"
There was slight whimsical droop |
at the corner of his mouth as he
spoke, which might have been thought
characteristic of him. He was an odd
looking boy, not i'll made, though very,
thin and not tall. His pallor was
clear and even, as though constitutions
al; the features were delicate, almost
childlike, but they were very slightly
distorted, through nervous habit, to
an expression at once wistful and hui
morous; one eyebrow was shade
higher than the other one side of the
mouth slightly drawn down; the eye
lids twitched little, habitually; the
fine, blue eyes themselves were almost
reproachful-the look of a
puppy who thinks you would not have
beaten him If you had known what
was In his heart. All of this was in
the quality of his voice, too, as he
said to his invisible captor, with an
air of detachment from any personal
feeling:
what peculiar shoes you wear! l
1on't think l ever felt any so pointed
1efore'
The rescuing knight took no thought
If offering to help the prosecuted
iamsel to arise; instead he. frightened
his grip upon the prisoners neck I'M
ILL., perforce, water-not tears-started
rom the latters eyes.
you miserable little MUIR said the
.onqueror. what the devil do you
mean making this scene on our front
awnT
"Why, it's Eugenew exclaimed the