The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-04-23
A CROWN OF FAITH


| suit; her boots and hat were on, and the
three ladies descended the great stair
case. In the passage were the confiden-
tial man and maid of Mrs. Wycherly.
Every one was silent. The hall door
stood open, and before it stood car
| riage and pair of horses, and another con-
| idential servant was on the box.
Mrs. Wycherly pointed imperiously to
Ella, and Ella entered the carriage. Mrs
Wycherly and Miss Worthington follow
ed. All the while Elias mind was busy
with thoughts of escape.
On, on through the summer night they
| went The windows were open, and the
air blew fresh, cool, delicious, on the
heated brow and throbbing temples of
Ella. Her heart turned strangely against
her unnatural parents-turned as it had
never done before. All pride in her race
as Wycherly seemed gone; it did not
seem to matter to her il she never saw
the grand old house, which had never
really been home to her, again. She only
desired freedom. She had skill as a mu-
stefan, and she would exert it to win her
| bread. She would escape. To this Ella
made up her mind, cooliy, firmly, posi-
| lively. She had no direct plan; she re-
solved only to watch her opportunities,
and profit by them.
The carriage rolled on towards vii
lage called Brookly, which lay about four
miles to the west of Abbotshold. There
was railway station there, and Ella
comprehended that her mother desired
she should start from a little obscure
place where she was not known, and so
could not be recognized Her removal
was to be kept secret, then!
A complete silence was maintained by
the ladies during the journey to Brookly.
Neither of the servants spoke, and when
the picturesque village was reached, Ella
was almost appalled, at the stiffness which
pervaded all things.
| They descended and entered the little
waiting room. Only a station clerk was
present. He hurried into the ticket Office
when he saw the strangers.
| An express from a large town in the
! Midlan9s soon flashed and roared through
the little wooden building, making the
beams and rafters ring. 1t was gone al
most Immediately, and then Miss Worth
ington walked up to the little window,
and asked the clerk for four 6rst-class
tickets for SmthamDtaa-
Hs saA her vhaa and vA8s md hwH
many times she would have to change on
the journey. Ella listened to every word.
Il vas mt Why hss hsfses thu ssAil
fR southampton cRlre pufing into Brook.
| ly station. 1t was now nearly half-past
three o'clock, and the summer dawn was
breaking. Not a single passenger got
out at Brookly.
| Soon Ella was seated between her
mother and Miss Worthington in a softly
cushioned carriage. One servant sat with
the ladies in the carriage, this was
Marsh, the muscular, brawny, confden-
tiai coachman of Mrs. Wycherly.
| Ella wac a prisoner. She almost won
| dered that her mother had not seen fit
to sAAisa bar arms to her sides. But
the young girls mind was made up. II
all other means failed, she would appeal
to the public on the first platform. where
she found herself surrounded by the rush
and voices of other human beings.
There were no other passengers in the
carriage. The first stage seemed INTERIM
Unable, and all the while silence was main
tanned between Mrs. Wycherly and Miss
Worthington.
Everything. however, comes to an end
and so did the first stage of a most I'M
pleasant journey.
"Eversholt J" cried the porters on the
platform. Change for Basinsstoke and
Southampton J"
Mrs. Wycherly arose. Already Marsh,
the coachman, stood outside to assist the
ladies to descend. Ella came last.
1t was about five o'clock of a lovely
summer morning. Ella, as she stood on
the platform, and looked opposite at the
red-tiled roofs of houses, Swallowed By
thick trees, felt as if the place was the
very gate of freedom for her.
| Free? She had never known freedom
since her birth; she had never experienced
the least manifestation of a mothers
love. Sometimes she had questioned her
self whether she were indeed the daugh-
ter of the Wycherlys. What marvel if
her nature had hardened a little under
the training she had received!
/ She looked up the platform and down
it, and longed to escape, but could devise
no means, and she regretted bitterly all
the opportunities she had allowed to pass
without providing herself with home,
however humble, away from her parents,
whose intention it had always been to
consign her to a living tomb.
Now and then she thought of appealing
to her mothers compassion; but compass.
sion was dead in the heart of Mrs. Colo
mel Wycherly.
Zone hour before the train starts. Let
US rest in the waiting room"
1t was Miss Worthington Who spoke
and then, Cor the first time, it seemed %
strike Mrs. Wycherly that none of the
party had broken their fast for hours.
"We must have some breakfast" said
the lady shortly. ELLA, you will be re-
luired to use abstinence in your new
abode; therefore. begin now to eat spar
ingly; a cup of coffee and al plain bis
cult"
Mrs. Wycherly. meanwhile, had tea
with ham sandwiches. Miss Worthing-
ton, like Ella, partook only of biscuit
and coffee.
There were many persons in the large
refreshment room partaking of breakfast
Ella watched all with the keen-sighted-
ness of a detective. Miss Worthington
walked away to pay the bill.
Mamma, 1 feel faint. l must get out
to the air." said Ella suddenly.
| 1t was true that from fasting and ex-
citement she was faint. Mrs. Wycherly,
overcome with fatigue, had Involuntary
closed her eyes. She opened them, and,
seeing Ella look pale, said:
Tell Miss Worthington to go with
you"
But Ella only went very quickly from
the room and out upon the platform and
down the steps, and so into the quaint
| town of Eversholt