Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1908-04-23

'9t vi ACOV
known for so short Il time, yet which
alone stood between myself and lone)l-
ness. II would rather come with you.
! stammered. But l shall! be u sreos
burden to you now. i fear
1T is not that" he replied. Wa.h
hearty assurance in his voice "A
weeks rest and quiet will restore you to
strength, and then the burden will be
on the other shoulder. 1t is for your
own sake 1 give you the choice. a
our future is for the time uncertain.
Very uncertain" he repeated. his brow
%clouding over, land to become our com
panion may expose o to fresh dan
gers. We are refugees from Eng
land. That you probably guess Our.
plan was to go to France; where are
many of our friends, and where we
could live safely until better times. You
know how that plan was frustrated.
Here the Spaniards are .masters-
Prince Philips peOple-and X we ara
recognized we shall be arrested and
sent back to England. Still my wife
n 1 must make the best OF 1t. The
hue and cry will not follow us for some
days. and there Is still a degree OF
independence in he cities Of Holland
which may. since I have friends here
protect us for a time. Now you know
something Of our position. my friend.
You can make your choice with your,
eyes open. Either way we shall not
forget YOU"
Il will go on with you. II you please"
l answered at once. II. too, cannot
GO home.' And as 1 said this Mistress
Rertram also came up. and 1 took her
HAND in nine-which looked. by the
Way, so strangely thin l scarcely rec
ognized it-and kissed it. Il will come
with you. madam. II you will let me-"
l said.
'Good!" she replied. her eyes spark
ling. Il said you would. l do not mind
And IL ever we return to England, as
God grant we may. n soon. you shall
not regret YOU decision. Shall he.
Richard"'
IF you say he shall not. my DEAR"
he responded, smiling at her enthus-
iasm. Il think may answer for 1t he
will not"
1 was struck then. as I had been
before, by a certain air Of Difference
which the husband assumed toward the
Wife. 1t did not surprise me-, for her
bearing and manner, as we'll as such of
her actions as l had seen. stamped
her as stngularly self reliant and in
dependent for a woman. and to these
qualities. as much as to the rather
dreamy character Of the husband, I
was content to set down the peculi-
arity. I should add that a rare and
pretty tenderness constantly displayed
on her part toward him robbed 1t OF
n semblance of unseemliness.
They saw that the exertion Of talk
ing me. and so, with an
encouraging nod, left me to myself. A
few minutes later a couple Of English
sailors belonging to the Framlingham
came up and with gentle strength
transported me, under Mistress Anne's
directions. to a queer looking wide
beamed boat which lay almost along
side. She was more like a huge Thames
barge than anything else. for she drew
little water. but had a great expanse
of sail when all was set. There was
q large deckhouse, gay with paint INC
as clean as 1t could be, and in a COM
partnent at n m of this, which
seemed to be assigned to our party,
i was soon comfortably settled.
Exhausted as I was by the excite
ment of sitting UP and being moved,
I knew little of what passed about me
for the next w days and remember
less. / slept and ate and sometimes
awoke to wonder where 1 was. But
the meals and the vague attempts at
thought made scarcely more impression
on my mind than the sleep. Yet all
the while / was gaining strength rapid
ly. my youth and health standing me
in good stead. The wound in my head,
which had caused great loss of blood,
healed all II way. as we say in
Warwickshire. and about noon on the
second day after leaving bort l was
we'll enough to reach the deck unas-
sisted and sit In the sunshine on a pile
of rugs which Mistress Anne, my con-
slant nurse, had laid for me in a cor
ner sheltered from the wind.
Fortunately the weather was mild
n warm, and the sunshine fell bright
ly on the wide river and the wider
plain of pasture which stretched away
on either side Of the horizon. dotted
here and there only by a windmill, a
farmhouse. n steeple of a church, the
brown sails of a barge or at most
broken by a low dixie or a line Of sand
dunes. All was open, free: all was
largeness. space and distance. 1 gazed
astonished. The husband and wife. who
We're pacing the deck forward. came
to me. He noticed the wondering looks
l cast round. This Is new to you?'
he said. smiling.
quite. quite new" I answered. II
v imagined anything SO fiat and
yet In its way SO beautiful
You do not know Lincolnshire?"
NO"
"Ah. that Is my native county," he
answered.. 1T is much like this. But
you are better. and you can talk again.
Now, I and my wife have been dis
cussing whether we shall tell you more
about ourselves. And. since there is no
time like the present. I may say that
we have decided to trust you"
AN in all or not at ALL" Mistress
Bertram added brightly.
l murmured my thanks.
Then, first. to tell you who we
are. For myself, I am plain Richard
BERTHE. Of Lincolnshire, at your sery-
Ice. My wife is something more than
appears from this. or''-with a smile
from her present not too graceful
stop. Richard! This is not sufYic-
iently formal" my lady cried prettily.
i have the honor to present to YOU.
young gentleman.,, she went nm la,snhv