Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-08-27
S. Barring GOULD

easily, lneu up at the AooA' Sc1i I
spare more than half-an-hour.
Then Barbara said undauntedly, No
man, under any circumstances, can
desert a fellow in distress leaving
him perhaps, to die. You must III
him inio our gig, and we will convey
! him to MorwelI. Then go your way
if you will. My sister and will take
charge Of him, and do our best for him
till you can return
Return!' muttered the man scorn-
fully. Christian cast his burden be-
fore the cross. He didn't return to
pick it up again.
Barbara waxed wroth.
If the accident had happened to
you, would your friend have excused
himself and deserted your
'Oh!' exclaimed the man carelessly,
of course he would not
yet you are eager to leave him.
You do not understand. The cases
are widely different He went to the
horse. 'HaTloo!' he exclaimed as he
now noticed Eve. Another girl
springing out of the turf! Am !
among pixies? Turn your face more
] to the light, On my oath, and as am
judge, you are a beauty" Then he
tried the horse that had fallen; it
halted. The brute is fit for dogs
meat only he said. Let the fox
| hounds eat him. Is that your gig?
We can never lift my brother
Is he your brother?'
We can never pull him up into that
conveyance. No, we must get him
astride my horse; you hold him on
me side, on the other, and so we
shall get on. Come here, Watt, and
lend a hand; you help also, Beauty,
and see what you can do
! With difficulty the insensible man
was raised into the saddle. Re
seemed to gather some slight con-
sciousness when mounted, for he NUT
cred something about pushing on.
You 60 round on the further side OF
the horse said the man imperiously
| to Barbara. You seem strong in the
arm, possibly stronger than / am.
/ Beauty! lead the horse
The boy can do that said Barbara.
He don't know the way answered
| the man. Let him come on with
your old rattletrap. Upon my word, II
Beauty were to throw a bride over
! my head, l would be content to follow
! her through the world
For some distance no one spoke. 1t
was not easy to speak so as to be
heard, without raising the voice; and
now the way led towards the oaks and
beeches and pines about MorweIl, ana
The roar among the branches was
fercer, louder than that among the
bushes of furze.
Presently the man cried imperiously
Halt! and stepping forward caught
the bit and roughly arrested the horse.
II am certain we are followed
What if we are?' asked Barbara.
What if we are!' echoed the man.
Why, everything to me- He put his
hands against the injured man; Bar
bara was sure he meant to thrust him
out of the saddle, leap into it himself,
and make off She said, We are fol-
lowed by the boy with our gig
Then he laughed. All! l forgot that
When a man has money about him and
no firearms, he is nervous in such A
blast blown desert as this, where girls
who may be decoys pop up out of every
furze bush
Lead on, Eve said Barbara, af-
fronted at his insolence. She was I'M
able to resist the impulse to say,
across the horse, You are not
ashamed to let two girls see that you
! are a coward
The man struck his arm across the
crupper of the horse, caught her bon
net-string and tore it away.
I will beat your brains out against
the saddle if you insult me-
| a coward is always cruel answered
Barbara; as she said this she stood
off, lest he should strike again, but he
took no notice of her last words, per
haps had not caught them. She said
no more, deeming it unwise to pro.
woke such man.
Presently, turning his head, he
asked, Did you call that girl-Eve?'
Yes; she is my sister.
That is DID, remarked the man,
Eve! Eve!'
Did you call me?' asked the young
girl who was leading.
I was repeating your name, sweet
as your face
Go. on, Eve said Barbara.
The path descended, and became
rough with stones.
He is moving said Barbara He
said something
Martini spoke the injured man.
I am at your side, Jasper
I am hurt-where am p
I cannot tell you; heaven knows.
In some Godforgotten waste
DO not leave mel
Never, Jasper
You promise me?'
With all my heart
I must trust you, Martin,-trust
Iyou'
Then he said no more, and sank
back into half-ccnsciousness.
How much farther?' asked the man
who walked. Z call This cursed long
lhalf-hour. To women time is nought;
ibut every moment to me is of conse-
lquence / must push on
You have just promised not to de-