The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1908-04-16

You can make your choice with yous
eyes open. Either way we shall not
forget YOU"
Il will go on with you, II you please
I answered at once. II, too, cannon
GO home" And as / said this Mistress
Rertram also came up, and 1 took hei
hand in mIne--which looked, by the
way, so strangely thin / scarcely rec
ognized it-and kissed 1t. Il will come
with you, madam, IL o will let me"
I said.
ling. Il said you would. / do not mind
telling you now that I am glad or II,
And II eveF we return to England. as
God grant we may, and soon, you snail
not regret your decision. Shall he'
Richard"
IF you say he shall not, my dear"
he responded, smiling at her enthus-
iasm, 4 think / may answer for IL ne
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 n manner, as well as such OK
her actions as / had seen, stamped
her as s~ingularly self reliant and In
dependent for q woman, n to these
1A1AANAN5I a. AlAeNA 90 w N"O
dreamy character of the husband, /
was content to set down the pecuu-
arity. I should add that a rare and
pretty tenderness constantly displayed
on her part toward him robbed 1t OF
any semblance of unseemliness.
They saw that the exertion Of talk
ing exhausted me, and so, with an
encouraging nod, left me to myself. A
few minutes later q 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 and
as clean as 1t could be, and In a COM
partment at one end Of this, which
seemed to be assigned to u party.
/ was soon comfortably settled.
Exhausted as I was by the excite
ment OF sitting up and being moved.
l knew little Of what passed about me
for the next two days and remember
less. l slept and ate II sometimes
awoke to wonder where ! was. But
the meals and the vague attempts at
thought made scarcely more impression
on my mind than the sleep. Yet all
TIC Willie 4 was gaining 5LICI6Lh tapAo3
ly, my youth and health standing me
in good stead. The wound I'm my head,
which had caused great loss Of blood,
healed all one way, as we say IN
| Warwtckshire, and about noon on the
second day after leaving bort I was
well enough to reach the deck mas
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
and warm. and the sunshine fell bright
ly on h 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,
farmhouse, the steeple OF a church, the
brown sails OF a barge or at most
broken by a low dixie or q line Of sand
dunes. All was open, free; all was
largeness, space and distance. l gazeC
astonished. The husband and wife, who
were pacing the deck forward, came
to me. He noticed the wondering look:
he said, smiling.
quite, quite new" I answered. 4"
never imagined anything so flat ant
yet in its way so beautiful
You do not know Lincolnshire?"
NO"
An, mat Is my native county, m
answered. TT is much like this. Blu
you are better, and o can talk again
Now, 1 and my wife have been dis
cussing whether we shall tell you NOR,
about ourselves. And, since there Is NJ
time like the present, l may say tha
we have decided to trust you"
"All in all or not at ALL" Mistres
Bertram added brightly.
murmured my thanks
'Wrhan ArGf m fell Won whn WI
are. For myself, / am plain RicharC
BERTHE. of Lincolnshire, at your serv
ice. My wife is something more thar
appears from this, or"-with a smile
from her present not too graceful
dress. She is
stop, Richard! This is not sufHc
iently formal" my lady cried prettily
Il have the honor to present to you
young gentleman" she ven on, laugh
ing merrily and making a very granC
courtesy before me, Katherine, Ouch
ess Of Suffolk"
1 made shift to get to my feet an,
bowed respectfully, but she forced m
to sit down again. Enough OF that,
she said lightly, until we go bacl
to England. Here and for the futur
we are Master Bertram and his wife
And this young lady, my distant kins
woman, Anne Brandon, must pass a
Mistress Anne. You wonder how W
came to be straying in the street
alone and unattended when you foun
us?"
A A- An