Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1908-04-17

You can make your choice with your
eyes open. Either way we not
forget YOU"
Il will go on with you. II you please,
l answered at once. Il, too, cannot
&C home" And as | said this Mistress
Rertram also came up, and l took her
hand in mine-which looked. by the
way, so strangely thin / scarcely rec
ognized it-and kissed ii. Il VIII come
with you. madam. IL you will let me.
/ said.
Good" she replied, her eyes spark
ling. Il said you would. | do not mind
telling you now that l am glad OF II,
And If ever we return to England. as
God grant we may. and soon, you shall
not regret your 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
viii not"
l was struck then. as | a 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 well as such OF
her actions as / had seen, stamped
her as ~singularly self reliant and in
dependent for a oma and to these
qualities, as much as to the rather
dreamy character of the husband,
was content to set down the peculi-
arity. | should add that a rare and
pretty tenderness constantly displayed
on her part toward him robbed it 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 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, blu had a great expanse
of sail when all was set. There was
q large d~eckhouse, gay with paint and
as clean as it could be, and in a COM
partment at one end OF this, which
seemed to be assigned to our party.
| was soon comfortably settled.
Exhausted as ] was by the excite
ment Of sitting up and being moved.
| knew little of what passed about me
for the next two days and remember
less. | slept and ate and 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
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 one way. as we say in
W~arwickshire, and bou noon on the
second day after leaving bort | was
well enough to reach the deck unas-
sisted n 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
- ~l x.a .,A ~ ~ EIt .lL
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, the steeple of a church, the
brown sails of a barge or at most
broken by a low dixie or a lire of sand
dunes. All vas open, free; all was
largeness, space and distance. / gazed
astonished. The husband and wife. who
were pacing the deck forward. came
TO me. He noticed the wondering looks
| cast round. This is new TO you ?"
he said, smiling.
quite, quite new" l answered. Il
never imagined anything 50 fiat and
yet in its way so beautiful"
You 10 not know Lincolnshire?"
NO"
"Ah. hat is my native county" he
answered. 1t is much like this. But
you are better, and you can talk again.
NOW, 1 and my wife ave been dis
cussing whether we shall tell you more
about ourselves. And, since there Is no
time like the present, / may say that
we have decided TO trust you"
All in all or not at ALL" Mistress
Bertram added brightly.
murmured my thanks.
Then, first, to tell you who we
are. For myself, / am plain Richard
BERTHE. of Lincolnshire. at your serv-
Zee. My wife is something more than
appears from this. or"-with a smile
from her present not too graceful
dress. She is
stop, Richard This is not sufic-
iently formal" my lady cried prettily.
Il have the honor to present to you.
young gentleman she went on, laugh
ing merrily and making "a very grand
courtesy before me, Katherine, Ouch
ess of Suffolk
made shift to get to my feet and
bowed respectfully, but she forced me
to sit down again. Enough of that"
she said lightly, until we go back
to England. Here and for the future
we are Master BertTam and his wife.
And this young lady, my distant kins-
oma Anne Brandon, must pass as
Mistress Ann You wonder how we
came to be straying in the streets
alone II unattended when you found
us?"
Continued Next Week)