The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-04-17

You can make your choice with yom
eyes open. Either way we shall moi
forget you."
Il will go on with you. II you please
L answered at once. Il. too. cannot
&c home" And as I said this Mistress,
Rcrtram also came up, and I took her
hand in m~tne--which looked, by the
way, so strangely thin 1 scarcely rec.
ognized it-and kissed 1t. II will come
with you, madam. IL you will let me-"
l said.
Good! she replied. her eyes spark
ling. Il sud you would. l do not mind
telling you now that l am glad Of It,.
And IL ever we return to England, as
COD grant we may. and soon, you shall
not regret your decision. Shall he,
Richard?"
III o say he shall not, my DEAR
he responded, smiling at her enthus-
iasm, II think I may answer for 1t he
will not"
l was struck then, as I had been
before, by a certain air OF Difference
which the husband assumed toward tha
Wife. 1t did not surprise me. for her
bearing and manner, as we'll as such Of
her actions as I had seen. stamped
her as %singularly self reliant and in
dependent for a woman, and to these
qualities, as much as to the rather
dreamy character OF the husband, I
vas content to set down the peculi-
arity. l 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 a couple of English
allor belonging to the Framlingham
came up and with gentle strength
transported me. under Mistress Anne's
directions, to a queer looking wide
bearned boat which lay almost along
side. She was more like a huge Thames
barge than anything else, Tor 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 our party.
l was soon comfortably settled.
Exhausted as l was by the excite
ment OF sitting up and being moved.
l knew little Of what passed about me
Tor the next two days and remember
less. l slept n ate and sometimes
awoke to Wonder where l was. But
the meals and the vague attempts at
thought made scarcely more impression
on my. mind than the sleep. Yet all
the while l 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.
W~arwickshire, and about noon on the
seoond day after leaving bort I was
we'll 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
and 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. the 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. l gazed
astontshed. The husband and wife, who
were pacing the deck forward, came
to me. He noticed the wondering looks
I cast round. This is new to you 2"
he said, smiling.
Quite. quite new" I answered. II
never imagined anything so flat and
yet IN Its way SO beautiful"
"No."
answered. 1T is much like this. But
you are better, n you can talk again.
NOW, L n my wife have been dis
GUESSING whether we shall tell you more
about ourselves. And, since there is no
time like the present. l 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, 1 am plain Richard
BERTHE. of Lincolnshire, at your serv-
ice. 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 suffice
iently formal my lady cried prettily.
II 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"
I made shift to get to my feet and
bowed respectfully, but she forced ms
to sit down again. Enough of that"
she said lightly, until we 20 back
to England. Here and for the future
we are Master Bertram and his wife,
And his young lady, my distant kins-
woman, Anne Brandon, must pass as
Mistress Anne. You wonder how we
came to be straying in the streets
alone and unattended when you found
us?"
(contisued Next Week.l