Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1909-11-26


20 years, but his memory had not
trfcked him. Less than 80 PAGES below
they came on a cabin, close to the foot
of the waterfall. The door was not
fastened-for what, In such a place,
was there to steal?-and Colonel John
thrust 1T open with his foot. The In
terror was dark, the place was almost
windewless; but he made out the form
OF an old crone who, nursing her
knees, crouched with a pipe in her
mouth beside a handful Of peat. Seeing
him the oma tottered to her feet
with a cry of alarm, and shaded her
eyes from the thrush OF daylight. She
gabbled shrilly, but she knew only
Erse, and Colonel John attempted no
explanation.
THE lady Of the house" he said, in
that tongue. And he laid Flayia, not
urgently. III very quickly, on the
floor. He turned about without another
word. shut the door on the two and
hurried along the path at the full
stretch Of his legs. In half a minute
he had overtaken his companion and
the two pressed on together on the
heels Of the main party.
The old beldame, left alone with the
girl, viewed her with an establishment
which would have been greater If she
had not reached that & at which all
sensations become dulled. How the
lady of the house, who was to her both
power and providence, came to be
there, and there In that state, passed
her conception. But she had the sense
TO loosen the girls frock at the Seek.
to throw water on her face and to beat
her hands. In a very few minutes
F1avia, who had never swooned be-
fore-fashionable as the exercise was
at this period In feminine society
sighed once or twice and came to her
self.
Where am II" she muttered. Still
for some moments she continued to
look about her in a dazed way. At
length she recognized the old woman
and the cottage. Then she remembered,
with a moan, what had happened-the
ambuscade, the flight, the knife.
She could not turn whittier, but she
shuddered and closed her eyes. AT
last, with shrinking, she looked at her
dress. Am hurt ?" she whispered.
The old woman did not understand,
but she patted F1avia's hand. Mean
while the girl saw that there was no
blood on her dress, and she found
courage TO raise her hand to her
throat. She found no wound. At that
she smiled family, Then she began to
cry-for she was a woman
But, broken as she was by that
moment of terror, Flavia very quickly
overcame her weakness. She rose, she
understood and she extended her arms
in rage and grief and unavailing pas
sion.
She would that the villains had kill
ed her! She would that they had fin
ished her lifei Why should she sur
vive, except for vengeance? Fol- not
only were those who had trusted them
selves to the McMurrough perishing
even now In the hands of ruthless foes,
but her brother, whom her prayers, her
influence, ad brought into this path,
he, too, was shared. OF his fate also
there could be no doubt!
She felt all that was most keen, most
poignant, of grief, of anger, Of indigna-
ton. But the sharpest pang of all-had
she analysed her feelings-was inflicted
by the consciousness of failure, and Of
failure yerging on the ignominious.
The mature take good and evil fortune
as they come, but to fail at first set
ting out in life, to be outwitted in the
opening venture, is a mishap which
sours the magnanimous and poisons
young blood.
She had not known before what it
was to hate. Now she only lived to
hate: to hate the man who had shown
himself so nue. cleverer than her
friends, who, In a %twinkling, and by a
single blow, had wrecked her plans,
duped her allies, betrayed her brother,
made her name a laughing stock, robbed
Ireland of a last chance of freedom!
Who had held her in his arms, terrified
her, mastered her! oh, why had she
swooned? Why had she not rather,
disregarding her womanish weakness,
her womanish fears, snatched the knife
from him n plunged it into his treach-
erous breast?