Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1909-06-26
CHAPTER XIv-Continued.

"Lona," he burst out passionately
Tell me about it-now. Iona"
"Goodby, Tom. Remember you've
promised" She glided suddenly from
him and disappeared into the rhododen
dron. 1t was dusk where he stood; tn
night was creeping on rapidly; th'
shadow of the mountain lay heavily
over the little glen.
But, Lona," he cried forgetting eV'
erything and sprinBing after her, mo-
vet; not Just yet" He caught glimpse
OF white ahead and ran toward it.
Iona" he cried in real alarm
"where are you, Iona? Let me &c
with you It's dark" There was nC
sound save the echo of his voice II
the hollow gap. He rushed hither anc
thither in the dusk amid the rocks anc
the scrub oaks, calling her name.
Then he leaped upon a jut OF wealth,
cred limestone and listened. No SOUND
save the snarl of the Run and tht
jerky strain of a whippoorwill In the
near gap. There was not a breath OF
air The fragrance of clover fields stole
up to him mingled with the mist OF the
evening brook. Then right below him
in the gloom he saw the old cabin OF the
Hellers, black and silent. An involun-
tary shudder, q fear Of he knew moi
what, made a clutch at his heart. But
II was only for a moment. was thal
flicker of white down near the house
He leaped from the rock. crying
Iona"
A moment and she was right by his
elbow as II she had sprung from the
earth
please, don't" she pleaded in awful
earnestness "Hush-h- -h-h-h! You
promised. You must go-Quick. It's
death to stay here another minute"
II don't care If 1t is. I'm going to
l. cd " ~
"I'd die for you, Iona"
"Oh, no, no, no, no." she gasped
don't say that. Hush-h-h-h. Now go
Tom, please. For my sake, Tom. go. v
There was no mistaking ner tone. He
saw her waver a moment, then cast q
shuddering glance behind her, and
again se had vanished. mad reck-
lessess was on him; he had but single
thought. He ran hither and thither
eagerly, insanely. He looked behind
every bush and rock and projection
In vain. She had disappeared like q
moth.
He ran to the old cabin; the door was
locked. She could not have been there;
he would have seen her cross the open
He stopped and listened intently. He
was within the black ring, though he
did not know It.
There was a sound like stealthy
caught a glimpse OF white face-a
face as Of the dead. framed in intense
black, right within two feet OF him. II
was pressed against the window pane
from the inside, and the eyes were
sharp and glittering. A sickening fear
gripped him, but he sprang forward.
Iona" he cried.
The face disappeared like a fash.
Was that Iona Hellers face? He
fria ha door iTonl,lciUnlV fhDn he
threw his weight upon it. In vain. In
sort Of frenzy he looked about him
for a stone; he ran back a little. Then
he heard a penetrating whisper from nc
particular direction, but seemingly right
In his ear.
Don't, Tom. For my sake, CO."
He looked about him dlzzily. 1t might
have come from the shrubbery or the
cabin. II was impossible to tell which
1t was Lona's voice, but there was a
tone in it that was new to him. The
dead silence of the night, the atmos-
phere OF mystery, the face at the win
dow, the voice-what did II mean
Then a feeling OF terror over which he
had no control began to creep upon
him. He was no longer capable OF
thinking clearly. A moment and he
was on his way home, walking faster
and ever faster, looking fearfully
straight before him
Like one. that on a lonesome road
Doth walk with fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.
II was a sleepless night that he spent
and his bedfellow. Jim, was sleepless
too. And neither spoke a word during
all the night. There are some things
that part even brothers.