The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1910-04-14
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| COLONIES
| LADY.
By cURRAN RICHARD
CREENLEY

Down the white pike. q cloud o
dust foretold the colonel's homecom
ing. Jack watched It grow nearer
With wistful eyes. So much hunf
upon what ne would have to tell. sh,
dropped the tweed coat. we'll past tn.
mending. that lay across her knee
and ran down the avenue to mee
him. the sunrays glinting the red o.
her curls a. they sifted through thu
beechen boughs.
Ruy Bias curveted through the CAT,
~ the girl caught at his bride. Tel
me. daddy"
The colonel dropped the bride o,
Ruy Bias neck. mo use, Jack. n,
use! It's the same old story! Thomp
son doesn't want to be bothered Will
the loan any longer. They have order,
to close 1t out"
She followed him up the avenue
The brightness was gone from the sun
shine. the tender bloom from the
young bluegrass: and the old house
Its warm red bricks mellow with time
took on a human nearness, an appeal
that hurt with the keenness of a blow
for soon 1t would be theirs no longer
Down in the pasture. blind old Danns
nickered at the sound of Ruy Bias
FOOTBALLS. Old Danna would have but
. short time to live: bullet through
her shapely head would end 1t all fol
her. Old horseflesh must go the way
Of other useless things.
Further down. where the creek
wound away into the shadows
cleaned tho chestnut sorrel coat OF
Guilderoy. the last Of the Wandlow
stud. Straight-limbed. deep-chested
mighty in flank. the colt gave promise
Of barking back to old Diomed's rec
ord. The small ears. needle.pointed.
lay close to the delicate head. and the
restless eyes showed the wicked CLEAN
Of white that was the hall mark of his
begetting. He was paving uneasily,
for out of range Of the colonel and
Jacqueline. in the avenue. a woman
rode swiftly around the bride path.
pausing at the pasture bars. Her eyes
followed the colt as he approached her
horse with bristling name; then went
to the colonel and Jacqueline Just
coming into sight. Jacqueline talking.
but the colonel silent with down-bent
head. leading Ruy Bias.
HE has told her and she knows
that 1t means ruin. She has known
1t would come soon or late. yet she is
as unapproachable as a shabby prin.
cess. And she will guard him, guard
him with those calm eyes that seem
to read me into nowhere-where be-
long" She laughed, a sad little laugh
that held no note of bitterness. II
would give half l own-all Of It even
to have been always Just that" The
gauntleted hands dropped as her eyes
went over the reach of pasture and
rolling river, coming back to the old
house; then, with an impatient move.
ment, she gathered her reins and rode
down to where the path Joined the
main road.
Mrs. Trezevant Van Haag had
dropped down upon the reserves of
the old county scarcely q twelvemonth
before. taking possession of the Gothic
castle that had been a two.year ex.
element in its building. Who she was.
no one knew; but that she had plenty
OF money, and was wholly attractive
person. none could deny. Yet, the old
county hesitated, and the lady of Hill.
crest found It slow going that first
winter.
A few bold spirits called, but the old
families were slow to follow, and even
after the long living room at Hillcrest
became the center of gayety for that
formal neighborhood. Col. Wandlow
and his daughter held aloof. Therein
lay the crux Of the whole matter. for
Therese Van Haag cared little for the
county or its approval as weighed
against that certain approval.
One nod Of the colonels white head
was he desired accolade, and Jacoue.
hne-that slim maiden in her shabby
muslin-was more delightful than
Lefty LEROY in her latest importation.
She could never quite shut out from
the present the memory Of the. day.
When the colonel from up there on
the hill rode down the white pike.
careless and debonair. past the toll.
keepers cottage where q barefooted
child waited at the bar for his smile.
Lean years. that had slipped into the
limbo Of forgotten things. since the
tollkeeper died and the child had
driftsd up from the unknown into the
glare OF the fotolights In far of
Gotham.
Then young Van Haag had been at
the crest Of his feversd life, and some.
how. in some rare CLEAN of human
sense. he married her. That story was
forgotten. too. Ten years are ten cen.
turtles in Gotham town, provided the
weight that holds down the record be
sufnciently silded. The old county had
never heard the name. Van Haae. and
It had forgotten old Jim Anderson and
his child: 80 Mrs. Trexevant Van Haas
came nome.
The colonel was feeling tho strain
q the last IL months. It had AGED
him vtsibly. Therese noted It. yet the