The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-02-17

majesty OF HoDle mae swan, NuO
opned his rich orange bill to hiss
at Vernon the stern command not
to disturb the lady of his devotion.
A swans nest! Wild swans and a
heron, This place, with its wild
inhabitants and its absence of boun-
daries, was more like home than
anything Vernon had found yet
though never in Vancouver had her
eyes rested upon such broom and
such hawthorn as she saw today.
Obeying an Irresistible impulse,
she slipped from Sultana's back, and
seated herself brooding by the mar
gin of the pool. The pretty mare,
who was already so devoted that
she needed no tying to make her
stay where her mistress was, paced
cautiously down to the crystal marge
and stepped, foot by foot, into the
water, then stopped her glossy neck
and drank, with deep delight.
Her mistress looked right and left,
saw only the sunny solitude and
the inviting coolness, slipped off her
shoes and stockings and, with habit
thrown over one arm, waded luXu-
riously into the shadows. The rip
pies kissed her feet with coaXing
love. 1t was as if they said; Come,
girl from a far country; after all,
your blood is English, After all.
the mettle of the pasture which pro,
duced your father was this same
soft, rich west country. You belong
to England and TO us. Why does
the sight of these wild blossoming
things and this little lonely mere
grip your heart till you could weep
with longing and ianguor? Is it
not the call of home-of something
for which you have sought-some.
thing which you know you have
found? Do you not know that here
here where you stands your
place, and that though we embrace
you, as submissive vassals, we are
forging a chain for you, so strong
that you will soon be unable to
break it? All! ah, If you ever want
to go back to Vancouver go now, be.
fore it Is too late. Can you go now?
Even now. can you, will you leave
Ennlnn1 utbilo IL,
laughs above you, and this riot OF
perfume and color woes you?
Vernon laughed softly to herself,
so urgent seemed the call of the
spirits of the waste and wea!d.
"Ah," said she, "but you have de-
ceived ME before! | came here, a
stranger, trusting you, and yoa let
ME lose my way, and wander! You
brought mo to a bad place. That
was treason, rough wind and English |
RAIN"
Wait wait" cooed the unseen
influences; wait before you re-
proach us. Is there not work which |
you may do here? Were you brought
for nothing to that lamp that shoue
in the dark?"
i know | was brought to news |
OF Aunt Emma, though not to her
SELF the girl admitted. Yes. you
let me wander, but you did bring me
to shelter and safety in the end"
Unfortunately the Seigneur Swan,
whose mission was to protect his
stronghold, did not understand wad.
ing ladies and horses, and felt con
vinced that they were hostile. He
broke up Vernon's curious mesmeric
dream by dartng at her bare feet;
and the nervous mare started SO that
she nearly set a hoof upon the
Scuttling pink toes Laughing and
splashing, the invaders vacated the
sacred waters; and gayly singing to
herself, Sultana's mistress gathered
a handful of dry grass, wiped her
feet, and reshod herself with some
brushed the earth from her
habit, and led the steed to where
a loose boulder of rock made
easier.
This is a strange place." she
mused. Il must come here again. 1t
is a kind of sanctuary, where one
need never think of Lady Bunbury
or Miss Tarlton, or even of Mrs.
Trent"
Sultana, too, evidently liked the
place. She shifted the air as if it
told her secrets. They agreed to-
gether that it would be a pity to
return to the road. They would
ride across the waste and see where
they came to, upon the other side.
While the sun shone so bravely.
and Vernon knew east from west,
sha oou1d not nocibIv not loe+ Tho