The New era-leader. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1911-1912, 1911-04-21

] and crumpled. It was Marion's nh
bon-the one he had seen last In her
hair, and he crushed it t o his lips az
he ran back into the great room, cali
ing out her name again and again in
the torture of helplessness that now
possessed him.
Mechanically, rather than with rea-
son, he went to the fifth and last door.
His candle had become extinguished
in his haste and after he had opened
the door he stopped at the threshold
of the black hall to light 1t again.
There vas a moments pause as he
| searched his pockets for a match, q
| silence in which he listened as he
searched, and suddenly as he was
about to strike the sulphur tipped
splint there came to his ears a sound
that held him chained to the spot.
1t was the sobbing of a woman; or
was it a child? In a moment he knew
that 1t was a woman; and then the
sobbing ceased.
There was nothing but darkness
ahead of him; no ray of light shone
under the door; the chamber itself
was in utter gloom. AS quietly as
possible he relighted his candle. A
glance assured him that this hall was
different from the others; it was
deeper, and there were two doors at
the end instead of one. Through which
of these doors had come the sound Of
sobbing he had heard?
He approached and listened. Each
moment added to his excitement, his
fears, his hopes, but It last he
opened the door on the left. The
room was empty; there was the same
disorder as before; the same signs of
hurried flight. II was the room on
the right! His heart almost stopped
its beating as he placed his hand on
door in. Kneeling beside the bed he
saw a woman. She had turned
toward the light and in the dim il
Elimination of the room Nathaniel rec
ognized the beautiful face he had seen
at the kings castle the preceding day
the face of the woman who had
sent him to find the prophet, who had
placed her gentle hand on Marion's
head as he had looked through the
window. There was no fear in her
eyes as she saw Nathaniel. Some
thing more terrible than that shone
In their glorious depths as she rose
to her feet and stood before him, her
face lined with grief, her mouth
twitching in agony. She stood with
clenched hands, her bosom rising and
falling In the passion of the storm
within her; and she sobbed even as
Nathaniel paused there, unnamed in
this sudden presence of a distress
greater than his own; sobbed in q
choking, fearless way, waiting for him
to speak.
Forgive me-" he spoke gently. Il
have come-for-Marion." He felt
that he had no reason to lie to this
woman. His face betrayed his own
anguish as he came nearer to her.
Il want Marion" he repeated. MY
God, won't you tell me-?"
She struggled to calm herself as he
spoke the girls name.
Marion is not here" she said. She
crushed his hands against her bosom
and a softer look came into her eyes;
her voice was low and sweet, as 1t
had .been the morning he asked for
Strang. AS she saw the despair deep
ening in the mans face a great pity
swept Owe her and she stretched out
her arms to him with an aching cry,
marion is gone-gone-gone," she
moaned, land you must go, too! O,
l know you love her-she told me
that you loved her, as l love Strang,
my king! We have both lost-lost-
and you must go-as-I-shall-go!"
She turned away from him with a cry
SO heart-breaking in its pain that Ma
thaniel felt himself trembling to the
soul. In another instant she had
faced him again, fighting back a
strange calm into her face.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)