Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-11-28

husband, you see. and II she had beer
your mother. heaven knows, I should
never have approached you as a low.
err They cast you out, Of course-tht
whole precious lot of them, with the
baronet at their head? Faugh! Sucf
love was not worth the having
:. Ethel"
= Il decline to talk with you about
|. myself or my former friends" an.
t swered Miss Smith, with the naughty
air that reminded him Of the days Of
E her power and splendor. You must
! understand, without being told, that
3 the sight of you is abhorrent to mel
r He WINGED.
, You are very hard! I am earning
my living as a music-teacher-I came
. to Millbridge a few days ago to pur-
sue that calling, never dreaming OF
, meeting you here. All, you have not
forgotten the cowardly assault which
, I made upon you two years ago." He
flung up his right hand wildly. This
, Is the hand I raised against your
life; the deed ought to have withered
1t forever. But remember, I had
lost you-a misfortune great enough
/ to turn any mans mind. I loved you
, more than my own soul, but l was
mad-this is my sole excuse. Surely
you ought to pardon though the rest
, Of the world condemn me, Ethel"
II beg pardon" she answered, stern
: ly. But Ethel Greylock has ceased
to exist, and Miss Smith does not
know you-can never know you!"
!. That's a poor sort Of forgiveness" "
, he complained, weakly.
TT Is all I can give you"
He covered away from her a step.
You have me at a great disad-
!, vantage, Ethel. What shall what
can I do, to prove my repentance, and
win your full pardon?"
Leave me-" she answered, pitiless
as Nemesis, and never return; at
any time, nor in any place, dare to
approach me again! There is no per-
son living whom l would not meet
sooner than you!"
II He hung his head.
TT Is for you to command and for
me to obey" he said, in a stified
voice, and he turned and went away
toward the town, never looking back.
Miss Smith fingered awhile by the
river, afraid to follow Immediately in
Kenyon's footsteps, lest she should
encounter again this dark ghost Of her
past. When. the danger seemed no
longer imminent she started for her
boarding house.
The moon had not yet risen, and
the stars shone faint and small in the
far purple. The little footpath was
now very dark and very lonely. Only
the sad crickets chirped in its border
ing grasses, and the river rippled
softly on the bank. Involuntarily
Miss Smith quickened her steps.
She had almost reached the street
when two figures came sauntering to-
ward her from the direction Of the
mills. 1t was impossible to distin-
\ Lseish their faces in the darkness, but
the red spark of a cigar, the odor Of
the lighted weed, betrayed their sex.
AS the pair brushed by Miss Smith in
the narrow path one chanced to jos
tie her.
"Pardon!" he said, politely, and dis
appeared in the night beyond.
1t was the same voice which she had
heard by the river
| Overcome with a sudden great ter
ror, Miss Smith started and ran all
the way to her clearinghouse. Sup
per was over there. the other opera
tives had left the table. She drank a
cup of cold tea, ate few morsels Of
heavy biscuit, and flew to her own
room at the top of the house-a closet
80 small that, luckily, it could not be
shared with any other boarder.
She was shaking in every limb, and
her eyes had the look Of some hunted
animals. She locked the door hur-
riedly behind her. She must go, she
must leave Millbridge by the first
mornings train!-leave the place
where she had found work and shelter
for two years, and fly forth again into
the wide world. She opened a drawer
in her toilet table. There lay the
money which she had saved from her
labor in the mills-not much, but
enough to take her to another home,
and supply her needs till she could
find new employment.
i Mechanically she began to pack to-
gether her small belongings. While
doing this she heard loud peals OF
laughter, mingled sometimes with a
hollow, tearing cough, rising from the
chamber below her own. The mill
girls had gathered for frolic In the
room of Lizzie, the consumptive-
they often did so, but never had their
mirth Jared on Miss Smiths ears as
it did tonight When her preparations
were complete she extinguished her
lamp. threw herself on her bed with
out removing any of her garments
for she meant to be up and away by
dawn, and fell straightway into a
deep sleep.
Cruel dreams beset her. She heard
the voice of Sir Gervase Greylock
calling to her across a wide, black
river, whose current she could not
pass. She was back again at Grey
lock Woods, moving down the great
rooms in bridal white, with hands full
of orange flowers, and Strauss waltzes
throbbing upon the perfumed air
around her. Then she bent over the
white face of Godfrey Greylock, as he
lay dead before the chancel-rail, In
the light of the stained-glass window.
Then she was flying for her life, over
gray, lonesome tracks Of salt-marsh-
es, to the low-ceiled keeping-room or
Cats Tavern, where Mercy Poole's
furry family rushed upon her, splitting
and mewng. Presently the snarls Of
the felines became dull roar in Miss
Smiths ears This note was succeed
ed by a loud crash. The sleeper
| ~, hnY