Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1912-05-29


idence section. 1t was a long, lows
studded room with heavy beane6
ceiling The low book cases. about
five feet high, ran between all the
windows and doors on all sides OF the
room. At one end there was 8 huge
open fire place built of rough stone,
and as it was winter a cheerful ftra
of logs blazed on the hearth, 1t vas
a mans room prominently. The
drawing-room across the hall was Mrs
Maitland's domain, but the library re-
flected her husbands picturesque if
somewhat cratic taste. On the
walls there were pictures %
the west by Remington, March
and, Dunton, Dixon and Others
and to set them off, finely mounts
ed heads of bear and deer and buffalo,
Swords and other arms stood here ana.
there. The writing table was massive
and the chairs easy, comfortable ao6t
inviting. The floor was strewp WITH
robes and rugs. From the windows
facing westward, since the house was
set on a high hill, one could see the
great rampant CT the range.
There were three men in the room,
on that brilliant morning early il JAM
uary something like a month after
these adventures in the mountains
which have been so Yeraciously
set forth. Two of them were the
brothers Maitland; the third was New
bold.
The shock produced upon Enid Mats
land by the death Of Armstrong t0z
gether with the tremendous episodes
that had preceded it had utterly pros
strated her. They had spent tie
night at the hut in the mountains and
had decided that the woman must be-
taken back to the settlements some
way at all hazards.
The wit of old Kirkby had erected
a solution of the problem, using at
means certainly as old as Napoleon
and the passage Of his cannon over
the Great st. Pernard-and perhaps as
old as Ham al! They had made a.
rude sled [.Jm the trunk Of a pine
which they followed out and provided
with back and runners. There was
no lack of fur robes and blankets for
her comfort.
Wherever it was practicable the
three men hitched themselves to the
sled with ropes and dragged it and
Enid over the snow. OF course for
miles down the canon il was impossis
Bile to use the sled. When the way
was comparatively easy the woman,
supported by the two men, NeWbold
and Maitland, made shift to get along
afoot. When it became too difficult
for her, Newbold picked her up Is he
had done before and assisted by Malt
land, carried her bodily to the nex9
resting place. At these times Kirkby
looked after the sled
They had managed to reach the tenss
pcrary hut in the old camp the 6rsa
night and rested there. They gath
cred up their sleeping bags and tents
and resumed their journey in the
morning. They were strong men, ana
save for old Kirkby, young. It was a
desperate endeavor but they carried il
through.
When they hit the open trails tha'
shedding was easy and they made
great progress. After a week Of ter
rife going, they struck the railroad.
and the next day found them all safe
/ in Maitland's house in Denver, 4
To Mr.. Stephen Maitland his daughs
ter was as one who had risen from
/ the dead And indeed, when he first
/ saw her, she looked like death itself.
/ No one had known how terrible thas
/ journey had been to the woman. Her
/ three faithful attendants had surmise0i
something, but IN spite Of all even
/ they did not realize that in these last
days she had been sustained only by
the most violent effort of her will. She
had no sooner reached the house,
greeted her father, her aunt and the
children. then she collapsed utterly.
The wonder was, said the physician.
not that she did it then but that she
had not done it before. For short
time it appeared as if her illness might
be serious, but youth, Vigor, strong
body and good constitution, heart
now free from care and apprehension
and a great desire to live and lovg
and be loved, worked wonders.
Newbold had enjoyed no opportunitp
for private conversation with the Voc
man he loved, which was perhaps Just
as well. He had the task OF readjusta
ing himself to changed conditions; not
only to different environment, but to
strange and unusual departures from
his long cherished view points.
He could no longer doubt Arms
strong's final testimony to the purity
Of his wife, although he had burned
the letters unread, and by the same
token he could no longer cherish the.
dream that she had loved him and him
alone. Those words that had pre-
ceded that pistol shot had made 1T
possible for him to take Enid Matt
land as his wife without doing violence
TO his sense of honor or his self-re,
spect. Armstrong had made that
much reparation. And Newbold could