The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1913-01-03

by. we love you. Be content to let
lis go temporarily out of your life, II
not from your thoughts or your heart.
Always think OF us with love and ten
derness, my dear boy. as we shall
never cease to think Of you. You are
young, Christine is young. You are
not so wise now as you will be five
years hence. shall try to mold
Christine into the kind of woman you
could take as a wife to Jenison hall.
In five years, God willing, the circus
ring and its spangles will be so re-
moteiy removed from her hat no one
can ind a trace OF them. When five
years have gone by. David, | shall let
| you know where We are to be found.
If you still care for her then, and she
for you, no matter what the circum-
stances OF either may be, no human
power al keep you apart. You will
come to her and say it all over again,
and you will be happier because Of
this brief probation. If you should
and, through the mature workings Of
q mans heart, that you have grown
TO love another, Their o will both
see for yourselves that my present
curse is right. Do not attempt to
lind US. Your own futile efforts, dear
David, in that direction might be the
means of bringing ether and unkind
searchers to our place of refuge"
Smuggling down N a net built Of
certain westward hills in fair Virginia,
ppor tho hoad ~ q volJoy lowe ,otod
for healing waters that spring, warn
and cold, from subter: anean alchemies
into picturesque pools and steaming
%rivulets, lies ,ha ancient village of
H~ollandville, witt: ITS quaint, galleried
facades; it's 1cwe: gardens and it's
mill race; it's ambient clouds and
drowsy sunshine, and the ever deli
clous somnolence chat overcomes the
most potent vigor with an ease that
mystifies. Beyond Hollandville, less
han half a league distant, against the
mountain side. facing the great ridge
opposite, stands a time-honored, time
perfected hostelry, inside whose walls
and upon whose galleries the flower
and chivalry of Virginia have clus-
tered for generations.
Late in the spring Of 1880, when
the dogwood was repainting the hill
sides and wild flowers were weaving
a new carpet OF many hues for the
feet of wandering lovers. the com
pany Of guests ~~assembled at the
springs-as yet numerically small
included no fewer than a dozen girls
whose beauty was famed from one
side of the southland to the other. At
tendant upon these dainty American
princesses there We're again as many
young men, rivals all for favors small.
A chill. moist wind of a certain
evening blew down from the mist
shrouded ridge, driving all guests to
the glow of the fireplaces or to the
seclusion of coveted hooks in shadowy
tenderly inviolate now as on the
nights Of a dim, forgotten past. About
the great fireplace IN the general
lounging room a merry crowd Of young
people was discussing plans for a pro
jected trip to the Natural bridge. quite
a two days journey by coach.
A tal'. lean-faced young man of
twenty->hree or four stood beside the
fireplace, his elbow on the ancient
mantel, his shapely legs crossed.
There was a moody expression in his
handsome face, albeit he smiled in
quiet Ell. oyment of the vivaciCus con-
versatiOh that went on around him.
Hale NN-on ~;ul, 11.+t@l ,,,1
eycitedly. in response to certain ar
guments advanced by young men who
had the expedition In hand. Arrange
ments were being discussed, approved
or set aside with an arbitrariness that
left no choice to the proposers. From
time to time disputed questions were
referred to the tall young man at the
mantelpiece. He appeared to be a
person Of consequence in the eyes of
all his decision was accepted, even
by the most arrogant of rebels. Not
enc of these fair girls looked into his
dark, steady eyes without hope that
the thought which lay deep in them
was Of her aud CT no other. and yet
each was painfully certain that he
thought OF some one else. whether
present or absent they could not con
ceive.
lie ~gravely twisted the point of a
small, dark mustache, then in vogue
among the fas%hionables, and proffered
his suggestions with the quiet assur-
ance hat comes from a thorough an
probation of the Difference due the
who is real quality in the
and yet without the faint
est suggestion of superciliousness or
in his manner.
This nan was born to it: it had
to him through the blood of un-
numbered ancestry. He was an arts
tocrat among aristocrats, as fair Vir-
ginia produced them. Notwithstand-
ne had arrived at the Springs no
than the forenoon of the day
at hand, without knowledge Of pre-
.ious plans regarding the expedition,
was nevertheless established by
common though unspoken consent as
the arbiter of all it's features. He had
among friends who knew him of
IA 1--& yoow tho yonr lor,-x --J !