The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1913-01-16

whose heart was breaking:
And now. David. good
by. We love you. Re content to let
~ 20 Temporarily out of your life, If
n0t nom your thoughts or your heart
Always think Of US with love and ten
oernesf. my dear boy. as we shall
never cease TO think of you You are
young Christine is young You are
not 20 wise now as Won will be fiye
Year, hence. shall try to mold
Cnristihe into the kind OF woman you
couio take as wife to Jenison hall
In hve years, God willing. the circus
ring and its spangles will be SO re-
moteiy removed from her that no one
can nnd a trace of them When five
years have gone by. David, l shall let
you know where We are to be found
III you still care for her then, and she
TOT you no matter what the circum-
stances of either may be. NO human
power can keep you apart. You will
come to her and say il all over again,
and you will be happier because Of
TINS brief probation. II you should
hnd. through the mature workings of
. mans heart, that you have grown
10 ioVe another, then you will both
see Tor yourselves that my present
course is right. Do not attempt to
hnd US Your own futile efforts, dear
DAVID. In that direction might be the
means of bringing other and unkind
searchers TO our place OF refuge"
smuggling down in a net built OF
certain westward hills In fair Virginia,
near the head of valley long noted
for healing waters that spring, warm
and cold, from subterranean alchemies
into picturesque pools and steaming
rivulets, lies the ancient village OF
Hollandville. with its quaint, galleried
facades: its flower gardens and its
mill race; its ambient clouds and
drowsy sunshine. and the ever deli
cious somnolence that overcomes the
most potent vigor with an ease that
mystifies Beyond Hollandville. less
than half 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 doswood was repainting the hill
sides and wild flowers were weaving
a new carpet of many hues for the
feet of wandering lovers. the com
of ncfo tal I1
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 were again as many
young men. rivals all for favors small
A chill. moist wind OF certain
revening blew down from the mist
shrouded ridge. driving all guests to
the glow OF the flreplaces or to the
seclusion of coveted hooks in shadowy
halls where staircases held secrets as
tenderly inviolate now as on the
nights of a dim, forgotten past About
the great fireplace in the general
lcunging room merry crowd of young
people was discussing plans for a pro
jected trip to the Natural bridge. quite
two days Journey by coach.
A tall. lean-faced young man OF
twenty-three 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 enjoyment of the vivacious con.
versation that went on around him.
Half dozen girls chatted eagerly.
excitedly, in response to certain ar.
guments advanced by young men who
had the expedition in hand. Arrange.
ments we're 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
manteipiece. 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
one Of these fair girls looked into his
dark. steady eyes without hope that
the thought which lay deep in them
was Of her and Of no other. and yet
each was painfully certain that he
thought Of some one else. whether
present or absent they could not con-
ceive.
He gravely twisted the point of a
smai, dark mustache, then in vogue
among the fashionables. and proffered
his suggestions with the quiet assur-
ance that comes from a thorough ap-
probation OF the Difference due the
man who 10 real quality" in the
southland. and yet without the faint
est suggestion Of superciliousness or
conceit in his manner.
This man was born to It.: It had
come to him through the blood Of un-
numbered ancestry. He was an aris-
tocrat among aristocrats. as fair Vir-
ginia produced them. Notwithstand-
ing he had arrived at the Springs no
earlier than the forenoon Of the day
at hand. without knowledge of pre-
vious plans regarding the expedition,
he was nevertheless established by