Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-12-23

as she saw the wrist lying there liml
upon which not so long before hel
hunter had set its mark. He hac
laughed so blithely and had taken sc
good naturedly what had seemed toe
her a matter of so much concern, and
here he lay dead or dying. Poor
stranger! Poor artist, But a ster
from laughter to death, she reflected
sadly.
Now, Lambert had brought the
brandy, but he did not hand it to the
marquis as he caught sight Of the
poor, pale face.
MY lord, it's the man we thought
a tout" he said to his employer.
II can't help that" answered Bev-
erly impatiently. 1.-The pony cart
quick! The mans hurt. We must take
him to the castle at once-at once!"
Captain Sartoris had been looking
into the face of the inert stranger on
the ground for several moments in q
puzzled fashion. He knew that he
knew the man, but the banishment OF
consciousness had made such differ
ence in the features that he could not
recall. Suddenly he made an excla-
nation.
Good heavens, cousin! Do you see
who this is?" came from him as mem
ory cleared.
The marquis looked at the man on
the ground and then into the face of
the captain. an unspoken inquiry in
his own eyes.
Sartoris took a deep breath, the bet
ter to subdue his own lively astonish-
ment
It's-it's-Brancaster he said.
For six days now Lord Brancaster
had lain in one of the old lofty CELL
inged bed chambers of the ancient
castle of Falcolnhurst He had not re-
gained consciousness for a momena
since the day he had been hurled out
when his automobile struck the stone
bridge
Despite the words Of censure the
Marquis of Beverley had spoken of
the Earl of Brancaster there was moth
ing for him to do now save to try to
efface them in every possible way.
Beverly had done more than the sit
uation demanded. 1t was as if the in
jury which had fallen upon the earl
had wiped out all the past and had
brought to the old racing nobleman a
renewed consciousness of the brother
hood of man. The most noted physi-
clans and surgeons Of London had
been summoned by him, and Sir An
drew Beck, whose very retaining cast q
distinction upon the families able to
induce the great surgeon to visit
them, was even now in consultation
with some half dozen of the kingdoms
greatest surgeons. There was a ques-
ton as to whether they would try an
operation in the hope Of relieving the
pressure upon the brain, but the con-
sensus of opinion was against it.
The chamber in which Brancaster
lay had been the abode of more than
one fugitive nobleman in the days of
the commonwealth, which had follow
ed the ascendancy of the Puritans af-
there was a we'll authenticated legend
that Bonnie Prince Charlie" himself
had once been sheltered there when
there was a price upon his head.
INIT aiplx ha1 hn
old apartment occupied by the uncoh-
scious Brancaster had a more lovely
aspect. There were flowers every
where, but not in the profusion that
would have meant annoyance to the
i'll man had he been conscious of
them. There were lilies of the valley
in the old stone vase built into the old
disused fireplace. Their white lowell
ness was accentuated by the long
trailing vines which formed their
background for Lady Diana had seen
to the comfort and the decoration of
the apartment of the man she was
sure could not be all quite bad.
The accident to this young man in
the prime of his life had done much to
soften her pride of the very young
and she realized that her judgment
was harsh.
In these days she accepted nearly
everything without question. When
the woman she had seen with Bran
caster on the day he was known to
her merely as the artist, called at Fal-
conhurst and asked to be allowed to
sit by the side of Brancaster the girl
had led her without question to the
bed-chamber, though her grandfather
had subsequently seen thst footman
performed that Office.
Lady Diana had not inquired as to
the woman visitor anything more than
her name. The Mrs. D'Aquila" she
had received told her nothing, and she
did not ask other information as to the
dark, foreign appearing woman who
seemed to take Brancasters injury sc
deeply to heart.
There was within Lady Diana a
deep spiritual sense. She felt that the
stricken earl might die. Indeed, she
had heard it so whispered. though the
marquis tried to spare her such
thoughts as these. She felt in her pure
consciousness Of small sin that if he
died without receiving the benefit Of
the Church of England or of any
clergyman there would be cloud
upon both his chances in a world
which might understand him better
and upon her own conscience. Sh'
could not forget those murmured words
as the car shot by her and that wav
ing of the hand. Surely that within
us which makes for righteousness
could not ignore such a spirit. He
was a rare soul, which must have its
chance in that void into which it hour
ly seemed about to escape.
So she had dispatched note to the
vicar, innocently unmindful of the
fact that Sporting Jack" Thorpe rode
far better to hounds than he did tC
grace and that even then he was TAX
ing the cure for gout far from the vii
lage, the great name Of which was