The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1914-10-13

I tore down the dim shore. calling
madly the name Of the man had
murdered.
Only the sound Of the waves. the
roar of the falls below, the night
birds thrill answered me. The void
had opened up and swallowed my
rival. Huldah was free, but tramp!
tramp! tramp! ever the accusing foot
steps, and always behind me, pursu'
ing, challenging, accusing!
Looking back now l marvel how
passed those dreadful days, those
wakeful nights of the two weeks sue
ceding. Twice had called upon HUI
dab. l was amazed at the fact that
she betrayed no anxiety, none OF the
suspense of a bride expectant whose
object of devotion had mysteriously
disappeared. My guilt drove me to
make my visits brief and constrained,
although Huldah seemed glad to see
me. She had with her now a cousin.
a pale-faced, hopeless-eyed girl, who
seemed an invalid, Martha Dawes.
No word Of the fate of Telford had
reached the newspapers. I had lined
the river for miles, making cautious
inquiries, but with no result. Then
one evening those torturing footsteps
drove me to a resolution: l would
see Huldah once more, confess and
leave the place forever.
It was twilight when reached her
home. She sat in rustic chair IN the
garden humming a low tune. Miss
Dawes, near by, was gazing with sad,
far-away eyes at the crescent moon.
leaned over the chair and said to
Huldah:
Il wish to tell you something Of
Vance Telford."
She started, glanced quickly at her
guest. and. her finger on her lip, led
mT to distance.
What of Mr.. Telford? she chal-
lenged, with a certain sternness that
chilled me.
He is dead, and lam his muir
derer!"
And then the words leaped over each
other tumultuously as told my story,
all Of it, without reservation.
She grasped tree for support, her
face q white void.
go away!" she faltered, waving her
hand distractedly. Il must think
think"
1t was all over! She hated me. she
despised me! wandered about aim
lessly. but the influence of fatality |
drew me to the river. Ever. It seemed,
calling to me, for miles l trod its
banks. the footsteps-tramp! tramp!
tramp!-beating necessarily on my
agonized ears.
I must have gone several miles, |
when / drew behind a bush near the !
shelving shore Of the stream to avoid |
meeting q man progressing slowly |
with the aid Of q cane. I was in no
mood for companionship. moved too
far, my foot slipped. l went headlong,
and was conscious Of my head striking |
the water and a rock at the same
time. Then I was insensible.
My blood curdled as l regained con.
seriousness, for l recognized that the
man bending over me had dragged
me to safety. and that man, in form
and substance, Vance Telford!
Within an hour I knew all the story
of his rescue down the stream, his
convalescence, his hegira now to the
Evans home. And then I learned
that 1t was the sad hearted Miss
Dawes who loved him, and that HUI.
dab had arranged for their clandes-
tine marriage because her cousin
could not live without him. Her
family did not like Telford, nor did
Huldah, but it was arranged that Tel
ford was to wed Miss Dawes secretly
and then go away and make a man
of himself, for he had been a sad
profigate.
But now I knew the man was in
earnest when he told me how his mar
row Craze of death had reformed him.
Arm in arm we went to the Evans
home, to make two anxious hearts
happy, for Huldah really loved me.
And then-the footsteps died out
forever.
Copyright. 1914. by w. G. Chapman.)