The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-10-30

would come. and signed It Her.
mann just to play up to her lead.
Irene got On aud threw a at. She said
her woman's intuition told her there
was danger in 1t. Truth is. she was
stuck on me herself. aud l was on her.
but we did not And It out until after
the crash. SO I was all for prying
Astraea loose from her money II had
to marry her to do it. She wrote some
slush about the one desperate plunge
together and then the glory that was
to be ours. That looked like marriage
to me.
you saw the last letter. 1t had me
ratified. but not ratified enough to quit.
There was a map in It Of the place for
the meeting. That was plain enough.
But the our and we business in 4;
bothered me. 1t looked a bit like a
third person. | had not heard any
thing about any third person. What is
more. l did not hav- any use for a
third person in this business. The
stars forbade it. l wrote and told hel
30 and said IL there was any outsider
rung in the stellar courses would have
a sudden change Of heart. Then l put
my best robe In a bag aud bought 4
ticket for Carr's Junction. You can
believe that while l was going through
the woods l was keeping a bright eye
sut for any third party. Well. he was
not there. not when I arrived anyway.
Where he was all the time ! do not
know. l V saw him. But | heard
him later. | can hear him yet ut night.
God help me:
"She was leaning against Il little tree
at the edge Of the thick,: :.;,en I first
saw her. There was plenty Of light
from the moon. and i, sifted down
through the trees and fell across her
head and neck. ! noticed u queer cir
clet around her neck. The stones were
like soft pink fires. | had not ever
seen any like them before. and | stood
there trying to figure whether they
were rubies and how much they might
be worth. While | was wondering
about it she half turned. and | got my
first look at her face.
"She was younger than l had reckon
ed on and not bad to look at. but
queer. queer. Something about her
struck me all ~wrong-gave me a sort
Of ugly SILVER. Another thing struck
me all right. though. That vas that
she had jewels on pretty much all her
fingers. In II of my letters to her |
90 va hnr u hint ahN1lf that told In,.
that gems gave the stars a stronger
hold on the wearer and she had taken
it all in. She certainly was an easy
subject.
"A bundle done up in paper was on
the ground near her. | ducked back.
arrangement in her letter was for me
to whistle when | got there. | whis-
tied. She Strengthened up.
"'COme.' she said. Il am waiting
Her voice was rather deep and soft.
But it wasn't IA pleasant sOftness.
Some way | did not like it any better
than | liked her looks. | stepped out
into the open and gave her the grand
bow.
"'The master of the stars. at your
command | said.
"'You are not as l expected to see
YOU she said.
That was Il sticker. 1t might mean
most anything. | took a chance.
"'Oh, WE'LL | said. we all change
1T went. We change as life
changes she said. They never found
you, did they?'
"From the way she said 1t saw she
expected me to say No SO l said No
THAT was left for me to return
and do she went OF with a kind of
queer joy that gave me the shivers
again. The instant l saw your state
ment in the newspaper l knew it was
your soul calling to mine across the
ages. Our boat is at the shore."'
I'm that last letter she mentioned
a ship. And. now. here was this boat
business. tAfterward | looked for a
sign Of either. but could not find any.
l thought perhaps it would explain
the other part of the we and 'our.')
If l was going to elope by e l want
ed to know it. and l said as much.
care you steadfast?' she asked.
"Well, there was only one answer to
that. l said | was. She opened her
package and took Out a coil of rope.
1t was this g%ray-white rope, sort of
clothesline. and it looked strong.
"'What nOw| l asked her.
"To bind us together she said
Close, close together, and then the
plunge! This time there shall be no
failure. They shall not find one Of us
without the other. You are not afraid?'
afraid! My neck was bristling.
"'Go Slow l said, thinking mighty
hard. 4 don't quite see the point of
this
Didn't l curse myself for not re-
Numbering what l had written her?
No clew. except that the poor soul was
plumb dippy-too dippy for me to mar
ry at any price. 1t wouldn't have held
in the courts. Yet there might have
been $1,000 of diamonds on her. |
suppose she felt me weakening.
"'You dare to break our pact?' she
SAYS in a voice like a woman on the