Year: 1877

not expected, or desired, anything of the
kind. s,.. .. ...


"On the second afternoon, Katie, who, poor
child, had been crying nearly all day, and
seemed dreadfully unhappy, came to Mrs.
Graves and asked if she thought she might
90 out for little walk, it was 50 dull and
lonely in the house. The house-keeper seeing
nothing wrong in the request, of course read.
lily agreed to it, and Katie having put on her
hat and gone out, she thought no more Of the
matter, until, about 4 half hour later, a loud
cry in the direction of the orchard startled
her. She ran to the door, and presently es'
pied Katie running toward the house with a
face of terror, and apparently in great dis
tress No one else was in sight. As she per-
ceived Mrs. Graves she exclaimed, breathless.
ly, oh, Mrs. Graves, don't let him come near
mel and when she got inside the door she
threw herself down, crying and wringing her
hands, and begging to be sent home to her
mother. 1t seemed that the villain, whose
name I will not mention, had met her in the
orchard, and had dared to offer her some in:
suit, taking advantage of her unprotected sit
uation, and supposing, probably, that he could
make free with girl whom he considered so
far his inferior; but on her crying out he had
turned off and left her, and she did not know
where he now was. The housekeeper soothed
her, and tried to make light of what had oc'
Cured, saying that, no doubt, he was wild
young gentleman, who didn't think it was any
harm to kiss q pretty girl when he had the
chance, and 30 on.> But Katie's mo 10y had
been terribly outraged by his impertinence,
and it seemed impossible for her to be con-
soled.


"Well, somehow this blew over. The fel-
low himself came in private to Mrs. Graves,
and explained to her that he had only meant
it for little joke, and begged her to tell Ks-
tie how sorry he was for having offended her,
and that be would be very careful not to do
anything of the sort again! In short, as the
old woman expressed it, "he spoke so fair he
quite threw dust in her eyes" and she believed
every word be said. Still, having found out
his bold character, she said she thought it
best to keep Katie strictly under her eye,
which she did, until one unlucky afternoon,
when, being in want of some necessary house.
hold article, she was obliged to 60 to the
nearest village, some three miles of, to pro-
cure it. .,...I


"Whether during her absence, Katie, of her
own free will, had left the house, or this wretch
had enticed her out, she could not tell but
when she returned, neither of them we're any
where to be found. Immediately fearing that
something was wrong, she hurried off to search
the grounds. A little way from the door she
picked up Katie's scarf, and still farther on
her hat, which the wind was blowing about
over the grass. Suddenly she perceived the
man coming toward her. He looked dreadful
ly excited, and she saw directly that some
thing had happened, and rushing up to him
asked him where Katie was3 Instead of Civ
ing her satisfactory answer he swore at her,
saying that it was no business of hers, and
that she had better leave him alone. Then
she cried out, 20, you villain, you've done
some wrong to that poor girl, as sure as l
live; but Mr.. Mortimer shall know Of it, and
he'll call you to account" She had scarcely
uttered the words when he flew at her like a
wild beast and seized her by the throat; she
tainted away, and knew nothing more until
she found herself lying on the floor in the
closet, where he must have dragged her and
locked her in. :. She said that he must have
nearly strangled her, for her suaerings on
coming to were intense, and she swooned sew
eral times afterward. She could not help her.
self in any way, and must have died Of star
vation had not arrived in time to save her
life. Whether all this bad happened two
days or more before came, she was unable to
tell, but she was sure il was at least as long
as that As to the scoundrel himself, he had
disappeared, and no trace of him could be
found, then or afterwards, though the strictest
possible search was made"