The Brussels Post, 1888-10-5, Page 7•
•
()c't, 5, .1%48''
JSP TO EARNEST.
3z
I E. I'..Zt .�
Q
AUTHOR OF
"nAnUtrnfl BurtNL+'D AWAY," " oraunaG
A aiir.$TNUT nuTtI.," 'LEU.
the
U T
you. But think x have
e+1
y
changed
soowhat sh time.. At
since at
t
least, I
as hope 1
o I stn no longer capable of
the noanost things,"
" Miss Marsden,"ho saidimpotuously,
" you now give n e credit for knowing
h
you bettor than at that time—
" Yea and you have evidently revised
your opinion very materially. Bub, as
said beforo, 1 oan scarcely complain,
when I remember my own action. But
you will never know how bittorlyI have
repented of my folly. When that ter-
rible charge was mado,againsb me last
Monday—it camp when I was so happy
and hopeful, like a sudden thunderbolt
—I thought
I should reason.
a 01 d 1 ae my 0 90 .
1 a a
y
1 fort that you had Bono away boliovinn
I was ut ori false, els h in iu-
s and had boon s
corn iu everything, from first to last. I
was liko one who had fallen from a
great
hot h and nd 1 1 1- or
scarce spoke , s
g
y P
Tavel
n o for two days 1 was not like
somai is
}, who imagine they can find a
remedy for their troubles in wealth and
luxury and attention from others. I
have had theso things all my life, and
know bow little they aro worth—how
llttlo they can do for ono at such times.
No ono will over know what 1 suffered
.At first, when you thought so well of me,
1' deserved your harshest condemnation.
But it did seem cruel, hard, when I was
honestly trying to bo better—when, at
last, my life had become real and true,
to be zest asido as a falso thing, that
must, of necessity, be despised. I
dreaded, last night, that you wore going
away without giving me any ohaneo to
oxplain and correct my folly, I did
mean that Monday to tell you the truth,
and would have clone so if you had given
me 0 chance. 1 would have condemned
myself then, and I do now, more se-
verely than even you could, who had
jest ca'w,e for anger. But, Mr, Hem -
stead, I have changed. In all sincerity
I say it, I wish to become a good
Christian girl, and would do so, if I only
knew how. I was not deceiving you,
when I said last Cbwj eanas-ave that I
hoped I had bocoze° a Christian. Istill
think 1 have, though for two days I was
lin thick darkness. At any rato I love
my '+avionr,.and He has helpod and
contorted mein this oroatest trial and
sorrow of my life. Iwas led to hope
that you would forgivo m°, because IIe
soemod so roady to forgive. There l I
have now done what I have been most
anxfou9 to do -1 havo told yon the
truth. I have said all that 1 can,
justly, in self.defence. If 1 havo not
raisca your opinion of me very greatly,
I cannot help it, for henceforth 1 intend
to be honest, whatever happens."
Lottio had said the words sho so
wished to speak in a low tone, but with
almost passionate earnestness, and no
,ono could have doubted their truth a
moment. Tho horses had boon trotting
briskly over the level ground at the foot
of the stoop mountain slope, and the
noisy bells that made musical aeoom-
pammont to her words, as hoard by
Hemstoad, disguised them from Do For-
rest and. the others. The student re-
ceived each ono as if it were a pearl of
groat price.
But now the 'torsos, mounting the
stoup ascent, had come down to a walk,
and the chino of the bolls was not suf-
fanient to drown his words. 1.1 bo had
answered as his feelings dictated, the
attention of tho others would be gained
fu a very embarrassing way. Ho could
only say in a very low tone, " I boiove
and trust you fully."
But Lottie hoard and welcomed the
assurance.
Tho light of the sun, that had boon
ton brilliant upon tho snow, was now
becoming o g softeuod by an increasing
haze. The air was growing milder, and
the branches of bowed ovorgreous by
the wayside suddenly 111 ted themselves
as the hold of
Lite fleecy tureen was
loosenod, and the miniatuwo avalanches
dropped away. At times, they reached
points from which tho maanificout and
broadening Iandscapo could bo soon to
the best udvautago, and as IIemstead
stopped the horses at such places to
rest, even Bollo and Addie abounded in
exclamations of delight. Tho river had
becomo avast, white plain, and stretched
far away to the north. Tho scone was
cue that would havo felled Hemstoad
with delight upon any other °masfav,
'out Lottio was now well pleased to note
that ho gave to it horned glances and
little thought.
His fano was a study, and, .more
clearly than ho realized, betrayed tho
perplexity and trouble of his mind..
How could ho give up tho lovely girl at
his side, whose very imperfection and
noes won more upon him than any dis-
play of conscious strength and advanced
spirituality? Her frankness, her hu-
nlility and severe self -condemnation
appealod to every b^p rpus trait of lilts
large, charitable nature.
Ito now boliovod ae never befett, that
sho was "capable of the inkiest things,"
'and bo began to suffer from tho tortnr•
ingg thought, that his course was a mis.
a1se0 ono, and that he had wrongod
her by noting upon tho supposition that
her old surroundings of luxuryandtom'
fort worn ossontial to hor JTap pfuota,
Might it not bo bruo that, hi It ,riluttle
liko hors somothing far rate ;01t1tound
was hooded to create and , gt'tstain true
Tlincerity of heart1Ia3.'she not plain-
ly slid, that ebiii 1itta. fathomed the
sallow dopthb'rif 'luxury, wealth, and
,genoralflstthring'attentiont Had she
mot uneomeclotisly•ggiven him a sever°
.`rebuke.9 What right had he to a9amno
that ho was any moro oapablo of heroic
self-sacrifico than she ?
Only the certaihiy that he was saart-
fleing 'lineal( for hor happiness enabled
13111 to make tho sacriitco at all, and
'lots ho`bogan to think that his course
htbo a wrotehefl tuner
i b d stein
aaT g\v
uld blight them both, The vory pos.
91 illi of :nailing etch a menthe was
agony To havo Como so near bappi.
eneeniareeellareireararereneleeFelle
nets, and then to miss 3,1 by as groat a
wrong to hor as to himself, would be
moro than fortitude+ itself could endure.
Ilia uuolo's words wore ever present:
"If Lotbio loved. it would be, no halfway
business, Ho had no right to sacrifice
her happiness," It was her happiness
that be was thinking of, and if he could
HMV) 11 best by at tiro samo time con-
summating his own, it seemed. to Bim,
that heaven would, COe
nOncOa
t once.
1 enabled
rivalcircumstanceI ad
At p
that
him
1 IT to r
Lottio to inti plainly r 1
o a mato
1 Y
he had the samo as asserted "I am a
man, and can do that of which only the
noblest and most unsclfsh natures aro
capable. Yon caP
I . o are not only y
a woman
o woman,
but you cannot riso to the lovel y
of your sisters, who have left on his-
tory's pages tho heroic record of how
they triumphed over tho supposedwoak-
nese of their sox." What ho had not
meant, but still had appeared to hint
from MB laugnage, was ho not, in fact
practically acting upon as true? While
ho had taken his course in the spirit of
the most generous self-sacrifico, might
he not,at L samo time, be ignoring
tho fact
the t that alio was as capable of self-
sacrifice, and noble consecration to a
sacred cause, as himself ?
If sho had boon sincere in hor roll.
Or Vorda and
' u e ane+ llh �
1 u4 .l' pOr1C C a a
0 0
g 1
tcould he
• t'bow o
that diroction, on
actions in
help believing that she was equally sin-
cere in the language of tono and eye,
which had revealed her heart so plainly
that oven leo, who was the last in the
world. to presume, had come to think
that sho lova(' him. And yob lio was
about to muco his life, and porhapv hers
also, ono long regret, because he had
quietly assumed that eho was ono of
those wVOlnen w11090 lifo depended on
surroundings, and to whose soul more
things could minister moro than tho
love of hor heart and tho consciousness
of a heroic devotion to a sacred cause.
Lottie had skilfully and clearly given
the impression she sought to convey ;
and this uupression, uniting with the
student's love, formed a combination
whose assaults causedwhat he supposed
an inflexible (purpose to waver.
Lattice's quick intuition enabled her to
see that she had led him far enough at
present, wht e they w
1 hes were in such close
proximity to jealous, obsorvanb eyes,
and attentive ears, aril so, with equal
tact, led his thoughts to more tran-
quilizing topics. Sho was omplaying all
the skill and finesse of which she had
been mistress in the days of her in-
sincerity and heartless coquetry. These
gifts were still hers, as much as ever.
But now they were under the control of
conscience, and would henceforth be
used, as now, to secure and promote
happiness, not to destroy it.
And she bolt that she had need of tact
and skill. The situation was not ac
very peculiar. Many had passod
through just such experiences beforo,!
but havo all passed on to lives of con-
summated happiness ? She loved the
man at hor side devotedly, and was
perfectly award of his love for her, and
yet woman's silence was upon her lips.
They were soon• to separate, not to
meet again for many years, if ever. Sho
could not speak; if from any motive,
even the noblest, he did not speak, how i
eould she meet the long, lonely future,
in which every day would make more
clear the dreary truth that she had
missed her true life and happiness—
missed it through no necessity that
might in the end bring resignation, but
through a mistake ; the unselfish blun-
dering of a man who wrongly supposed
she could be happier without than with
him. It was her delicate task to show
him, without abating ono jot ofwoman's
jealous rosary°, that she was capable of
all the self-sacrifico to which he looked
forward, and that, as his undo had told
him, he had no right to sacrifice her
happiness.
Ho was one of those siuglo-hearted,
resolute fellows, who have the greatest
faculty for persistently blundering under
an honest but wrong improssion. But
iu this caso, his impression was natural
and ho was wrong, only because Lottio
was "capable of noble things"—only
bocauso sho (lid belong to the class of
women to whom lit totovo t
h hoir heart
o o f
counts for infinitely more than all ex-
ternals. If ho bad fallen in love with a
very goodish sort of a girl of tho Belle
Parton typo, the: course ho had marked
out would havo been wisest and best
eventually for both, oven though it in-
volved at first considerable suffering.
When a wife assures hor husband by
ward or manner, " you took advantage:
of my lovo and inexperience to commit
mo to a life and condition that aro dis-
tasteful and revolting, and you hove
thereby inflicted an irreparable injury,'
the man, if he bo foe -fibred and sonsi-
tive, can only look forward to a painful
and aggravatodlform of martyrdom. One
had better live alone as long as 14Ic-
t s o , m
hn el h than induce a sall-soulud
woman to onter with him on a life in.
✓ olving continual self-sacrifico. With
such womon soma men can bo tolorably '
happy, if the havo the means to carry '
"
out the Tk:yc ca o principle. `:'$lit
tel � pp
woo to them both if the gilded Dago fs '
broken or lost, and thoy have to go out
into the great world and build their
hetet wllorovee they oan,
Providence had given to Lottio the
change to live tho life of ideal Woman-
hood—the life of lovo and clevetidn, acid '
sho did not moan to lost it; Like the
saintly women of old, Ilan awakoltedand
yenned nature was oapablo of conte- ,
oration to what tho world regarded as a
humble phaco of Obristiau service, and
While her 'nigh spirit would often abate
with a Hilo wholesome *lotion, it would
yob grow sweeter and more patient
Under tho trials of the hardest lot, if
they could only bo ondurod at his, siao%
to whom, bymemo Mystic noeosst'ty of •
h or being, so hod given hof (Loam.
It was, tho'roforo, with eittneinglad
satisfaction she caw theate tl was sap-
ping tie: student's stdrit 1:tohtbiou not
to *pooh. Slid wouklti , n }vitchory as
innoeont as snbble, beeenlo Min into just
tho Oppoeito of'14hat Which ho had pun-
posoc . As 'she had declared to .Tor
undo, 110 lir uId'ask hor ih a very hum -
manner bosom n ono•mid. bi
o h lou- s
ars alfa she under flan circutrlsbana°s,
leas arloro re ,ray t0 comply than become
'THE 13 R U•.SS1 ;LS POST"
the Empress of all tho Bunion.
But during the remainder of the ('rive
abio made the time pass all too quickly
as tiro led him to spook of hie studont•
life, his Wostorn Homo, and especially of
is mother' and Lottio smiled a p pro.
h
l
eenthusiasm
' i r+ ovcl tla and llac•
cyan v.lya
Bon which he mauifostod for one con -
corning venom she had over board Mrs.
Marchnnout spout a llttlo slightingly.
Tho genuine interest which sho took m
all that relatedto Mrs. Homstead touch-
ed tho
oue -cdto
young man very
closely,
and his
whole nature was witting under
arms
against what his heart was beginning to
charaotorize as a most un'natur'al and
stupid resolution.
Do Forrest was dre greatly
relieved h
o
hoard Iomataalcsaribing his humble
farmhouse honio and toilsome mother,
for the student softened none of the hard
ofttlines of their comparativo poverty.
" no groat fool 1" thought trio ex-
quisite ; " oven if Lottio were inclined
to caro for him somewhat, he has ra-
velled bar now by revealing his common
and povortystrickensurrotndings."
But as Lottie
became satisfied that
id not bo able to g o away
won g
o
in lila leo, a now cause of trouble and
irplcxityy claimed her attention. Not
that oho had not often thought of it
before, Ritmo elm had realized how ir-
revocably sho had gaway given her love,
but other and more num diate uesbions
hall occupied her mind, How was site
to reconcile tier fashiouablo mother and
worldly father to lug ohoico? Sho clearly
recognized that what seemed to her the
most natural—indeed, the only thing in
life left for hor—would appear to ono
simply monstrous, and to the other the
baldest folly.
Sho loved her parents sincerely, for
with all her faults, she had never been
coldhearted ; and while silo proposed
to be resoluto, it was with tho deepest
anxiety and regret that she foresaw the
inevitable conflict awaiting hor.
But when sho could think of nothing
that could bo said which would soften
the blow, or make her course appear
right or reasonable se they would look
at it, a oiroumstanno occurred which
led, as she she then believed, to the
solution of the problem.
After driving betwoon two and three
hours they reached West Point in safety,
aucl as they were passing along by tho
officers' quarters, Lottie recognized a
young lady who was one of her most in-
timate city friends, and who, sho soon
learned, was making a visit in the
country liko herself. Lottio told Belle
and Addie to go on to the dancing -hall
while she spoke to hor friend, saying,
"I will soon loin you."
Tho relations between Lottie and her
friend worn quite confidential, and , the
latter soon bubbled over with her searot.
She was engaged to a cadet who would
graduate tho following June.
"I3ut he is away down toward the
end of his class, and so, of course, will
hplains," sho said
have to go cutout the
with a littlo sigh.
" What will you do then ?" said
Lottie, quickly, a bright thought strik-
ing her. " You surely will not exchange
your elegant city home for barracks an
some remota fort, where you may be
scalped any night ?"
"I surely will," said the vivacious
young lady; " and if you evor become
half as much iu love as I am, it won't
seem a bit strauge."
" Bub what will your parents say to
all this?"
" Oh, well, of course they would much
prefer that I should marry and settle in
Now York. But then you know mother
always had a great admiration for the
army, and it's quite trio thingin fashion-
ablo life to marry into the army and
navy. Why, bless you, Lottie, nearly
all the ladies on the post havo soon the
roughest times imagmablo on the fron-
tior, and they came from as good fami-
lies, and very many of them have left as
good homes as mine."
" But how are youoing to livo on a
lientonant's pay? I bravo known youto
spend more than that on your owndross
iu a single your."
m r d with
" What are drossos oo pa o w
Liouteuaut Ransom ? I can loam to
economise, as \volt as the rest of them.
You can't Mayo ovorything, Lottio. You
know what au oflleor's renin is. It gives
him tho entree with the beat society of
tho land, and often opons the way for
the most brilliant career. Those things
reconcile father and mother t0 it, but I
look at tiro man himself. Bo's just
splendid' Come, we'll go ovor to the
hall, and I will introduce you, and let
you dance with him once—only once,
you incorrigible flirt, or you will steal
11i1n away from me after all. By the
way, who was that handsome man who
drove ? I fear you bewitobod him com-
ing over tho mountain, from the way
his °yea followed you."
"How does he compare with your
Lieutenant Ransom ?" asked Lotti°.
" No ono can compare with him. But
why do you ask ? Is thoro anything
serious ?"
" Will you think so when 1 bell you
that ho entors next summer, on the life
et home missionary on tho wostoru
frontier ?"
"Oh, how dismal1" exclaimed the
young lady. "No, iudood 1 uo danger
of your giving him serious thoughts.
Out you ong3lt pub to flirt With such a
man, Coarse"
"1 do not illtdsii bel, alk }vitll'any one
deo, any morb. b3 i t clo you say
' IIOw
WOW 11 /War lieutenant will
ave, d exhigt 1 1 frontier life as Mr.
.oIetiisb a,!l Slid, surely, the calling of
140 ohgii try is second to none."
't Well, it seoms very difforoub. No-
liedy thinks much of a home nitesionary.
' 'hy, Lottie, none of our sot evor mar-
ried a home missionary, while sovoral
hove married into Ulm army and navy.
So, for heaven's sake dont lot your heart
become tinned by ono who looks forward
to such a forlorn life. But koro wo are,
and I will mako you envious fu a rn0-
meat,"
"lvliss Marsdon," said: Homsbead,
stopping forward as thoy worn onto:ring,
"I do hot like t0 haston you, but there
is ovary appoaraneo of a storm, and 1110
ill ACO
Yl con
d
illi 0
'u rising. I w s
TaT r
w s Y
�a
to thio
soon. I will go L
Addio Co laevo son
Trophy r00tn for a li'n'e While, and then
will delve around.,"
" You may rest assured I will do nay
best," said Lottio, 11 I am roady to start
now.'
"Beware of that man," said her
friend , „ his oyes toll tho samo story
that 1 see in Lioutouant Ransom's."
"You havo become a little lady of ono
idea," said Lottio, laughing and blush-
iestnnang; "tbonincl ,all" the noddle Ionia your
When H m ead drove to the door
at
e
the mow 'lakes were beginning m in to fly,
and the wind had inoroasod iu force.
But Belie was not ready, and Addie
could not bo persuaded to leave at all,
nor would she soar of their leaving till
the hours set apart for dancing wero
over. Even then sho porrnittocl her
cadet frlonds to detain her several min -
As
As the others wore, iu a certain sense,
her guests, thoy aid not like to urge her
doparturo beyond a certain point. Thus
it happened that the early December
twilight was coming on, and the air full
of wildly -flying snow as the -last words
worn said aul tho horses dashedoff for
the mountains,
But the atom increased in violence
every moment, and tho air was so filled
with flakes that they could not 900
twenty toot\hat caused Hcmt a1
n n •r ass ] fact thatthe :hon-
oredc T,u was tie t ti t
crud road that led from tho Point along
the soutlloin baso of tho mountaius for
a long distanco before coming to any
groat ascent, was already somewhat
clogged with drifts. Abovo, on the
mountaiu'a crest, ho heard a sound as if
the north wind was blowing strongly.
Ile grew very anxious, and filially
said, as they reached the point where
the road began to rise rapidly, that he
thought the attomla,t to cross that night
involved considerable risk. But Addie
would not hoar of their returning. Her
mother would go wild about them, and
would novor lot her come again.
" It has not snowed very much yet,
and if we wait till to -morrow it may be
very doep."
" The drifts are what I fear," said
Homstoad.
There were no bad drifts this after-
noon," said Addie, " and surely they
cannot be deep yet."
Since the following day was Sunday,
and New Year's also, it was agreed that
they should push on, as returning would
iuvolvo much that was disagreeable to
the party, andcreate groat alarm atMrs.
Marchmont's.
"It will just result in their sending
after us, this dreadful night," said Ad-
die. " I don't see why it should storm
just when one most wishes it wouldn't"
"We ought to have started sooner,"
said Belle. "I knew the delay was very
wrong, but wo were having such a pleas-
ant dance."
De Forrest having vainly sought to
got Lottie to sit with him, had sulldly
taken his seat just at the back of them,
where he was the most sheltered of the
party, and not supposing there was any
real danger, ho had muffled himself up
so that ho was almost past speaking or
hearing. He had sullenly resolved to
let matters take their course until the
"cursed visit" was over. Now 'York,
and not the barbarous, dreary country,
was the place where he shone; and
when once there again, he would soon
regain his old asceudanoy ovor Lottie,
and she, of course, would forget this
Western monster. Ho had noticed, for
the first mile, that Hemstoad and Lot-
tio had scarcely spoken to each other,
and, as tho storm increased, concluded
there was no danger of any one making
love when, if thoy opened their mouths
to speak, the wind would fill them with
snow.
But Hemsteacl and Lottio scarcely need-
ed language. Tho old, subtle interchange
of thought and sympathy had been ro-
gaine d ; every moment she bravely sat
with him facing the storm that wild
night scorned an assurance that she was
both able and willing to face every storm
of oat
life his side.
But as the wind grew more violent,
and drove the sharp crystals into their
faces with stinging force, ho, out of re-
gale o
1 for 'tor comfort, said:
" Miss Marsden, it is both bravo and
kind of you to sit hero so patiently, but
really tho wind is growing too severe.
Even if I had the impression which you
u
were so mistaken as to charge n o with,
long beforo this it would havo boon ban-
ished forever by your words and action.
If you will take the next seat, and sit
with your back to the wind, you will
not foal ithalf so much."
"Will ,you do the samo 2" sho asked.
" 1 cannot."
" Then uoither can L I shall ]deep my
word, Mr. IIoinstead."
"You are a brave girl, Miss Mars-
den."
"Well, that is nothing. Why have I
not asgg ood a right to bo a bravo girl as
.
,you to be a bravo man?"
ity.°
" lou also appear to havo the abil-
" 011, I don't deserve any credit. T'm
not a bit afraid. Indeed, I rathor enjoy
it. I'vo plenty of warm blood, and eau
make as good a fight against the north
wind as yourself. This isn't half as hard
as facing evil and unhappy thousgghts bo -
fore a blazing fire, and I have had too
nTileh of that to do of late to complain
bi this',"
" ilut it seems a miracle to me that
one with your antecedents can regard
the situation in any othor way save that
of unqualified disgust"
"110 you regard the situation with
' unqqualiilod disgust ?n "
"Wall, to toll tho truth, wore it eeell
fat My anxiety about getting 70 all
llotuo safely, I was neva in a satiation
to enjoy myself more."
" What idiots wo must la) in 1(110
world's astitnation 1 Wo both havo ad.
twitted that Wo 010 onjnyying ourselves
undo:: Wham se -mom in Which. only Marr;
Tapley, I think, could bo 1 jolly 1.' t;nd
the gala boyo away hor old mn:ebbe,
Iaugh 111m a shrod from It silver flag'.
" 011, clear l" }vltinod Bello a;td Addio,
porfoatly awful.,,
Ana awful, iudood, 11 became, a fore
3hutaa lataY: for, havieg passed over
a
stoop but sheltered section of tho roach
Moe (eros to a mint whore tho nor h-
•
oast wind struck thorn strongly. nu tee
samo moment the storm appoarod bo de. '
velep into tenfold intonsity, and to equal
those torxiblo Composts on the prairies,
in which Homstoad remembered, with
a shudder that sion
°u and horsesos
had perished within
a few yards of
shelter. Thoy, alas 1 worn now a long
way from any house, and in tiro midst
of tho lonely mountains. It had also
become so dark that ho had to leavo
the Choi of the z Y t cad main] to h
o
horses.
At first these sagacious animals
stopped, and refused to go any farther. ,
Hemstoad waited a Sow momonts, in
hope that the gust or gale would oxpond
itself, and, in the :noontime, instinctive-
ly put his arm around Lottie, to keop
her from being blown off the seat.
" Mass Marsden," be said, close to hor
ear, "pardon me, but I fear this tempest
will carry you away. Tho horrible
thought crossed my mind that you
might bo caught in a sort of whirlwind
and spirited off in this thick darkness
whore I could not find you,"
u
Would, itY
you ]o rnu a much if
t b very
you could not find inn 1,,
" Ola, don't speak of it. I would give
years of my lifo if you wero safe at
Boma"
"Don't bo sorackless with your years.
I am very well content to be where I
am."
But therein danger."
" Tlhore is no mora danger for me than
for you."
' Are you not afraid ?"
" I am just about as much afraid as
you aro ;" and, to his amazement, he
found .her laughing.
" Well," ho exclaimed, " if you can
laugh under theso circumstances you
exceed any woman 1 over read or heard
of. \4o aro in twico as much danger as
nwighhent." wont out in the boat thio other
Aro you now satisfied that Lottie
Marsden, in particular, is not weak and
cowardly, as compared with her braver
sisters ?"
Before he could answer, Do Forrest
growled, "'Why don't you go on ?"
Addio and Belle wore cowering in the
bottom of the sleigh, and supposed he
was merely giving the horses a rest.
Just then there appeared a momen-
tary lull in the gale, so he merely said:
" Forgive me for even seeming to hint
to the contrary," and then urged the
horses forward.
The road now presentee' its side to the
wind, and so was filled with drifbs,whilo
its lower sido was a precipitous bank
that shelved ori into unknown depths.
Tho horses plunged with difficulty
through one drift, and the sleigh tipped
dangerously. Addie and Belle screamed,
and De Forrest began, in trepidation, to
realize the situation.
Tho poor boasts wore soon floundering
through another drift. Soddenly there
came a sharp crack, as if something had
broken, and ono of the horses appeared
to havo fallen. Worso still, the low run.
ner of the sleigh seemed sinking in the
snow to that degree that a moment later
they would bo overturned in thedarkuess
that yawned iu the direction of the steep
mountain slope.
Hemstoad instantly sprang out on the
lower side, with the purpose of prevent-
ing the accident. Lottie as quickly
sprang out upon the upper side, and
Dried: " You push and I will hold ;" and
so it happened that she did quite as
much as he in saving the party from
disaster. Indeed, if the sleigh had gone
over, it would have carried him who was
on the lower side do•vn with it.
Tho horses, in their wise instinct,
keeping still, Homstoad oamo around to
where Lottio stood.
" Why, Miss Marsden!" ho exclaimed,
" you are up to your waist in the snow."
' \Veil, it won't drown me. This is a
groat doal better than rolling down the
mountain."
"I could kneel at your feet," said the
student, fervently.
"Ha, ha, ha," laughed Lottie. "You
couldn't find them.
"Thi i l..
This s n o laughing matter," said De
Forrest, at last roused to their: danger,
and standing up for the first time.
" Thou get out and do something, like
Miss Marsden," said Homstoad. " Come,
right up tho sleigh while I look after the
horses."
A little later ho came back to Lottie,
and said:
" Miss blarsclon, I scarcely Clare toll
you the truth. Tho tongue of the sleigh
and tomo o£ the most important parts of
tiro harness aro broken. Botflies,' have
boon up blue road a short distance, and
t1r°ro aro delfts that aro up to the Horses'
necks. 1 fear wo can go no further. 011,
(loll 1" ho added, in agony, " wbab can 1
do for you? Tiro idea of you perishing
}situ cell in tbn horrible piaco to-
said,
laid her band upon his arm and
said, earnestly :
" ilio. Hemstoad, please rat there be
no mare Buell talk. lb's no 100080 for me
than 110 you. Besides, 1f we will trust
God and use our wits, there is no Hoed
tf any one perishing. If we were out of
he wind it would not ire so cold. Why,
there is warmth enough in the big bodies
of tho harsos to keep us from freezing,
1f it comes to 1110 worst."
" There 1" ho exclaimed, "you h-
git'en mo hope and courage, and ...ye
sentom°. Tho coachman was . iu m
on my former occasion of d" captain
you shall bo captain now. '- -`ngur, and
clearest and best hoed :s.,,eittfboeliptvve,thie
me+1yourservce."�Yes11 ou I. ,1'oo 2""Takq barUliar"°std' ;ywsomewhat,
14141'; oa.t bottkelo'iiilts,t ]ty taking cars of
t}, ^ Cou oan dib veiling pleasing to me
s..t 11111 Wilt; Sierra to yoursolf," she
atTtd. " Wt'must got out of tine wind, and,
if nothing bettor offers, lutist bury 00 '
salvos in the snow beside thio horses. 1
reintnibcr reading of such things. The
sleigh; robes and the warmth of thoir
bodies would hoop us from frooziug; len
not so very gold,'
Addio and Bolo wore crying bitterly,
and.)
0llrnrro b groaning s i aunt and a CnTHltl ill
g g cursing e
whole
affair from where he stood at the
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