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THE PHOPLE’S
HOME JOURNAL.
“Let. me 8," said Hetty, coldly ; “r will talk
with you no more.
He ont. his hateful, dark face close down to
hers; his hot breath swept her cheek.
eceive me, you scorn me, you forsake
e your hus-
id never leave this spot alive I”
‘ized the beautiful head, bent it back,
and kissed her roughly. Then, far up the path,
out of the darkness, out of the: fast falling rain,
sounded @ loud whistle, , and, after that, a call,
. decisive, full of al
ity | Hett f Nets re
The Vice of.
Wik diable!’ Chattorea Lamotto, starting back,
h one great cry, Hetty broke from him an
nap 18 path and through ‘he Pines. with
Nettle flowing, like a dog. She ran blindly,
seeing nothing, knowing nothing, till Gervase
himeel if put out an arm and stopped her.
wa netty,, here lam. What is ee Where have
you 9
She clung wildly to. the arm, lifting the pale
face out of its wet
“Something,” she eueped something fright- t
e
ened me down in wor
looked down into hor uplifted eye eyes, and
the auunclen of his square mouth twite!
frightened
his roice ‘i speak c:
It w tly fear wand | partly shame that kept |.
her dum
“II can’t tell. Have im seen | the horses ?
Come, it is raining hard ray com ome.”
“Yes, Put your head under my coat, Hetty,
and Til yun with you. ‘The horses came
Jone, ‘There's trouble up at the house. Aunt
Kida has fallen in @ fit, and I must go to Fair-
ae
t—in all this storm ?” faltered Hetty.
He tucked her inside the great cone? close to
his big foolish heart, and fied al
over the gray, rain- drenched pastu
0 you care, Hetty-—do you care o? he mur-
red, passions no
Ob, but the Fairmount doctor may not dare
to come,” aid the little
His arm dropped abruy apy om her waist.
“Shall I take Nettle?” he asked, in an altered
voice; “she’s the Bootest piece of horseflesh
among the lot, you know.”
Hei ctty Kidd’s answer sounded odd, even to
hersel She spoke it out almost involuntar-
re
yeu ?” he asked, stsniog |
IY, settle ? Oh, no! Gervase, not Nettle. I
shall Hl want her my myself.”
“ That i is likely, on such a night as this! You
pate me so mu mach He etty, that you will Rot even
t your horse in my handa, Well! welll
these is the black K Belding; he will answer my
Pur O80, I dare
y had reached the garden gate. As he
oko. Gervase turned abruptly, and followed
Nettle into the bara. Five minutes afler, from x
nothing
|, of a curely, be
18
e on the bed d lay Aunt Kidd, pale, col-
- lapsed, and Sooo. her old wrinkled fee faces
had put ot
upturned onthe
Cid watched beside ber,
look. Ben
ems to be about all we can do till the
” sighed the old man,
without seemed
rahe 8
doctor comes,”
Darker and darker the ay ht
‘ow. win!
as
ft thus alone, Hetty sat and watched th
ww on the mantel, and ¢ the fan
startled her. . She crested her brown ead
“Father! wake! Gervase has come,” she
aid.
Riad Btatted u]
“bea xia 't be Gervase,” he answered; “he
ain’ "sha wars than time enough to Bet to Fair-
mor
“ Tl hear horses! feet,” cried Hetty.”
t ne
etke on nough the wind has blown the barn-
doors open,” said the old man, “and the horses
have got restless. ‘Where’s my hat, Hetty? Ti
een sees ith fs ther.”
«T) ou, al
«Book [ton a Xo fo, hid, You most say with
—heard the furious blast of wi
scratched and tore against it, followed by a peal
of thunder that shook the very cl Japboards, and
a
moment passed. The clock
Kidd did not come back.
eetetty rose, at last, sud went to the window.
N wer. No sound but the twisting and
groaning of the trees, the steady dash of the
“ "Father! father! Where are you, father ?”
All yas still as the grave.
tty hurried into t the kitchen, and found
lantern on th top shel: e dresser. sho
lighted it with trembling Shands, jin gin,
hind her, and when Geryase returned
open Pairmount an hour after, ho found. the
room afloat, the ashes blown out of the chim-
ney-corner, the pans blown off the aipesser-
shelves—darkness and wreck and ru:
‘As Hetty entered the barnyard, &. reat gust
tor the corne! ingwi er
light ; not, however, till she ha
doors stan wide open before her, She
‘oped to them through the pitch-black
lar raneee, cc ealling & loud :
a
Something like a footstep seemed to stir near
by, but no yoice answered her.
she was flung violently forward. ‘As
@ recovered herself, a long, blue flame of
end. Hetty, bent over the thing at her feet.
io t was Ben Kir
rone across the threshold of the
is hat off, his 8 gray face face | turned up-
berm Afong the forehea a deep
gist, from which, the blood was Dorin thickly,
cawerd closed: and Sho. sa that his
hrust somewhere from the darkness near,
ressed her mouth, and a pair of arms grasped
er and held her fas!
rdiew, aranred @ voice in her ear, “it
s Tamotte
next moment she was lifted off her feet.
ith that frightful hand locked on her lips, she
was cane Gy orcibly, out into the darkness.
‘ither? The rain dashed full in her face, the
black leh bid all Mbings from her. She o1
board a dull thud of hoofs, and then felt here
Bpo yn 801 jomething that stirred and quiv-
ered, te tively under her. Hetty passed her
side and fr. Hetty
the: set ‘i sky hide of Nettle.
Inst arms were drawn behind her
r back and rd fastened secure’
“Sweetheart,” said Lamotte, and through the
darkness she ‘could see his eyes, hke coals,
ig “we have a long ride before us to-
night.”
he had quick instincts, and in one moment
she had. comprehended the full danger that
menaced her. In the face of it, her vain, weal
nature underwent a sudden transformation ; it
came. Deroie.
e you killed my father ?” she asked, ina
otras, altered
do not know,” laughed Lamotte. “T’
fit it does not matter; be is quiet, and that
ough. Your precious Gervase will be here
direct to attend to
assed a Teather thong about her waist,
sud ‘ote rapped her down to the horse. She strug-
led for a space, like a bird in the snare, and | sta;
then grew quiet,
“What would
“where are you taking m
ere? = Across tho
oy ad I and
mademoiselle.
r dower, and not a ba
jois i Gervane will find the old man’s d
‘an man’s acres slipped out of his nd
to; ether.”
ervasel The pamo went to “Hetty tty’ heart
ow like a knife. at last, was the fruit of
her light vanities, Mier al trifling. Gervase
hei er bie big, Gener ‘ous, devoted slave! Ah! if he
on
‘rai mp, tramp, around the barn, the horses
ame, ‘iven by Lam She could hear their
je could vane rstand
‘around Nettle, fright-
otte mounted ani
pressed up to her
“Come,” ve said, all is ready.”
He took Nettle’s bridle i in his own hand. ety |j
felt the mare moving wi ander her—heard
many hoofs tramping afte:
dese lated home, from the “ola man ros:
trate and bleeding out Yonder, Hetty, helpless
in the hands of a merciless
sity and gurely array
1 wild forest road stretched off
int the Dij at “sodden with wet, and filled with
ho very blackness of darkness. ‘The dripping
ili left cold, drenched kisses on Hetty’s face
°
2
3
8
o
@
ge
28
Bs
3
ag
rs
2
Bo
B
wi
“Let me go,” © gasped s “put me down
hore in this wood Sond dT will never speak
one word of thi: ight’s srork so long as I shall
live ; only, for the dear Lord’s sake, let me go!”
ed.
Peste! do not annoy me with entreaties.
rotaeneion is nine-tenths of the law. I have
uu, and I mean to keep you. The heiress
of alta & county is a good wife for me.
rettle tavagely, and they galloped
om Teuy did not speak again.
Away!” Vivid aol ot it inn re vont the
darkness now an
head, in the long arches of trees, che ‘wind and
thunder made an unearth): i
girl, strapped helpless to he brow!
on on for while voiceless and still as
But her busy brain was thinkin,
Lamotte rode close on her left—so close that
a ghost.
face,
He had Nettle’s bridle twisted firmly round his
wrist
Patiently, slowly, Hetty’s little hands strove
with the handkerchief that bound them at her | |
an.
a
cramped and trembli ing, Bs a irae out through
the stubborn loop, and the left followed. Heav-
n be raised! So much, at least, was accom- | interesting serial and short stories to be found in
any American periodical, It is not only the cheap-
Pistonily she felt for the Jeathern strap that| est but the best story paper published. All wh
bound her 6 horse. She gged upon it love good literature should subscri for it, Send
stoutl: bat 'e ate he her. To ia Bore ‘orte it | US the triding sum of th five cents and we will
woud not Field an inch. "Weapon to use upon hare Uryeur Hata to jon you fn Saison
he hat dn ently there was noth- el
it a eo nsequ ly and each will thea get % the pal paper for one year for
re}
patiently for the iron
Deets that fastened it togeth
charpy are you doing?” called out Lamotte,
erQuick as thought, sbe thrust her hands be-
hind her, and dropped her face on Nottle’s
neck.
“Tam tired,” she answered, drearily.
ow donne she said, faintly ; *
ine,
the horses go together. ‘They |
- brown, nose to her knee.
He put out his hand, in sudden suspicion, and
touched her, He felt the leathern stra p, the
clasped hands, and found them firm.
“TI am sorry, mademoiselle,” he said, mock-
ingly, * “ but you cannot rest till we have passed
Just “at this moment Hetty’s fingers closed
upon the buckle; she drew the length of the
strap into her hand, and held it ready for ac-
tion.
how thick and fast her heart beat then!
ilent prayer on her Lips, she grasped the
mare’ ‘8 bridle with all her sperate strength.
1 ’ she cried, ‘shrilly, * get up, Net-
tle iD
wn came the » strap, sharp and sudden, on
the mare’s side. Like a flash, Nettle tore ber
head from Lamotte’s hand and bol
“Stop I’? thundered the Canadian, “or by
— Pil shoot!”
“ Shoot, then, ” anewered Het!
way they tore. It was not Shing now, but
ayine, Hotty gaxped for *preath, The swift
mashing. i air cut her face like a knife; her ears
ed with rushing fatera. From, behind
a bullet came by, close to curly h
volley of horrible oaths fonowed Hetty Bung
both her arms around Nettle’s neck, fo.
the second time, » dropped her face down on the
mare’s brown mi
ob poor, n pOOr Nettle, save me!” she
2g
pe
Surely the horse knew and understood the
appeal, Her tremendous speed seemed to re-
double.
Ia
id her, loud. and threatening
Hetty caressed the brown neck mn her
hands; she laid ber er quivering i lips_to it and
it, She Whichever
homeo ae had ganteas he was ‘goadin, git
desperation. Sooner of later he would overtake
her. Then—what?
“Nettle,” she. whispered to the mare, “this
is i or death, you know—life or death.”
me to a fork in the roads, marked
bya single blasted ine. Lamotte w: r
than a hundred yards behind. Hetty could hear
‘he mad panting of his horse, the awful words
srinding © out through his set teeth.
hai better stop there!” he shouted ;
“youhad, b: en!”
““ on, Nett le ee ‘whispered Hetty; “ enon |”
Left to her own instincts, vthe mare tur
‘cat pine, wra|
fo0$ to sum: manit, shivered ani careened like a
ship in a tempes| st, and then went crashing and
splintering down across tho road below, with a
noise that drowned the storm out, and left the
wi
eet, wet forest
The prostrate column
ness; the wind
ied away in the recesses of the mountains;
the rag; ged storm-rack 0’
e soft beating of the green leaves on
her face thee aroused her,
It was Nettle. Holty's sat
dead horse and lifted the
Bg
28
s
g
z
z
5
rs
5
‘here it was that Gervase found her on the
first gray light of the dawn, her wet hair blown
all about her Pele face, her cheek resting upon
Nettlo’s no} je was standi
near, ties the scanty herbage saddled an
bridle d, derls lifted the
wanderer ‘in hii arms, sabe clasped
er oan ie avalsivele around his neck.
h, I knew you would
“ dear, dear Gervase, I knew
have been on your track all night,” be an-
gyered, ‘Kseing her wildly with his is baggard lips.
Het! sj
way,
riven, he dragged into 'm-
dawn the crushed and lifeless body of| §
Hetty Kidd went back ¢ ie the old farmhouse
the promised wife of Gervase, A gloomy house
it was, for Aunt Kidd Tay ‘avtiting be er, scold and
still, in solemn state, an: ther’s uncon-
scious face seemed to confront her reproach-
fally from the pill
But Gerv: Pea. ‘found the scattered horses
ver, th
lived to lees the troth sho bas
the faces of his dren, and to
see pretty, Ww willful Hetty rancfemnea into the
happiest matron that his time-honored roof-
tree had ever sheltere
THE PROPLE'S TOME JOURNAL contains the most
only twenty-five ce will receive a use-
ul premium in add ilition, end the 6th page, also
the Premium List on pages 19 and 20,
—
THE highest meteorological station in Europe
is on the top of the Son nbliek, in Austria, 10,168
foot above t) e level of the sea,
as the crow |The nleger parson rolled it off an’ kept time with
strained to ite utmost tension, "Alas! as eho, | The dancers Kept ia motion an’ the fiddle kept in
i ane.
thrush the storm, sounded the hoofs of the | That picnic at Selina—it ain’t to be forgot,
at once the purs
to | 1 feel ike Singin’ “ Praise the Lord, from whom all
and las
m | poor man at out 4 fh "the rain the other di:
of fire | mu
the rain ceased; a fow stare poered out through
8el
A
he dragged herself
e
ad pli hted, and to | home,
TEE PICNIC AT SELINA.
war plonic at Selina—tt covered lots o" ground
There winimen, men, an’ bosses {rom fifty mulles
An’ autos squeaked and brogaus creaked the mer-
nk,
Ant fewas to your partners!" an’
“Swing !" the whole duy long.
"Twas a powerful site o° pleasure Jes’ to see the fel-
Them lovely forms in calico, an’ swing girl after
It was quite intoxicating; you could hear the raft-
"THN the ai men couldn't stand it, an’ cut the
i Det"
The old-time “double sbhuMe’” made the dust fy
“tro ma helt heels,
an’ "twas sich a Jolly scuMe in the oid Virginny
The young, men jes? a-sweatin’, an’ the rosy gals
But tie ‘aa! t ind the weather while they kept
dle goin’ |
“Its i ' roared the rafters; “It's painfal !”?
groaneé the floor:
“Ivs dusty! sald the wimmen, but they only
danced the more.
An’ (he young men called ft “stavin',” an’ I think
ley was rig!
For ane old time Georgie “breakdown ” made the
8 dance with delight |
All aay fe fiddie’s music was ringin’ wild an’
All dag fs Jee @ breathin’ spell "long *bout the
time 0?
ra faber felt as lappy *s if he owned a house and
And when 1 think about them gals in ribboned
vlessin's fow I’?
There'll be good times at Selina in the happy days
But never "any times like that for all the boys an’
For we * miemn"ry of that picnic—it'll live a hundred
an’ vit feel my old feet shamin’ when T climb the
golden stairs nk L. Stant
—-.
Painting the House.
BY CLARA AUGUSTA,
T’vz been as busy a a bee all Minter, and it’s
lucky: for me that I've had enuff to keep m
blood s-circulating ; for, if I'd a-had to set till,
I should have froze fo death, with the mercury
falling down Hed al on
ided all Reuben’ “ola trousers and
re! when the
day, and
clean, through, there warn’t enuff
every-day clothes in be house for him to shift
conte i in
>
4
e
prayer mectings, and Sund
as a bob-tailed dog in fly-time, and sez he,
giving the cat a h’ist out of the rocking-cbeer,
where she'd got curled up for a nap, sez he:
“ Mirandy, you'd or't to be ashamed of your-
pp into strips as you can a pair of panter-
oqnd he kicked at that cat agin, jestas she was
a-gming to git back into the cheer. Stran.
hat, when men-folks git mad, they always
spit ‘out thee (Rite onto the e@ dog.
Test if that animal wee to. Yamne. for my
braiding up tat britches
But L was sorry enuff afterward, when Reu
soete in from the barn, with hs swaller- fea all
attered over with milk; he’d been a-milking,
and the cow had took a noti ep into the
pail to soak her corns, and the milk had flew ¢ au
over the. coat-t
a sorrows.
amon
had the chronical influenza, to scrub that milk
off. An I didn’t it off, for Reuben
never could s' sti a minnit to have ny;
| never done as 8 I got
am, |, 88 800
grab on them tally ‘and got the pon, 8 5 aot § ont
to scrub, he'd fetch a whisk, and Fa lose Soy
holt intirely.
Margaret Ann, that is our darter from a city
school, has go je
with her, Bent’s Corner is an old-fash-
Raed place, and the folks don’t travel round to
any great extont. And n
ahead so far as some part
still think that it ain ’t nice and Pious { for & mal 2
more none a and wi
shouldn’ t be likely to elect an absconding Cana.
dian tramp of a bank-cashier to be deacon of our
eeting-house—not if we knowed about it; and
wo still think that it looks better not to go a-fish-
ing Sundays.
argaret Ann, a’most as soon as eb
begun to complain about how cla-atyhod
t needed refurnishing, and
Tepapering, and re—almost ev-
Mr should hope not, indeed,” sez I. “I
shouldn't want anything with such a sounding
name as them has got, in my insides, if that i:
a
w dreadfully vulgar you are! If ie
bella De ones should come to see me, and heat
ito a state