The Queen of The Isle OR SIBYL CAMPBELLS LOVE

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume IV, Issue 1111, 5 October 1904, Page 4

The Queen of The Isle OR SIBYL CAMPBELLS LOVE

BY MAY AGNES FLEMING

AtHhoi of "The lloirr?sol Glut Gowcr," "The Unseen Bridegroom," do

CHAPTER XXXII. (Continued,)

Tho awful vision seemed driving him mad, With something like tho shriek of a luaniao he struck the animal ho bestrode a furious blow to drive hi,u on. Tho horso bomidcd madly on a few paces, but at that uiouien a vivid sheet of lightning blazed across their path, ond he widdcnh stopped, reared hirasalf almost upright, and, with a loud snort of fear, turned and tied, Faint from recent illness, Willard lost his seat and was hurled, womutadand bleeding, to tho earth. And now alone, wounded and helpless in tho vast old woods, the storm was upon him in its might, It is said that in tho moment that elapses beforo some sudden and terrible death, all the events of our lives pass, with tho rapidity of lightning, through our minds, So was it njw with Willird Drummoud. Through him Christie was uiurdorod; through hiui Sybil was now to dio a felon's ignominious death.

The storm was each moment increasing; ami it howlod and shrieked throng l ) the troes as though it Hi risen in vein goance against him. He thought of another night of storm nnd tempest, on which hi? loying, much wronged child wifo had perished by the s:ce) of tho assassin. He thought of Sybil, waiting for death in her prison cell. And tbon, with startling suddenness flashed across his mind tho strango vision that years before, ho had seen in a far off bind. One by one three visions had been realised; und now only one—the death on the scaffold—was to come. While these thoughts were passing through his mind, a sound smote his oar that startled him from tho deadly stupor into wnich he was fulling. It- was tho sound of human footsteps Hying wildly through the storm. The next moment the fugitivo stumbled over him and fell on to the ground. , The sbo If nearly stunned willard; but the person who had fallen, utioring a sharp ejaculation, was up again in an ir.ttar.t and bending over him. "By tho light of the rapid llashei of lighting ho beheld a woman with dmk, flowing hair and vild maniac eyos—ihe same startling vision he had twice beforo seen at Campbell's Isle, With a shriok sho sprang up and sped away through the woods with the speed of an arrow Bhot from a bow. The unexpected sight of this unearthy-looking visitant was too much for nature to bear, and falling heavily back, the dark night of inscn- . sibility closed around him,

CHAPTER XXXIII Till! UKID AUVR In tbo little forost cot, the evening preceding tbo night of tho storm, Christio stood in the humble doorway watching the sun go down. Those weary months have sadly ohanged hor, Tho angel brow has grown paler and moro transparent; tho dark blue eyes darker, larger and wearing ovor a look of fixed melancholy; the fair, golden hair (alls lib ravelled silk around bor pearly chock; tho light step is slow and languid, and tbo hectic crimson spot that burns in her check bespeaks tho ravages of that foil destroyer, consumption. Slowly she is passing away, bending hor head to / the stroke ot the destroyer, ani only sighing for tho time when her weary hoad may find rest in eomo littlo woodland grovo, Littlo Ohrißtio will novcr see tho midsummer rose blow. With a quiet, fervent joy she thinks of this aa she stands in the doorway, tho last ray of the red sunlight falling on hor bent head. With those dark, starry eyos fixed on the fast corning clouds, her mind strays back to that night of deepost woe—that last night spent Jn her island home, All the old tide of her deep, unchanging love for Willard swells back to her hoart, and an almost passionals longing to be with ~ him onco more, to seal her forgiveness on his lips, took possession of her. Then camo the bit:er recollection that long ere this another must be his bride, and she could nover feol the fervont clasp of thoso dear arms again, and, with a grief that death alone could still, she hid her face in her hands to koop back her tears, while hor bosom rose and fell with convulsive sobs. A slow, heavy step crashed over dried brahches around her, and she looked up to behold the kind honest face of Uncle Kenben." " Oh, thee is grieving again, This will never do, little Christie," ho said. "Oh,l cannot help it. It all comes back so strangely to-night," sa'd Christie, in a voice full of unshed tears, " What doeß, little ono?" '' Oh, the past, the past I the sad beautiful past." " Thee must forget the past, daughter, and live in tho present for the fntuio," said Uncle Reuben. " Thco knows .vlmt tho good book says, 'Blessed arc they that, mourn, for they shall bo comforted''" " Yes, yes, I know; that promise has ofton sustained me in my darkest hours. Dear Uncle Reuben, I know I am wicked to murmur, but bear with me a littlo while, until I go where that promise will bo ful« filled." " Oh, theo bo sad toMvight, Christie," said Undo Reuben, forcing a smile;" theo must be ohecrfnl, thco knows. Where is Bertha?" ■' She went out moro than an hour aeo," ropliod Christio, " 1 hope alio will roturn before tho storm rises."' "The storm will bo on us in half an hour," said Uncle Reuben, " and, as lime knows, a storm always rouses Bortha into a stato of wildness bordering on frenzy. I had better go and look for hor." ''Where is the use, Undo Reuben •}'' said Christie, seating herself languidly in her rooking-chair, " You ofton wont in search of her beforo, nnd hardlycvor found her until she chose to eomo homo horsell, you know," " Yos; but ono does not feel so uneasy when searching for hor. Howover, I'll wait and got tho supper and, if sho is not then, 1 will go and look for her," said Undo Reuben, as ho proceedod to light the fire.

Tho night deepened and darkened, the sky grow blnckor mid gloomier, I lie moments waned rapidly, but the maniac Bertha enmo not. " Oh, I wish she wero hero," noxiously said Undo Reuben, opening the door and looking out into tho gloom. A welling gust of wind from tho dark foreßt, followed by a vivid r!a?h of lightning and (lood of rain, mado him hastily rOiCntor and close the door, •'Andshe in exposed to it all!" ho ex* claimed in deepest trouble. "Oh, eho will soon come; 1 know she will," said Ohristic. Bnt ssill the momonts rapidly waned, the lonesome ni »ht lingered and tho maniac came not. "I mnsl go and seek for her,'said Uncle Koubon at last, in desperation, as he took dowu his groat coal and buttoned it on and started lor the door, But just at that momont it was burst violently open, und tho woman Bertha, wifli streaming hair and dripping gar* monts, hor wild, black oyos diluting with terror, hor garments dripping with rain, stood panting before them,

"Oh.Eorlha, wherohas llioo beon?" pried Uncle Rcubon, iu distress und alnrm. 11 Hush! lie in there 1" said iho maniac, in a. tgrrilioil whisper. " They killed him itml left him in the- forest; but I found him! Come, eomo I"

" Who is killed ? I don't know what thee means, Bertha," bo said perploxtd, "Cuiiio I tell yon-hois there!" " out among tho trees, where they left him. Come!"

And, with a gr,-,?p of steel, she caught the surprised Reuben by the arm and forcibly drew hi'u with her from the IIDUBC,

Left alone Christie soon forgot everything and gazing into tho oxpiring coals listened to the ravings of the storm bb it thtongh the forest wit It that feeling of security which one (alls into when comfortably housed. Tho night was wearing on apaco—and rousing horself from her dreamy reverie, Christie rnisjd hor head wondering uneasily what could havo del lined Uneie Reuben.

.lust as she was beginning to gc-l seriously anxious, iho door was thrown open and Jjcrlha ontcred followed by Uncle iteiiben hearing in his arms the seemingly lifeless form of a man. Christio sprang up and stood gating from one to another interroi. (To be continued