Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 256 — page 4: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

sz i ate 2.4 -=.¢ Py 4 Double Dan, th _—— Rosa Ray was in the land of dreams, and Lulu, the fawn, lay upon the bank near at hard, ona level with the hammock of its mistress, watching, with listless eyes and an indolent motion of the head, the long wavy tresses of Rosa that hung afar below from over the ham- mock side, and swaying with the motion of the couch, The buzz of insects and the musical song of the birds, together with the very air one breathes, heavy with the perfume of magnolia, lemon and orange blossoms, mingled with the balsamic scent of the bottom timber —all these, as well as the silvery ripple of the waters amid the reeds and the balmy breezes, tend toward producing sleep, and when asleep to deepen slumber. Full two hours passed thus, Rosa sleeping silent and peaceful as an infant, when suddenly the fair girl’s slumbers seemed to become dis- turbed, as if dread sights were pictured to her in dreams. Her form writhed convulsively, her beautiful face contorted in fright, that changed to horror, despair and grief, alternately. And very strange it was that the sleep of our heroine, hitherto so deep and so peaceful, should be thus disturbed, and so suddenly, at a time when around the Bend, approaching nearer and nearer, yet in the middle of the river, glided a boat, within which lay, soundly sleeping, Leroy Randolph—a oung man with whom she had never spoken, but who, vevertheless, was to be ar ag BE in the rapidly i i n, ng in the rapidly increasing cur- rent, in the mid-chanmel of the broad river—on, toward the Mexican Gulf without an oar or anght to guide his little skiff tothe shore! On, v len soon, undoubtedly before he would awake, the shades of night would enshroud him and the orld—thus sped our hero, while Rosa Ray tissed nervously in her hammock, seemingly miuking great efforts to throw off some oppres- sive weight upon her brain, and awaken her from her troubled sleep. We do not presume to offer any explanation of the mysterious irfluence that seemed to be acting upon the maiden, but merely to state a case that has had many parallels; some, per- h within the knowledge of the reader. rtain it was that two human beings, fated to become much to each other—fated to pass through horrors, tortures, and dread patterine, each on the other’s account, yet heretofore utter strangers—were, by some mysterious agency, being brought together, through an incomprehensible magnetism, which was brought to bear upon one of them only; and this one the more sensitive—our heroine! As the boat of young Randolph shot around the curve, almost abreast of the ym bear- ing its sleeping owner on toward the Gulf, Rosa threw off the horrible incubus that seemed to have been almost crusbing out her life in her dreams, and sprung to a sitting posture; ber eyes, strange to say, becoming at once fixed, in a wild, horrified, and wondering stare of in- tense bewilderment upon the drifting boat— the handsome face of its occupant being for a moment fully revealed to her, the closed eyes and silent form being typical of death, Rosa sat like one suddenly bereft of sense and power of motion; dazed with the most intense amazement, dumfounded at the unexpected and incomprehensible sight. She was unable at first to draw a line between vision and reality; the expression upon her face seeming to indicate that the scene before her was in consonance with, or somewhat like that which had ruled her slumbers. This condition of mind, however, did not last long. She quickly drew her fingers across her eyes, closed them, and pressed the lids for an instant, which act seemed to clear both sight and brain; for she at once slid from ber ham- mock, sprung into her boat, unmoored the same, and grasping the oars, swung the skiff around dexterously. She then shot out over the waters of the Rio Brazos, in a quartering course; and soon after reached a point alongside the drift- boat. & still somewhat bewildered, and unable to decide what action was best to take, our heroine, for a moment or two kept her skiff in @ course parallel with that of the sleeper. She gazed long and earnestly upon him, and per- eeived that he was not only alive, but was an exceedingly handsome young man—handsomer, nobler, and more prince-like than any man she had ever met. A quick glance also revealed the startling fact that there were no oars in the boat, nor ene ing with which it might be propelled. ere was @ mystery, an unexpected adven- ture; and each time that Rosa gazed upon the handsome face, the more favorably impressed she became by it, and emeogs feel mee were at ber heart, such as she had never before ex- rieneed. But our heroine was not one to remain leng inactive or undecided; and at pues man- aged her little craft in so skillful a manner as to secure the rope that was attached to a ring in the bow of the stranger’s boat. This she fastened to the stern of ber skiff, and then pro- eceded in a q g course out from the uarterin moore rapid current, teward the south bank, This being accomplished in so careful and skill- ful a manuer as not to awaken the sleeper. The remainder of her humane, self-imposed task was more easily performed; and, in ten minutes more she reached the little cove at the Bend, and secured both the crafts to the plat- form. This done, she stood looking with girlish admiration down upon the still slumbering form of our hero, a great and sudden transformation having come upon her thoughts and feelings; confusing and overwhelming her mind, and causing her to appear strange to herself. Before her was one whom she had saved from creat peril and suffering, perhaps from death; and she felt a proud sense of some kind of ownership in him. Not only this; but she realized that, in a very strange manner, she had been brought in contact with one, who was one of a thousand—one whom she could, and would love! He was her beau-ideal of all that was brave, and noble, and grand, and whose love would be more precious than gold or gems, These opinions, so quickly formed, without any grounds except judgment by sight, were nevertheless, at once firmly rooted in the min of Rosa Ray; and she put out ber hand, caught the gunwale of the stranger’s boat, and drew it up close to the platform rie She then leaned forward, and touched her lips lightly as the kiss of a zephyr upon the brow cf Leroy Randolph. Then, as if the touch had electrified every nerve in his frame, the sleeper sprung upright at the same time throwing his arms forwar extended, as if he, at the moment his slumber was broken, was seeking to embrace some loved one in his dreams. The young girl felt herself pressed closely in the arms of the stranger, and clasped to his breast; a strange, wild happiness crushing down the alarm she had felt, and not ronda. to cry out, from her fear of being discovered in such a questionable position. Rosa was greatly surprised and amazed at this sudden and totally undreamed-of move- ment on the part of this stranger youth; but her surprise was as naught to that of Leroy himself, who, for a moment or so, knew not whether he was on the earth, orin the moun- tains of the moon. A hazy impression was floating in bis brain, that he had gone over to the majority, and “corraled” his guardian angel, on the better side of the Styx. ut the young girl soon realized her own em- barrassing position, and filled with intense ex- citement and apprehension, fearing discovery by some of her people, she tore herself from the arms of Leroy, and darted up the bank, One swift, sweeping glance at his surround- ings, a lingering look of intense admiration and astonishment into the face of the maiden whom he held in his arms, and the young man’s mind became clearer. Then, as the fair girl darted away from him, were of the near past flashed through his mind. He remembered the conversation of Louis Le Grand and his comrades, and saw at once that he must have fallen asleep. He then reasoned that he had been discovered in that condition, and sent adrift; the absence of bis oars and his rifle assisting him to form this conclusion, Then, from the fact that Le Grand had spoken of Rosa Ray, more than from anything else, he believed that the maiden now fleeing up the bank, was she; and that in some inexplicable manner, he owed his present safety and location to her ex- ertions. Her skiff, with its wet oars, being 7 a alongside his own, was proof positive of this, All these thoughts came upon him with the rapeay of lightning, and then he dashed at full speed up the bank, and on through the timber, overtaking Rosa at the magnolias. Our heroine paused as the yourg man came up, her face, for once, becoming 4s le ° death, while she trembled from b to oot. “Do not fear me,” said Leroy, hurriedly, “‘ for I claim to be a gentleman. I will not hin- der or compromise you, but I feel in my heart that I owe you much. ‘IT am confident that I address Miss Rosa Ray, and I am somewhat conversant with your surroundings and influences. I am ealled Leroy Randolph, and this day I have gained some information in regard to yourself. It is im- portant, and I feel that I must see you again. “Will you meet me te the right ef yeur boat-landing to-morrow evening after sunset? None shall see my approach. I am your friend, mest sineerely, and I swear to you that no harm sball come to you through me. “Only ene word from you now; yeu are Rosa Rey and you will meet me te-morrow aa Ves " The word came from the maiden’s lips spon- taneously, without thought; and, as it seemed to her, without an effort or attempt at articula- tion. Leroy Randolph grasped ker hand and pressed the delicate palm te his lips. He then bounded away toward the river, disappearing in the shades; while Rosa steod silent: and motionless e Dastard. —_—_— — as a marble statue, her eyes fixed upon the swaying branches among which he had van- ished, ber lips parted, and a strange, hungering, regretful look in her wildly-staring eyes. But this was only fora moment. Then she raised the hand that the strange youth had eee to her lips, pressing them upon the same spot. Rosa Ray had met her fate! CHAPTER IV. AT THE TRYSTING-PLACRE. Wuen Leroy Randolph disappeared in the shades of the bottom timber, Rosa Ray re- mained standing at the same point where he had overtaken and addressed her. — mind was confused with strange emo~ ions, The sound of Leroy’s voice still rung in her ears like sweetest music, his face and form being imprinted indelibly upon her mind, A love as lasting—so she felt it—as life, bad been born within her heart from the moment that his ho had looked into hers, piercing her very soul, She felt that henceforth she belonged to him, and that it would be bliss exquisite, far beyond anyihing she had ever dreamed of, to be ruled by him, wayward and self-willed as she was. His touch upon her shoulder had sent ten thousand electric thrills through her frame, and his kiss upon her hand ed her with an oper d so strange and intense that it was pain- ul. Frightened as she had been in regard to being discovered in his presence, or of his being ob- served by some member of the household, she had at once, without hesitation, promised that she would meet him the following evening clan- destinely. And it was a promise that she could not have withheld; for, as she ran through the magnolias, she confessed to herself that the Apollo-like stranger was more to her than all the world, and that she should go madif she could not meet him agair—and soon! From the first instant that ber eyes had met bis, and his voice struck her ears, she would have risked life, everything that she held dear, on his being honest and noble, true as steel— and this, although she bad never before met a young man except when in the company of others. He was the first with whom she had been brought face to face alone, and he was her fate ; destined to either crush her to earth, hurl ber into the dark depths of a despair worse than death, or elevate her to the very seventh heaven of ecstatic joy and bliss, by manifest- ng ayn: for her, equal to that which she felt Or hit), _ Toe heart of the young girl swelled with re- lief, and pride, and joyousness; as, amid the hundred and one strange thoughts that now flashed through her bewildered mind, she re- alized that Leroy Randolph had betrayed, by every look, word and act, while in her presence, that he was most deeply impressed by her; his expressive eyes betraying an adoration that was unmistakable, as well as the intense anxiety and suspense that, for an instant, filled them when be asked the favor of an interview on the following ae and the relief, the pride and joy that he manifested, as her “‘ Yes” sprung from her lips so readily and without hesitation. Very marvelous to Ries it was, to find her- self ruled by such hitherto undreamed - of thoughts and feelings; especially so, that she cr become such a changed being in a moment’s ime. She now recalled the fact that the hero of her thoughts was not entirely unknown to her; for she had often heard his name mentioned by her girl acquaintances, and by ber father also, and the slaves, But it had ever been in praise, and admiration, and deep regard. These reeollections came to Rosa, in less time than had been employed by Leroy Randolph in regaining the landing; and then sbe recalled the fact that he had no oars with which to pro- pel his boat, and that he was therefore, in a perplexing, if not helpless condition. movements expression upon the countenance of the maiden indicated, it must be admit that she was far from being trou- bled by the knowledge that it was her manifest duty to proceed at once to the cove, and re- lieve the young man from his difficulty, by ten- dering him the use ofa pair of oars from her own She ran at once to the inner row of magno- lias, and rots under the branches in the di- rection of the house; listening for a moment in- tently, her fair form bent gracefully forward, her wealth of dark brown tresses caressing, in their wild abandon, her cheeks now rosy rows excitement and the new-born feeling that pos- sessed her. She neither heard nor saw anything to indi- cate that she was observed or missed; although she well knew that a servant weuld soon be sent out to summon her to tea. Every step taken by Rosa, was followed by her pet, Lulu; the large and liquid eyes of the fawn gezing in something of wonder atits mis- tress, as if feeling itself neglected, the coming ef Lerey having frightened the erean tare | a Gomicbooks.com as