1895 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



343 



away. 



She had no more doabt. Her per- 

 ception, as ■well as her impressions, 

 liad been correct, and she knew 

 where to jBnd Mrs. Eodney. But — 30 

 miles away ! Could she go there and 

 return with her before the wedding? 

 If the woman had a bicycle, and if 

 she could ride it well, it would not 

 be difficult for them to get back by 

 1 o'clock. But "ifs"are always dan- 

 gerous. What would be her limit of 

 time? "Two o'clock," she was told, 

 was set for the ceremony. "Good," 

 she said to herself. "He shall not 

 wed today." 



The coachman told her the way to 

 Fairmount, and immediately after 

 breakfast she set out upon her 

 "wheel. The road was somewhat 

 hilly, and her task proved harder 

 than she had expected. But she was 

 a good rider and made the run in 

 20 minutes less than three hours, 

 which, under the circumstances, was 

 doing well. 



So clear had been her psychic im- 

 pressions that when she entered the 

 parlor of the Eagle tavern she rec- 

 ognized at once in a woman who 

 met her there the person she sought 

 and said to her in a tone of sympa- 

 thy, "111 news makes the bearer un- 

 welcome, but I hope you will blame 

 me as little as possible for what I 

 come to tell you." 



"I can tell better about that when 

 I hear what it is, "replied Mrs. Rod- 

 ney susi^iciously. 



"It is about your husband." 



"What do you know about my 

 husband? How do you know I have 

 one?" 



"No matter about that now. I do 

 know, and my knowledge concerns 

 you very materially." 



"Who are you anyway?" angrily 

 demanded the woman, whose unrea- 

 soning jealousy made her suspicious 

 of every woman v;ho even knew the 

 man she claimed. But Kate's an- 



STvcr Li:^ 

 her feet: 



'While you are wasting 



words be is about marrying another 

 wife. By 2 o'clock he will do so if 

 you do not care to prevent it." 



"What! Jerry! Marry another 

 wife! Who is she? Where is he? Let 

 me get at him and you'll see if I 

 prevent it. " 



"He is 30 miles from here. But 

 that is not much if you can ride a 

 safety." 



"Of course I can. But my wheal 

 is in the city." 



"Then we must hire one. It is the 

 only waj' to get there in time." 



"We can do it in two hours. Heav- 

 ens! It is nearly noon now!" 



They consulted the landlord, but 

 though there were plenty of bicy- 

 cles in town he knew of none to be 

 hired, and the best he could do 

 would be to hitch up a team that 

 "ought to get them to Danfield by 3 

 or 4 o'clock." 



"That seems to be the best we can 

 do," said Kate ruefully. 



But when he had gone out to or- 

 der the team the wife said: "No, 

 something more. Give me his ad- 

 dress, and if there's a telegraph 

 from here I'll make the wire hot 

 with a message that will stop his 

 marrying." 



"A splendid idea! Why didn't I 

 think of that?" 



"Because he isn't your husband, 

 I suppose. " 



They found the telegraph ofQce 

 easi'v enough, and the operator was 

 about to accept Mrs. Rodney's mes- 

 sage when suddenl}' he remembered 

 thfst "the wire to jl>antleld waa' 

 down.'' and nothing could be got 

 throueli. Of course they perceived 

 no conjfiecition between that i'act^and 

 the paiitomime of a man wiin stood 

 behind them, shaking his head and 

 Hhov>Mng a ^10 note to the operator. 

 They were ucjt even a'.vare of the 

 man. 



"Fate is against us," muttered 

 Mrs. Rodney as she turned away. 



Hardly had they regained the tav- 



