The White Gauntlet

A woman in a wood-encountered accidentally, and alone. 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity-even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks. If a high-born dame, beautiful, -and, above all, bright-haired, -curiosity is no longer the word; but admiration, involuntary, unrestrained-bordering upon adoration. It is but the instinct of man's heart to worship the fairest object, upon which man's eye may rest; and this is a beautiful woman, with bright hair, met in the middle of a wood. Marion Wade possessed all the conditions to merit such exalted admiration. She was high-born, beautiful, and bright-haired. She was alone in a woo