White Cloud Kansas chief. [volume] (White Cloud, Kan.) 1857-1872, 1857-12-03

al know my husband for brave and noble
soldier" said Mrs. Arnold, proudly.
Arnold grOaned aloud in the bitterness of bis
humiliation, and covered his face with his lands
/ The iron fangs of remorse we're beginning to
fasten upon his soul.
"A brave and noble soldier" Alas! and thai
is all! To patriots name he had no claim.
Still his young wife stood beside him, pleading
that he would try and sleep before dawn.
al can find no time for rest. The hours Of
the night are precious. Much yet remains un.
done before my Journey" was his reply. al go
early in the morning. You will join me by the
2lst Till then, adieu, Margaret. sweet wife,
for must bid you leave me now" AHd with
the gallantry of lover, he kissed her, and was
leading her to the door of the apartment.
Margaret Arnold took her husband arm. As
they passed beneath the high marble mantel,
wherein solitary candle buried and flickered
in the tall bronze candelabra, Arnold's eye
caught the glimpse of something red and bright
upon hi- wife's neck.
Rapidly thrusting his hand into his bosom,
he as rapidly drew it forth again; then bending
over her; and grasping the ornament, he asked,
in husky voice.
"Margaret, how came you BY this7"
For there, suspended from her dainty white
neck, by the slender chain of gold, and burning
red as Gre upon her bosom, hung the ruby
cross.
"This7" echoed Mrs. Arnold, taking the
cross from her husbands fingers. 10, TO be
sure. / found it where General Arnold slyly de-
posted tin nv writing desk! How kind and
thoughtful of you to make me such birthday
gift ! but how queer to put it there But pray
where did YOU procure it assure you that,
with my new jewels, was quite the belle ofthe
party to night, and was asked some half dozen
times where they we're purchased, or if they
we're family Jewels. Indeed, one gentleman
sought the privilege ofexamining them, and Do
clared the ruby real, ofimmense value, and the
antique workmanship the chain exquisite
Pray, where did you get them, Arnold7' she
playfully retorted.
not noticed his quivering white lips, and he re-
solved to profit by it. aud in as calm voice as he
couldrassume, he replied
$50 my Maggie is pleased with her gih7-
Well, then, am glad; but 60 now-yet leave
me the cress and chain. tOuld like to exam
inc their workmanship at my leisure, for it is
foreign trinket. There, go now" And receiv-
ing the cross from her hand, they parted, with a
good night kiss, at the door.
General ArnelJ went back and stood beneath
the light upon the mantel, and gazed long and
earnestly upon the trinket he held.
al must have dropped it from my neck into
her writing desk, ;" he nurmured, remembering
how, at dead of night, he had risen from his bed
to write in his wife's letters his messages to Ma
ior Andre. Z" How strange that did not miss
it!p
"But, all what is thisl What if her words,
which deemed but an idle superstition, should
prove true1 By heavens, they are, they are
true, and | am LOST" And Arnold shrieksd
aloud; for Inez Velasquez's gift, the ruby crosI.
had grown pale beneath his gaze.
Minutes, long to him as. hours, went by; aud
he only murmured in strange, hollow voice.
al shall fail. The warning came, but too
late-too late!"
And then. as waters'Wil sometimes bubble up
clear and limpid from the deep black spring,
50 from the heart of that proud, passionate. i'm
perious man gashed forth memories Of that love
dream ofhis youth.
And with tears in his eyes, he wandered in
spirit along the terraced walks of that quaint
old Moorish garden, under the blazing starlight
of tropic skies, breathing airs fragrant Of pome-
granate and orange; and, one by one, as monk
eoants his beads, he said over the broken VOWS
uttered in that sweet, sweet springtime Of the
heart.
dead, dead"' he murmured sadly. al
know it all now. All these long years cannot
have gone by, and her heart not broken.
ALAS. and thus it has heen from my youth
up. Thus, evory good and lovely thing I have
crushed in my path, and now, now" he added
in a hollow voice, "with this warning of my
doom, what have to look forward to but death,
or, worse far, contempt and seOrn7'
And so the hours Of night wore on, and gray
morning came, and with heavy heart Benedict
Arnold set forth for West Point.