The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1862-03-11

them, and provided wood and water for
Mrs. Chester, they found the cottage
dark and still, and the door widely ajar.
Lighting lamp they searched the rooms,
but no traces Of Victorelle or her babe
could be found, and in terrified silence
they were about to quit the house, when
Paul Chester made his appearance upon
the threshold.
A slip of paper lay upon the heavy
carpetng, and picking it up he read me :
chanically
Your wife and child are gone-des-
troyed by the hand of your deadliest
enemy. They are drowned in the At
lanIic Ocean,
A scream Of mortal agony resounded
through the room, and Paul Chester fell
forward insensible. 1t was hours before
he awoke from the lethaegy that ensued,
aud then he was raving maniac. Days
passed, and as he grew more wild and
desperate, he was conveyed to Luna
tic Asylum, and the cottage by the sea
was closed and left desolate. Time
swept on, and soon, outside of the walls
of the maniac's home, all remembrances
of his deep misfor,unes had ceased TO
exist in the unsympathzing minds OF
the world. Yet there was one who could
never forget the Autumn night when
Victorelle Chester was sent out on the
sea TO meet her fate. Gustave ST. John
had removed to small village in north
ern New York, and strove assiduously to
bury all remembrances of the past.
Yet it was impossible.
There was deep forest north Of the
village of Knowlton, where Gustave re-
sided, and here it became his pleasure to
wander alone. Late one evening. six
months after the murder OF Victorelle,
he was returning from walk and lost
his way 1t was nothing serious, only
il hindeled him more than an hour, and
as he struck the path that led 10 the
main road, low waling cry arose on
the air, and then died slowly away.
Gustave st. John was not a coward where
his own guilt did not affect him, but now
he turned pale, and trembled like with
cred leaf in the capricious grasp of rude
winds. Again and again that unearthly
sound walled forth, each time nearer and
nearer, and as he turned an angle in the
path an answering cry broke from the
guilty mans lips, He passed his hand
across his brow as if to clear his vision,
and then looked again.
She was there 1t was the murdered
Victorelle, standing directly before him,
like an ayenging angel sent down from
the skies to torture his conscience. Her
raven hair was dripping with the salt sea
water, and her white robe was torn.
And there was the cord around her
wrists and the bandage partially pushed
from her eyes.
Cold drops of sweat oozed from Gus
tsve's forehead, and he groaned aloud,
but with look Of stern revenge the
phantom said in voice so like Victor
elle's that the man shiyered in agony
" Gustave ST. John, am to be terribly
avenged"
lie fell to the ground in an agony OF
fear, and when, after the lapse of many
minutes. he raised his head, the phantom
had disappeared.
After this, Gustave ST. John never
knew peace. The phantom of the Forest
was ever near him, and again and again
did she repeat those fatal words. the last
he had ever heard Nictorele speak
Sometimes she spoke in English, but Of
tener the words were breathed in his
native tongue, and their emphasis was
dreadful.
The inhabitants of Knowlton became
alarmed ! The Forest Phantom was an
object Of fear and awe TO all, and there
was no night when travellers passing
through the lonely woods did not hear
that low vail of mortal anguish that was
so terrifying to Gustave, the murderer.
At las, one night, when the summer
rain was falling in sullen splashes, Gus
tave St. John arose and went out into the
forest where the phantom had always
met him. She was there. and though
trembling with fear, he asked her in Il
low voice Z" yictorele, what shall | do
to repair the wrong have done you.
am about to put an end TO my life. Tel
me, is there aught can do TO atone for
my crime ? My child, where Is my
child?" asked tho specter, in mournful
tone.
(" | have written il all. and sealed the
packet that contains full confession ol
my guilt - As God il my Julue.