The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-10-01

long, however, after Mr.. Hcndon came down
here, that change seemed to come over poor
Kate. She would ST. silent for hours, and II
Ralph came TO lry aud cheer her up, sue woud
speak sharply and hJrshly 90 him, and then
sometimes burst into q hood Of tears, ana beg
his pardon, and kiss him, and tell him that be
was the deGI est and best OF men, and that She
was not worthy Of him, / was great friend
Of his, ard ! gathered most of this from
BIN at the time, poor fellow. | was sitting in
my cottage, one day, towards the evening, tuink-
ing il would soon De time to be going OIL on any
beat, when young lrCr lfva BURT in with a face
as white as % sheet, and scarcely able 20 staad.
'Nhat Is the matter, man. said ! ; "hayo you
seen ghost .' But hu staggered u a chair and
fell, rather than sat- down on IT, holding his face
between his hands, while the big sobs that burst
from him seemed 90 shake him from head 10
foot though not tear fell through his fingers. /
stood by him for some time, but he seemed to
grow worse instead Of better, and at last laid nv
hand on his shoulder. Come, Ralph, be q man
what is an this aboutE He turned on me like a
tiger. Leave me alone, curse you. Do
you too mock at me = and, with one spring,
be was past me, and out az the door like "a
mOdman. / followed in haste, greatly alarmed,
rs you may suppose, but could see nothing OF
him. There was mist rising, ana any one would
nave been invisible at any moderate distance
and il was with deep forebOdngs that ! went my
rounds that night. When I returned 10 my cot
tagc ] noticed a small piece Of paper lying on the
! floor. IL explained all. Ii was letter from
Hendon to Kate, evidently written in a hurry,
| and was all Crumpled up, as if it had been
| CutChed in the fingers No doubt 10 had dropped
| from Ralph's hand, though how he got 1t / do
! not know. 10 left no room for doubt. lie urged
her to fly from the village before her condition
became known, aud promised that he would pro-
vide for her. Soon after ! heard more. That
same evening Kate Polmarthen had disappeared
That very morning her bedroom had been found
empty, and she was gone. What surprised others
though not me, was that her father made no
search after hCr-fOr he made none. HendOn
was still in the valley, in order, / SUPPOSE to
divert all attention from himself, as he was not
aware that the note had been found, Ralph and
| keeping our own counsel. What need to pub
ish the certainty Of her shamei We heard
nothing of Ralph for three days, when he re-
turned and went about his work just as usual
but Tcsenting tiercely any mention of the past
His MANNER too, was quite changed. Oh so
baggard and wild he looked and with a dogged
kind OF sullenness in place of his former light
hearted gayCty. Even TO me lac never spoke now,
and one or two attempts made 10 draw him out
into conversation were met with such bursts Of
rage that was obliged to leave him to himself
And now must come 10 the most painful part
Ofmy tale You see that the bay below is closed
in at high tide, and the sand gets quite covered.
IL was high water about halfpast eleven on the
September evening, when l was on my beat, and
bright night, just like this. / was walking
along the top of the cliff, just where we are now
when thought l heard voice down below, on
the beach, which was nearly under water. Sur
prised at this | looked over, and saw there was a
figure there, and that he was rushing about, and
shouting up. | could recognize the voice of
Hendon, and called out 'HolIos therep
Help! help! he cried. i am cut of by the
tide; can't swim; send a boat. For Gods sake
help me! So 10 was. Sauntering along, he had
i suppose waited there, and had found himself
cut OIL by the rising tide, which would have been
the case an hour and half before saw him, so
that he must have waited at leas; that time with
the water gradually rising higher and higher.
But what was 70 be done. True, had a rope,
and instinctivey had taken it out, but it was
only q short one, about q dozen yards long, l
"A wi ms hut hat
was it now l could not descend the cliff, and
If left my beat 10 60 for assistance he would be
drowned long before l could return. Even
while l hestated l heard a step behind
me, and Ralph ITegarya stood by my side.
Il can 60 down that Cliil, said he, in the
measured tone he had always used since then,
though there seemed to be an expression of savage
exultation in his tone that night which made me
shudder. IN 60. Give me that rope Good
GOdn ] exclaimed, III is certain death' While
l spoke, however, he had snatChed the rope out of
my hands, let himself over the edge of the cliff
and was going down hand over hand Clutchinga at
every little bush and every tutt Of grass. My
head swan watching him. One slip and he would
have fallen, literally smashed on the rocks below;
but he seemed TO bear charmed life; for still
could see him going down, further and further,
crawling like a lizard, TIL he was only some eight
or ten yards from the bottom. There is Il flat
edge OF rock there, and he lay down on it.
1t was a still night, and l could hear him as
plainly as l could you, sir. MIR. HendOn!
he called out. 'Oh, thank God, you are come at
last = l hGaTu Mr.. Hendon answer. 'Here | am;
how can 1 reach you l have rope with me
if throw il you can you get up here 2 Yes
yes, be quick, be quick. The tide has risen up TO
my knees, and l am half dead with cOld.' Just
So was the strange answer OF TrCgarva. Quick
quick; do not trIae with me- l shall drown.
You will not drown for half an hour yet, Mr..
HendOn, replied Ircgarya, with laugh; but
such taught 1t sounded like the laughter
Of iend, oh for Hercys sake, be quick
Mercy echoed TregarNa. Such as you
have shown shall be shown to you. Where is
Kate Polmartheng do not know.
do not, indeed. Quick the water is over
my knees 'Liarp returned Ralph, heed
less Of his agonizing entrcatjes. 4 have
yentuTed to come here. Do you think 1t was to
save you No; 1t was to secure my revenge.
Never shall you come up here alive. Listen TO
me. When heard of her fight, l among
the first to visit her house. Her father found
| letter from you, telling her where to go, and
| that you would meet her. She had dropped it
| in her hurried departure. But never shall you
meet her in this world. Liar seducer! Your
| last hour has come. l have but to throw you this
| rope, and You are safe. Your life is in my hands
| but had thousand lives, and were each of them
entwined in your one, l would give up ALL all, to
punish you Again, the scream arose-'Mercy
Such mercy as the lion shows to his prey, such
| shall } GU have. You shall die, wrctch-de in
| Your sins and as the water mounts higher and
| higher, think of her whose body and soul you
| have murdered, think Of me, whose peace of
| wrecked, and thenask for mercy. Neyerp OH
that could forget the fearful scene that followed.
| The wretched Hcndon, as the water mounted
| higher and higher, while each wave almost tore
| him away from his frail hold on the projections
| Of the rock, clung to the cliff, shrieking out
| mingled prayers and blasphemies in his agony
| while the relentless waves came dashing
| in, rearing up with hOarse boom
| against the rocks while above all rose
| the frantic yclls Of Tregarva, as he cxulted in
| his tcrrOrs and suileriugs, like a wild beast
| over his victim. The crisis arrived. One
| mountainous wave came rolling in, and while
| his death-shTek still rings in my ears, Hendon
| was tom away tiOm his hold His white face
| appeared cleaning amongst the spray for one
| moment, the next he was dashed with fearful
| force against the rocks, and the next a bleed
! ing and shattered body was borne out 70 sea.
Ralph was reasccnding the cliff, when, losing
his scanty foothod, he slipped away. For one
moment he hung suspended from tue shrub he
was holding, and then, as the roots gave way
under his weight, he iell-dOwn into the same
tomb to which he had consigned his victim. His
body was never found That OF Hcndon was
recovered next day, and an inquest held. ! was
the priv clpal witness, and verdict Of 'Nilul
murder was returned against Tregirya.
81 have little more to tell. Poor Kate and her
babe lie side by side in the churchyard. And
now, sir, Can you wonder that don't much like
being here all alone But ] see my mate is
coming, Just in time SO l Will bid you gOJd
night Sir"
"GOod night"
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