The mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1863-1943, 1864-12-17


looking like an angel of peace between two |
S+tNS< Bts.'l ~c'~"TNE E9y4H< = A"a 'etts1
caught sight Of Astley's face all drawn and
set with the effort to suppress his emo
ton, and then threw her arms round his
neck with cry Of love aud terror.
But he unwound her arms, and for the
first time drew back from her embrace.
Mary, my love- Holt's eyes flashed FIRE
at the tender words and tones, tell me,
tell Mr.. Holt, If you remember anything
in your life before you awoke from your
trance in this housei
i do not she said (; 4 remember no.
thing. l haye said so many times
Swear it, cried Holt.
4 swear it, she said, by my husband,
Richard Ashley
Poor Holt! He threw himself at her
feet, clasping her knees, and crying pas
sionately:
'Oh, Edith! have you forgotten me,
your husband, David Holt? Oh, my darl-
ing, you must remember me, and how
happy we were for those short two years.
But she broke from his grasp, and
threw herself into Astley's arms, crying
out:
Send him away What does he mean?
Send him awayp She was pale and trem-
bling with terror.
Let her co. shouted Holt, 'or by
The oath was interrupted by Ashley.
Holt, God knows will try to do what
is right, and for her sake | ask you to be
calm
He placed her in chair, where she sat
weeping for very fright, and went on.
You shall say all you can to bring the
past to her memory, and if she can re.
member you in the faintest degree, | will
give up my claim to yours. But if she
does not-oh, Holt, saved her lifeI'
The struggle was an awful one, and it
shook him as the wind shakes a reed.
You tell her, said Holt, bitterly; per
haps she will believe what you say. AT
any rate, she will listen to it,
1t was hard to begin the cruel task; yet
for her sake he undertook it; his voice
trembling, though he tried with all his
will to steady it.
Mary, love, listen. You know that
you must have lived more than twenty
years before you were brought here that
night
Il do not know she said; Il cannot re-
member
But it must have been so, for you were
a woman them
i cannot understand she repeated
4 have no recollection Of anything be-
FORE
Ashley turned to Holt with look Of
agony:
You see how it is; let US end this tor
ture.'
Give me my wife, said Holt, fiercely.
You will not take her, Ashley cried, as
the thought of his doing so against her
, will struck him for the first time.
= She is mine said Holt. Go on, tel
her the whole story. If she does not un
derstand it, she will believe it when yor
tell it to her.
The sneer with which the words were
spoken was a cruel one, but misery had
made him cruel, and he scarcely knew
what he said or did.
And Ashley told her all in r few words.
She looked bewidercd.
1T must be true, if you say so, but
cannot rccoliect; and oh, Ashley, | love
only you
'She must come with me- shouted Holt,
savagely. The demon had got the better
Of him, and the poor wretch, mad with
jealous pain, spoke bitter, unjust words,
that made the terrified woman cling more
closely to Ashley for protection.
The scene must be ended for her sake,
and Ashley besought Holt to leave them
until the next day, when, if they could
but decide upon what was right it should
be done. For her sake too he condesccnd-
ed to plead with the frantic man; and see
ing that Mary had tainted in his arms, be
laid her down, and led Holt from the room,
that the sight of her might no longer mad
den mm. His rage died out from simple
exhaustion, and throwing himself into o
chair he wept like child.
Ashley reused him. Holt, be man.
This is an awful tragedy; wish to Heav.
en- | had died rather than play my part
in it. There are not upon the earth two
men so broken hearted as you and |. Let
US accept what is inevitable, but let US
spare what anguish we can to that unhap-
py woman. Leave me now, and to'mor.
row | will see you again. Perhaps by
that time shall have thought of some
thing for her.
Holrrose passively. you ere noblcr
than |, he said, as he turned to go.
1t seemed to Ashley that his grief was
not but beginning when he tried to ex-
plan the whole thing clearly to Mary
The torture Of putting it into words was
so intense that all before was as nothing
compared with it. And when at length
She comprehended, and asked him if he
wished her to leave him, even that agony
seemed slight contrasted with what he
endured in telling her that he believed
she ought to do so.
Loving as she was, she could not COM
prehend the sacrifice to duty which Asst
ley was striving to make, and her thor
Ough Ignorance Of the world rendered it
impossible to make her understand what
her real position would be if she remain
ed where she was. And yet this was a
case-so Ashley tried to persuade himself
80 extraordinary, so different from any
thing that had ever been in the world be-
i fore, that no law, human or divine, could
apply to it. But above all the thought
rose dominant, that by whatever mystery
Of Inconsistencies deprived of memory,
she was still Hollis wife and not his, and
with this thought piercing him Ikea sharp
sword, he SAID that he believed she ought
to leave him.
She rose up. cold and proud In mo-
ment, and would have left him then, but
at the threshold her spirit failed, and she
turned again to throw herself at his feet
with tears and sobs.
Night has vailed many nights Of voc,
the clouds Of night have many time been
piecrced by cries of anguish, bitter cries
for faith and patience, going up above the