Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-12-17

silently 10 remove the bandages. AS soor
as Marguerite felt that her wounds were
exposed she asked for mirror. a
'--'-'' Not yet, my child; not to-day said
the doctor She tried to raise he hands tc
feel her face. Hold her arms down,
cried tho surgeon to- the old woman ant
myself We did 50, ihvoluntarily turning
away our eyes from the sight Of thbsS
swollen and mptilated features once sC
I = Mangnerite saw Sand understood oui
movement. Is it not so, sirg' she said "a
me calmly; will it not be impossible fol
him TO love msT' = & ~ CT
'SNine dayspaseed on ;the wounds were
regularly dressed and were now nearly
cieatrized. The tenth day was that Of
Juan's expected return but no one ven
tured to speak of it. Early in the morning
Marguerite arose and prepared to go out
saying that walk in the fresh air would
do her good II Igoffered 10 accompany her
'' No, thank you, siR.'s She knelt dowr
and after short, silent prayer, turned tC
Gertrude,apd, embracing her, said: 'Bless
your datghtef, dear mother, for the last
time; you will never see her again
! 81 What do you mean, my child
The truth. am going away. You
will say goodbye for me to him, mother
and tell him that It is my very love.for him
that forces me to fly ,--y~-- r.. ~-w
= 90 But dear one, said Gertrude, -detain
ing her, you wrong our Juan he has q
noble heart, and he will love you all the
better for these noble scars when he hears
that it was in saving me from a dreadful
death you received them, t.,.
p "' He has d noble heart replied the
girl, and know he ewould marry me and
try to make me happy; but how could |
endure his Rverted looks--+his sorrow
No, no; | shall suffer much less in suffer
ing alone
5"Just then well known bark Was
heard, and large white dog rushed out
Of the woody path, Caesar 7 cried Ger.
trude, where is your master p ''' ''A
90 Here he isr replied anagitated voice
and holding ono end ,ofsa cord, of which
the other was fastened to Caesars collar, q
soldier appeared Mother, are You here
Where is Marguerite? Why don't you
come and embrace your poor blind wan
dererP' -rLs
Blind! exclaimed Marguerite; and
fixing her eyes on her betrothed, she saw
that his eyes had been covered by a band
age. l cannotdescribe the emotions of al
three; suffice it to say, that after an in
credible number of embraces Gertrude
and her two children returned to my
house, and we passed a delightful evening
Here the curate stopped, and l thought
his story ended II
"Well," l said, az suppose the blind
warrior and his betrothed-still in his i'm
agination blooming in all her youthful
cbarms-were speedily united ?"
(" They were," he replied; at was
who married them; but | have somewhat
more to tell you of them. Their cottage
by the willing aid of the villagers, was soon
rebuilt, and they removed into it. Their
circumstances were very comfortable, and
Juan supported his infirmity-caused, he
told me, by the explosion of a mine-with
the utmost cheerfulness. His tenderness
for his. wife seemed to increase every day !;
and yet she was evidently not happy. She
became prey to constant melancholy, ant
her health and strength visibly declined
Her old friend, the doctor, visited and pre-
scribed for her, but without avail.
/" Myart is at fault he said to me
tHer body suffers, but the seat of the dis
ease is her mind. Do you try to discover
what the secret is which weighs on her
or cannot answer for her life
"Alas how could apply the consola
tioD of religion to case of which the
sufferer persisted in keeping me profound
ly ignorantP Once she seemed on the
point Of opening her mind, but Juan
entered the room and she was silent; mol
could ever afterward induce her to speak
freely. Meantime her bodily condition be.
came very precarious, and Juan, who was
now aware of her danger, was scarcely
less anxious about her.
Zone evening when was in the cot
tage, the doctor arrived, and, having ex.
amined his patient, pronounced that unless
some powerful reaction took place she
could not long survive. How solemn were
the moments that succeeded this announce
ment Poor Juan grasped convulsively
the hand of his wife, While. large tears
streamed from beneath his bandage.
~ began to exhort her on The subject of
religion and when spoke of the mercy
of her Maker she exclaimed: 'Oh, have
great need of mercy, for my conscience is
burdened with heavy load. Listen she
continued, addressing us all, and tell me
whether 1 can hope for forgiveness.'
Grouped around her bed, we waited
in silent astonishment Marguerite had
raised herself into sitting posture, her
wasted arms, her disorderad hair, her
sunken features, her hollow eyes, cleaning
with light like that of a lamp kindled
up before Il is extinguished forever, lent
an air of indescribable solemnity to the
scene. Placing her hand in her hus-
bands she said: Juan, you remember
when we, SEPARATED the promise which we
made Of mutual tidelity?- My heart was
yours and yours was mine. Well, the ter.
ror of losing that heart caused me to COM
nit a grieypvsesin. pictured you to my
self with Stocked, averted looks, at the
first sight of her who was once named the
Pearl and in the agony, the delirium of
the moment, cried to Heaven: oh, Godi
either give me back my beauty or take
from him his eyesightl The moment the
selfish, impious prayer was uttered Bit
terly repented, and would fain have recalled
IL; but too late. Juan, the wish was
granted, and have never known since
one moments happiness
What ? cried her husband, and is
this ths secret, Marguerite which US kill
~ 9sI3Tssl I3SsJl iUb0lU
"'Then live, dearest and be happy; your
prayer was not answered
"And tearing off the bandage which
covered his eyes, he fell on his wife's
bosom and clasped her in a long embrace
"It appeared that the blindness which
had dlfalIen on Juan vas. OAly ofa tehpO-
rary nature. Under the -skiilfuf treatment
of our friend the surgeon, whom he pri-
vately consulted, the power of vision be-
gan slowly but surely to return. Having,
however, heard from his grandmother, the
whole history of Marguerite's horror at
thefidea of his beholding her disfgured
face, he generously determined to conceal
from her his ctire, ut 'feast for TIME.
Now however, itlwag Huddepay revealed,
aud kasljtt TOO late The dodt dtdrmotiohed
US ellsawsT from Tie sbSd. .t6bk bis patients
hand and felt her pulse a hopeful smile
played un his be4eVolent HkGHVA
my friend, said he, turning to me,
: the age of miracles has not ceased -MSr-
guerite is cured PP at es-aisHa 2nH n
Here the good man ceased, and ater a
p4useI asked q { And was Marguerite
In reality so much dishgured?"
I" You shall Judge for yourself" .,t
We walked ON and soon reached a neat
ap9 Pretty ,enttage, covered IN. Hppt With
a luxuriapt vine. An old woman sat near
fl.a 1Aoetsra - as.is,sl..r - - sl.s..H - .