Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1871-04-29

q an u they had been rose petals blown toward.
her by the evening breeze. some strong saw
age purpose was m turing in her m ad-some
oVeimsstering passion held her whole ing In
Its grasp.
She knew that 10 strike into the right roaa
Laidee must ere lspg take the secluded nah
she herself WAS treading. Her sCle aim vas 20
reach me tiny foot bridge which crossed the
And she succeeded. 1t was quite dark .ha
fragrant, starry darkness Of a rnI,lsumma nj yht
when she baEried down the steep, shelving
bank.
The plsnks are old and ruinous, !" shs mur
INJURED. "They shook and rattle under nv
feet as passed over to-day. Zaidee RsyInond
shalI come between me and my plyhted lover
As lie crossed, she deliberately stooped,
tearing rp plank after plank hehinf her, and
thIo~mg the m IN the river with a duh splash
ing scULG- They were not large, bat had thew
been twice, nay, three times tleir size, Bertha
Nyman would nave torn them away from the
moniuerng beams. so supernatural seemed her
q IEeIe, she said, bsif aloud. pausing to box
LoTI into he peaceful stream ghere the plank,
toated amid the faint reflection OF innumera-
Ole stars. " Long ago, when l was child, a
nan WAS drowned here. The water is deem and
the spSt i very lonely"
The next moment she was gone, hurrying
madly away, a. If some unseen presence were
following close upon her footsteps
q" You're late Tonight, Bertha?''
Paul was locking out 10 her from the piazza
d" know H. she said, putting the hair axav
from her forehead, where the cod dew stood n,
beads: It's long way from Redcote Farm, and
IL did not walk very fast"
Come and sit by me, Bertha" said Paul:
" I've long story 10 tell YOU"
What is it?'' she asked, mechanically.
rs about little Zaidee Raymond. She's
not a widow after ALL
- Not a widON?"
1" No; ard how DO Won suppose l found out?
Clifford, my cousin Clifford, wrose to me from
ha is har
was some misunderstanding, some absurd QUAR-
rel between them before the HONEYMOON was
over. He was Jealous fool, and she was pas
siOnate and she ran away and left him. He
somehow heard that she was in this part OF the
country, and wrote to me. OF course the min
ute got chance 20 speak 70 her knew it was
Laldee. And she Is the happiest little creature
IN the world to think he really loves her. and
next week she's going out TO him. I've managed
II ali. Don't you think I'm pretty good diplo-
His face was fairly radiant with honest pIeas-
UTe as he looked down into Bertha's face She
DID not see the gaze; her eyes, wide open ani
GiIa'e0, were hIed on vacancy, and her face
MercifBf God of Heavens! What had she
done, IN the wild, unreasOning madness of her
Of Cain upon her brow?
Alas, for the Wild Temorse that gnawed at her
heart all the slow creeping hours of that dread
iul night Had the wealth of a hundred worlds
been hers, she would have cheerfully given it all
TO undo the work OF these few maniac minutes
on the lonely bridge! Nav, she would haze
died herself, in all the bloom of her youth and
nope and beauty, TO wipe out that brief half
hour OF her life!
Whes she rose the next morning she looked A.
II an illness OF months had passed over her
head.
How i'll you look, dearlr said her aunt. "I,m
afraid tAst walk was too much for YOU yesteT-
day. And it's 30 strange that Zaidee did not
come home last night"
"Strange!" As Bertha closed her heavy
eyes she almost seemed 70 see the dead face
turned upward among the water lilies, with its
wealth OF ietty hair tangled amid their wreatned
stems. Oh, God! as long as she lived that whit
hours.
would it be long before they found the corpse?
Would they bring it up the fowery lawn, with
toe long dripping hair or would il hoat there
for days, perhaps, in that lonely spot? And
" Why Zaidee! where have you been all this
Bertha started up, with a wild, hysteric
scream IL was her aunt's voice, and Zaidee
Ray mond stood in the midst OF them, with
blooming cheeks, and soft, dImpling smiles
. At Farmer GeaTy's to be sure IL was 80
dark when L passed there last night the kind
souls insisted on my staying there with them
until morning. And il was a very lucky thing
did, for when we got TO the bridge this morning
We found that the thUnder-shoWer in the niz6t
lad raised the stream and washed OH hair those
ruinOUs old plsnks!"
Bertha Wyman rose and came toward Zaidse.
taking her TO her bosom with a strong. tender
pressure that the young creature scarcely un-
deIstOOd.
''Oh, Zaidee. we were so frightened! Thank
Heaven you are safe once more! Dearest
Zaidee, Paul has told me all, and am so glad!''
II ever woman spoke from the bottom OF her
heart, Bertha Wyman did at that moment.
The next week Mrs. Raymond went ont To
Join her husband in India; and a month after
ward Paul FOrdham was married to Bertha
whose unWonted gentleness and sweetness OF
demeanOr rather astOnished the household.
. Something has changed her very much"
said the good old aunt. But no one ever knew
what the something" was that had wrought
such an alteration in Berthas character,