The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1872-06-15
THE RIVAL SISTERS.
CHAPTER I.
A BEAUTIFUL BUT DANGEROUS HEROINE.

ton, quiet TOWN. III New o''so, A"''
place had been selected by Mrs. Blake, the
mother of one Of the Rival Sisters, as her
home. on account of the reputation of the
| school. Mrs. Blake made her advent in
| Blanton in the character of widow who
had recently lost her husband and she
brought with her daughter ten years of
age, named Hester, who was placed with
Miss Cranston as pupil.
Hester Blake was n remarkable child.
Miss Cranston found her curious study.
IF she is not tempted, all may 90 well
with her, but ,if she is and the omin-
Gus shake of the head expressed more than
| words.
Mrs. Blake had fifteen hundred dollars
! a wear, which she stated was derived from
property in the South but where it was
situated, and in what place she bad lived
before she had made her advent in Blan-
ton, was matter of conjecture. No
amount of pumping had been successful
| in extracting such information from either
mother or daughter.
For few years the stranger lived al
most alone, for her friendless advent
among them had not inspired her nelgh-
| bors with much confidence in her antece-
dents but as time wen: on she won upon
the good opinion Of those around her, and
at the time my story opens, Mrs. Blake
was received as guest by the best fami-
| lies in thevilage.
People did not trust her, but they ad-
| mired and pitied her for they SAID "she
| is roodly TO look Mt, and she has evidently
been a sufferer in the battle Of lite All!
if they had known how, and under what
| circumstances that battle bad been waged,
| am inclined to think that the reputed
widow would have found few friends or
| defenders in that strait-laced neighborhood.
The cottage occupied by Mrs. Blake
| stood about mile from the town Ii was
"A comfortable house. with veranda in
'front.' over which towering vines were
trained, and the large yard that surround
ed it was shaded by elm-trees.
She was now dreamily regarding he'
daughter, " no stood in front of Il mirror
combing out mass Of black glisteninl
, hair.
The figure Of the girl was modelled afte
that of her mother; there was the sam
a., perfection Of outline; the same sinuou'
= elastic movement but the faces were nc
+ alike.
i She suddenly turned, and facing hi
, mother, said
L The dull monotony of this place is b.
= coming uncomfortable to me. / wish to Sc
T. something of the world must see j
D mother
F With q sigh, Mrs. Blake said
"Sit down on that low chair, and try
be quiet while speak Of things | had Il
most determined never to reveal TO you
b. Hester sat down, and prepared TO liste
ID to what she had SO long desired to knO'
,s Mrs. Blake at length spoke
"You ask me how it happened that
" | ~ he, k. I uInrnI . ~
IL he was permitted to wrong me so bitter
u as to bring to his home another wife viii
# / vet lived and suffered
III must go back to my early life, Al
tell you of myself before | became q
wife of Armand Landry. My father VI
r. dlsspated, reckless man, who owned
small place near lie Bocage, as the Landr
u plantation was called. ] was his onl
n child. ! was educated in II convent scho
d in France, till | was nearly eighteen yea
;. old Then my aunt took me home, havin
!, already arranged a marriage for me.
4 wa, not consulted, but did not reb,
d against it. for Claude Beltot was youn
Z and good looking, ana 1 preferred remain
ing in France rs his wife, to returning
. the dizziness Of plantation life.
My father gave me twenty thousan
i francs as my dover, and Beltot expecte
= to get much more from him. think tn,
n prospect induced him to marry me, for
soon found that he was Us indifferent
~ me as | was to him.
Indifference soon merged into co
tempt on my side, and something iii
aversion on his. We had evidently ma
~ IL wretched mistake, and we were glad
IN separate by mutual consent ! return
an to louisiana and Beltot went to Alger
al when / came back to my early hor
"A | found my father living as reckless
as ever.
ne among the young men who came
his house was Armand Landry. He W
two years younger than |, for he had n
,, completed his twentieth year when ! fiji
IL net him. He soon iorsOok the gamir
L table to lingcr near me, and well =
NJ was mad enough to give him the heart II
, husband had never tried to win. low
~ him to that degree that ! thought Ii
BE- would be worthless unless IL was shar
he with him.
- Armand seemed devoted to me, but
never asked me to marry him. He kne
at that his proud old father would look wi
of scorn on the daughter of such II man as II
r. father was.
IN my father swore that Armand shot
'" yet be my husband, and for that purp,
|
was SO infatuated that ! cared little
what means Armand was to be ensnar,
r. provided | became his wife. ! enter
* into his plans, shameful as they were, II
err allowed myself to be united 10 Il man W
nd had been lured again to our house IA
when incapable Of acting for himself, W
~ pronounced my husband by missiona
H. who lad been SO short Il time in I
~ country that he knew nothing of the wroi
ID, be WAS helping to carry into effect, He "
hi brought to the house IA few moments b
va fore the ceremony was performed, and il
IL Immediately afterward.
"A time had been chosen when the cid
: Landry was absent from home. believe
I, that Armand lnved me ms truly as did bin
ut was several weeks before be recOvere
n all the natural energy of his mind, and
= began once to fear that he would b
) permanently injured by the drug | ha
permitted to be administered to hin
But the time came when he fully under
stood the position in which he was placed
and thcn--such scenes as passed betwee
: w. cannot describe. He tercely resente
e. the part had taken in entrapping him in
10 marriage that would be odious TO hi
proud father and declared that he coul
" never forgive the.
so Na'niy tried all my powers Of fascina
- ton to enthrall him, and win forgiveness
1t from him.
=. las soon as he was well enough to leav