The Placer herald., 1873-06-28
net Justice to din ercsire pr;r;,eges to mo,e;


Ethel. And, yet, ah what bitter agony
-he endures as the truth gto%s piaiher. Ii
is useless TO shut her eyes. She must see
Guys whole rhahiier has changed. Wher
| alone with het lie is absorbed, sometimes
even moody.
At last Naoti makes her resolve; 81 will
setid Ethel away. Let him follow her if he
choose. 1t will give me chance of vent
ing upon him all my gathered rage and sor-
| row"
This resolve Naomi Renwick makes on
The Afternoon. Of certain day: but toward
evening she has made a new and chilling
discovery that wholly changes Il.
She passes through the lower hall and
hears, or rather faheies that abe hears,
voices in an adjoining rooih. The door oi
the room is about half ajar: Naomi stand.
l'eside It, listens for moment, ana ihe,
Clues her eyes TO the crevice iiiade by the
half closed hinges. 1t is hard for Tier to
see. at first but presently discovers Ethel
and her husband seated together OH ,E,
sofa. What more she sees freezes hei
blood. What more she heats nearly unseats
! her reaabh.
She reaclIes liet toom, that ete,ilng, witt,
whirlihg brain and a wildly -beatiiig heart
When ste tries to think she finds her
thoughts an utter chaos, except for the
power Of recalling that those two, Ethel
and Guy. hive msde an appointment to
meet here again that night, after twelve.
Guy may possible be detained but, he has
iold her, unit after twelve; but she can
steal down stairs with perfect safety at that
hour, he adds, as Naomi will have retired
10 rest sometime previously.
| Mrs. Renwck sends down word that she has
. slight headache, aiia will hot appear n,
dinner; she requests that Ethel will tax,
her place in presiding at the table.
Her brain is much easier now: She is
able to think very cleurly and with thor
ough composure:
1t is nearly midnight. Ethel Douglass
has slolei Into the sitting room, ard IN tn,
dim light that fills it stands waiting for tn,
coming of Guy r nwick.
She stands; somehow she is afraid TO sit
Right in trout Of Ter gleans the white
life. size statute OF Naomi--of the frieno
whom she is wronging SO sh mefully and 80
rretrievabIy!
How strange, how Horrible it seems for
her to hold her guilty love meeting before
that wlie, dumb, accusing witness Some
how, willie she waits there, nervous dread
nameess as intense, fills her soul. At som,
slight, though seemingly causeless sound
she turns even paler than her natural hue
makes her. aud presses n sudden hand
against her heart.
In spite of herself she cannot keep hel
eyes irom perpetnally wandering from the
statute Of Naomi, clearly vsable against its
background Of velvet draperes.
Suddenly she utters sharp, alarmed
cry. Have Ler eyes deceived her, or doe.
hat statute family move, as though en-
dowed with wing, vague life?
Presently Ethels ey e. d'late with awf.lt r
sor The statute has lifted its han,
md ia pointing, with one rigid, out
stretched finger, directly towards where she
stands.
Partially in the madness Of her fear anC
partially because her limbs relax beneaiI
her she snks to the floor Aud then he,
hands weakly np fled themselves once,
whilst her glarng eyes mark the statut,
slowly descend from its pedestal
After that she fails upon the floor. The
blow has killed her.
"For Gods sake, Naomi, what does thir
mean?"
Guy Renwick has just entered the studio
| Naomi, with hollow and horrible laugl.