The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1874-10-26

loved good deal, and L have, in re-
turn, been loved very much indeed. /
say Il without vanity.
"I have loved and been loved, he
repeated, "and, I don't mind owning,
have in my time Tilted and been
Tilted" he said this with q morbid
Don Giovanni air, that thought par.
ticularly Objectionable. "Arabella Tilted
me-" he resumed, "and has never fer.
given herself for 1t, nor me either.
How fair she was in those .daysl She's
fair still, for that matter, though she
uses more pearl.powder now than she
did. Fair, but false. Women are often
that, you know. Shall say alwaysi"
deprecated such an assertion. Ac.
cording to my experience, it was far too
sweeping. He conceded that I was
right, possibly. Yet, 1t seemed to me
that he despised me for my modera-
tion.
"You remarked this stud ?" He pro-
duced the stud We had searched for OF
his request, and found in the lobby OF
the opera.house. at would have
panied me very much il I had lost it.
| regard IL as o precious relic. It be-
longed to Arabella, once. In fact
why should / disguise the truth from
you-that stud is formed out OF one OF
Arabella's front teeth |"
His smile as he said this was not
pleasant to contemplate. His confess
sion had certainly startled me. There
was something dreadful about IL, and
he had the air OF IN Indian brave ex-
hibiting a scalp. He gloried in the
possession OF Arabella's front tooth
How had he obtained itP 1 ventured
TO demand. Was it o pledge Of afEec-
ton Could they possibly have OK.
changed teeth MS ordinary lovers ex-
change locks Of hnir \? I hardly knew
what / was saying, or Of what I was
thinking.
~ was dentist in those days" he
said. What he had been before that,
and since what profession he followed
at the moment OF his addressing me,
really had no idea. "And Arabella was
one OF my patients. But she was no or.
dinary patient. She was something
more, much more than that. She was
for awhile my af1lanced bride. loved
her, and she loved meat least we
thought that we loved each other"
"And you didn't"
"well, we didn't, as it happened,
love each other quite so much as we
thought we did. In fact, both were dis.
appointed, and perhaps q triae de.
ceived. She thought 1 had money I
hadn't. I had been told that she was
an heiress. Well, she was nothing OF
the kind. Still, I am man Of integ.
rity, though You may not think II. I
had promised marriage; fully pur-
posed 10 be as good as my word. The
idea OF terminating our engagement
did not come from me. But Arabella's
temper was imperfect; she was far
from patient; she was ambitious, and,
I must add, ayaricious and deceitful.
She triaed with me. She still hold me
enchanted, but she encouraged the ad-
dresses OF another and a wealthier
suitor. She designed TO employ me
merely as o means OF irritating his
jealousy, and Of stimulating him to de-
clare himself. Then I was 10 be flung
aside as something worthless, because
had served her purpose and was done
with. In good time I discovered her
treauhery. I had intercepted her let
ters-no matter how-and 1 knew all.
But OF that she entertained no sort Of
suspicion. She had always fond smiles
for me, and false words and artificial
caresses. II was maddening. Well,
she was, as I have said, my patient |;
and she suffered much from toothache.
She came TO mo in order that I might
extract q tooth that panied her. II was
arranged that the operation should be
performed under the influence Of chic.
roform."
he paused.
"But surely you didn't"
"Hear me out" he said, and he
smiled, ! thought, horribly. at was
accident, Of course, pure accident. I
was dreadfully nervous. Was that sur.
prising? loved her, and she was
amazingly beautiful. II was accident,
as have said, or call il, II you will, an
error Of judgment, but nothing worse
than that, as you value my friendship"
Gas matter Of fact I did not value his
friendship in the slightest degree, but
I did not soy SOY "My conduct, I
do assure you, was strictly professional.
I did not even kiss her but I extracted
the wrong tooth"
"fhat was your vengeance" 1 inter
innted
"No. She said SO but 1t wasn't
true. ! extracted, as I believed, The
tooth che had pointed out, desiring me
TO extract 1t. Was II my fault that IL
was perfectly sound tooth, and front
one, toop She said II was but women,
you know, are not reasonable in such
cases. I was a dentist then, with
reputation TO lose; / was lover then,
though deceived one. However, there
was no paeiiying Arabella. She was
persuaded that / had done 1t On pur.
pose. She was most violent. She had
predetermined upon a quarrel with me,
although she had not perhaps fixed
upon the precise period for it's occur.
renee. Well, she brought 1t on then.
II was an awful scene. How she abused
mel What language she permitted
herselfl How she screamed What
Mysteries she went into However, the
tooth was out, there was no mistake
about that, Y
Here he smiled again, most malcyo.
lently, as 1t seemed to me.
"Her treachery toward me was
punished, although, as I have stated,
by pure accident or error Of Judgment,
which you please. But Arabella vowed
vengeance against me. In that respect
I nm bound TO say she has been as
good as her word. It's no thanks to