The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1874-09-18
that it is nothing but an illusion ?"

u | WIS
!. "Do you see it now?" sske,
!, Charles.
"Yes, it has glided around to tn
D other side of the carriage. It's N
!. use to struggle against the Illusion
3 Charley. Three months ago
thought if Mary would marry m
/, and go with me 20 the Old World,
. might at length shake of this Laun
2 ting presence, amid other scenes
1 and in the society of Mary"
/ "Msry is ready To marry you a
! any moment, and go with YEA
where yoH will She ssy ~,
, said Warren. eagerly.
, lie shook his head ~ it'll / mourn.
fui smile. alt is too late. old fell
! low" he answered. Il SD. nld only
drag the dear girl down with me
into the gulf whittier [ am sinking.
i have given myself mp to my fate
! at last. 1t is strange, hut SOM how
have always felt that long life and
love .and happiness were not +, L
me. When ! come 10 think alb ut
it, am sure that deep down in the
soul of every human being there
lies the dim foreshadowing of his
own destiny. Whether his life is to
be successful and happy one, or
whether it is to be q wreck and a
failure, every man has the shadowy
foreknoWledge of it<7n his-o soul.
My life is to be the wreck and the
failure. l want you and Mary al
ways to believe of me that it was
through no fault of mine, Charley"
Charles Warren dashed away
tear which half gathered in his eye.
81 can well believe that of you,
Oscar" he said.
Charles wrote at once TO his sis
ter, describing the melancholy hal
lucination which had possessed the
mind of Oscar Gereau. He eau
toned her to meet Oscar just as she
had always done, aud, above all, not
to betray any fear or nervousness
in her unfortunate lovers presence.
He waited long enough for her TO
get the letter, and then started for
home, taking Oscar with him. He
hoped that the sunny presence of
Mary might drive away the over
whelming shadow. 1t was all in
vain. Oscar frightened for few
hours, and then lapsed again into
state of worried, restless despond-
ency. Then the faithful friend
took him to the seashore, and to the
mountains, hoping still to battle the
haunting phantom. 1t was of no
use. If Oscar looked out from the |
car window, as they ratified over |
the railway, a masked phantom |
with streaming hair and white gar
ments glided always beside the |
window; if he turned his eyes in
ward, there stood the horrible |
thing, sometimes in front of him,
oftener beside him, with q cold pale
hand evermoro laid in his, ever
more leading him onward to dark
ness and despair. At length it be-
came evident that his health was
hopelessly gone. Without any par
ticular form of disease, he seemed
wasting away from earth. Charles
Warren took him to the old Gereau
House at last, in despair. He be-
came emaciated, till his face was
like the face of q starved bird.
Mary was almost heart broken, and
begged to come to him, but he re-
fused her. He wanted her to re-
member him as he was in health,
he said.
One day Charley Warren left him
to go to a town on the railway,
thirty miles distant. Some bust
ness for the Gereau estate required
there, and Warren
thought to go and see to it, and re-
turn in the afternoon. AS he STEP
ped upon the platform at the sta
ton where he left the cars, hoWev-
er, a hand was laid upon his arm,
and q telegraphic dispatch was put
into his hand. The dispatch said
only this:
"Come back, quickI"
A return train was waiting on
the side track at that moment.
Warren entered it, and fastened
with all speed to his friend, only to
find the Gereau mansion full of {
and hurrying 10 and fro,
and grief. i
Oscar was dying.
lie was muttering and wander
ing in weak delirium, but knew
Charles Warren at once, and beck
oned him feebly to come near.
"Hold my hand" he said, family.
''1f you put your hand in mine !
think she will have to takc her
hand away"
They told Charles Warren that
be had left the house but a few
minutes when Oscar was taken
worse. The housekeeper had sud-
denly heard a fearful cry and fall
up in the young mans room. She
had rushed up at once, and found
him lying upon the floor, shrieking (
wildly, and pointing to one corner {
of the room with look of fearful ]
terror on his face. He had not
been in his senses since. He was
now again, and seemed
to wish to say something TO War
rem. Charles bent down close to
him. He smiled feebly, showing
that he still recognized the faithful
friend who stood by him even on
the brink of the river. II
81 have seen her face" he said,
'the angel with golden hair. It
was horrible, horriblel She took
off her mask after you went away,
and showed me her face. 1t was a
face like that of one dying in
frightful agony, drawn, distorted,
livid, with the blood bursting from
the lips, where her teeth had bitten
through in awful torture. 1t made
my blood run cold to look at the
face-horrible, horrible, horrible!
God bless you, Charley. dear old
boy. Tell Mary
But he never finished it. lie
paused, and seemed to gather his
thoughts, breathed a deep long
sigh, and died with the beloved
name on his lips. He died, wor-
ried out of his life by a phantom.
Mary Warren never married.
The memory of the noble, unfortu-
nate lover she had lost was more
to her than the love of any living
man.
The Gereau estate passed to a dis
tant branch of the family. Many
months after the death of Oscar,
the new proprietor took it into his
head one day to refit the library.
For this purpose he had the books
carefully removed to another room.
One of them, however; q great,
musty old volume, slipped from his
mans hands, anu fell open upon
the floor. A letter fell out of this
book. The gentleman picked it up
and found that it was sealed, and
directed to Oscar Gereau. Right
ly and honorably judging that
Charles Warren, who had known
and loved Oscar, would be q more
fitting person than himself to open
the letter, he sent 1t to Warren.
Charles broke the seal and proceed
ed to read the contents, but sudden
Iy started up with cry of horror,
and ran his hand wildly through
his hair, to assure himself that he
was not dreaming.
In brief, the letter was the con-
fession of Oscar Gereau's father.
Years ago, before Oscar was born,
before his own marriage, even, an
old friend had died and left John
Gereau the guardian of an only