American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-11-14

and a front one, too? She said it was; bu
women, You know, are not reasonable in sucl
cases. | was dentist then, with rcputa
ton to lose; was y lover then, although
| deceived one. However, there was no pacify
! ing Arabella- She was persuaded that hat
done it on purpose. She was most violent
She had predetermined upon quarrel will
me, although she had not perhaps fixed upoI
the precise period for its occurrence Well
she brought it on then. 1t awful
scene. How she abused mel What langua@,
she permitted herself! How she screamed
What Mysteries she went into, However, tn,
tooth was out, there was no mistake abou
that"
Here he smiled again, most malcvolently
it seemed to me.
Her treachery toward me was punished
although, As | have stated, by pure accident
or error of judgment, which you please. Blu
Arabella vowed vengeance against me II
that respect, am bound to say, she has beer
as good as her word. Its no thanks to hci
that am living to speak of these things to
night"
Then You really believe that she let fall
| the opera glass on purpose"
81 am quite satisfied of it. She meant my
death. She knew was there | had noticed
her before leaning out of her box and taking
note Of my position, was just thinking oi
changing it, suspccting what might happen,
when | was struck down. Arabela is Il
woman who knows what she is about. She
was always that kind of woman. | know her
| I've good reason to. And its not the first time
| she planned To PUNISH SaIa.tlN as she
| could. You did not know until tonight, per
| haps, that one of my eyes was artificial? No.
naturally you didn't. Well, that was her
doing"
| "What, The artificial eye:'
| ''Don't be stupid" he said rudely. No
doubt had been rather obtusc; but had
heard of ladies painting on glass and doing
| potichomanie and other strange things i'll the
| way Of fancy work, and for the moment, alto
gether, my mind in rather Il confused
state
NO" Sterckcr continued, g but l owe to
her the necessity for wearing an artificial eye.
1t happened ut the howcr-show in the Botani-
cal Gardens. There was dense crowd. 1t
in the tent where the pelargoniums
exhibited. Not that | care about such things,
but it so happened. lady advanced with
her parasol held in front of her. Suddenly
she seemed to thrust it at me, as a lancer
might his lance Her aim wonderfully
| true. The sight of my left eye gone for
ever 1t was quite mercy that the spike of
That was Arabclla's doing, of course. Part of
her revenge"
"And she said nothing?"
"She said calmly: : | beg your pardon. 1t
an accident and passed She looked
very handsome She was superbly dressed.
However, that she always is. Her husband
is old, but amazingly rich. He labors to graf
ify her slightest whim-so I'm told. But her
only desire-the sole passion of her life-is TO
wreak her vengeance upon me | feel that.
She cannot forget, much less forgive, the loss
of her front tooth. You see, she's reminded
of that unhappy business every time she looks
in the glass, which she does frequently, of
course. She always vain. And she
means, sooner or later, to be the death Of me,
that's quite clear. She's made two very good
attempts: at the Botanical Gardens and, to-
night, at the opera. The third time perhaps
she'll succeed"
:. But doesn't the thought horrify you?"
81 accept my destiny" Stercker said,
smiling, and with rather an affected air:
+" 1t would be something to fall by the hand of
such woman as that; that would be my con
ISOLATION; really fine creature, you know,
although no longer i'll the bloom of YOUTH
indeed, removed some distance now from the
bloom of youth, but still grand and beautiful
and so resolutc. If she had loved me as she
hates me-"
"You love her still, them"
"Well, not precisely. But | admire her,
Just As | admire the Bengal tigress in the Zoo
If possible, | should like Arabella to be Gagged
like the tigress; but as that can't be-well,
wear this stud rs memento to her, and for
the rest / take my chance. Now what will
yo,t take? Another cigar No? Some
more brandy land -water:'
No. would take nothing more. l had, in
point of fact, already taken more than was
absolutely necessary to me. l left Stericker.
/ was much impressed by my experiences of
that night, by what had happened at the
opera. and his extraordinary narrative
touching the vengeance of Arabella. Was it
true? / was really not in Il state of mind to
determine. Even now i have difficulty at
arriving at any distinct conclusion on the
subject. But 1 know that stericker's face
wore, to my thinking, a very re-
markable expression as l quilted him His
smile was SIMPLY awful. And strange
to say-at least, l think so, though it may not
strike others in that light never saw Ster-
ECKER again. He died shortly afterward, as
read in the newspapers, the victim of Il street
accident. He was knocked down and run
over in Hyde Park by pony phaeton, driven
by Il lady There was, of course, an inquest
upon his remains, the jury deciding, however,
that he met his death "by misadventure."
Some attempt had been made to hold the
lady responsible, and to charge her with furi-
Gus driving. But nothing of the kind was
sustained before the Coroner. Various wit
nesscs gave evidence, acquitting her of all
blame in the matter. Her conduct in court
was said to be most becoming And it was
reported that, attired in very deep mourning,
she had followed Stercker's body to its last
resting-placc in Brompton Cemetery. Now,
was this lady the Arabella of Stericker's
story: She may have been But l have no
certain evidence of the fact. Nor, indeed,
have / anythin" further to communicate
touching the life and death of my acquaint-
ance Stericker.-1H tie Year Roand.