New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-02-20

1Oyfully stake all on your WOrO.
Drink, then, thou lofty creature" e1-
claimed Aylmer, with fervid admiration.
There is no faint of imperfection on thy
spirit. Thy sensible frame, too, shall
soon be all perfect"
She quaffed the liquid and returned the
goblet to his hand.
ut is grateful" said she, with placid
smile. .Methinks it is like water from q
heavenly fountain; for it contains know
not what of onubtrusiye fragrance and
deliciousness. 1t allays feverish thirst
that had parched me for many days. Now,
dearest let me sleep. My elrtly senses
are closing over my spirit like the leaves
around the heart of rose at sunset.
She spoke the last words with a gentle
reluctance, as if it required almost moro
energy than she could command to pro-
nounce the faint and ligering syllabies
Scarcely had they loitered through her
lips ere she was lost in slumber. Aylmer
sat by her side watching her aspect with
the emotions proper to a man the whole
value of whose existence was involved Ia
the process now to be tested. Mingled
with this mood, however, was the phil
oscphic investigation characteristic OF the
man of science. Not the minutest
symptom escaped him. A heightened
flush of check, a slight irregularity OF
breath, a culver of the eyelid, hardly
perceptible tremor through the fra ne
such were the details which, as the mo-
,nents passed, he wrote down in his folio
volume. Intense thought had set its
stamp upon every previous page OF that
volume, but the thought of years were all
concentrated upon the last.
While thus employed he failed not to
gaze often at the fatal hand, and not with
out a shudder. Yet once, by q strange
and unaccountable impulse, he pressed it
with his lips. His spirit recoiled, how
ever, in the very act; and Georgiana, on.
of the midst of her deep sleep, moved un-
easily and murmured as if in remon-
STRANGE. Again Aylmer resumed his watch.
Nor was it without avail. The crimson
hand, which at first had been strongly
visible upon the marble paleness of Geor-
giana's cheek, now grew more family out
lined. She remained not less pale than
ever, but the birthmark, with every breath
that came and went, lost somewhat of its
former distinctness. It's presence had been
awful; its departure was more awful still.
Watch the stain OF the rainbow fading out
of the sky, and you will know how that
mysterious symbol passed away.
by heaven it is we'll gone - said Ayl-
mer to himself, in almos. irrepressible
ecstacy. Il can scarcely trace it now.
Success, success and now it is like the
faiutest rose color. The slightest flush Of
blood across her cheek would overcome
it. But she was so pale.
He drew aside the window curtain and
suffered the light Of natural day TO fall
into the room and rest upon her cheek.
At the same time he heard gross, hoarse
chuckle, which he had long known as his
servant Aminadab's expression OF delight.
'Ah, clod, ah, earthly mass cried Ayl-
mer, laughing in q sort Of frenzy, YOU
have served me well Matter and spirit
earth and heaven have both done their
part in this. Laugh, thing OF the sense.
You have earned the right to laugh"
These EXPLANATIONS broke Georgiana's
sleep. She slowly Enclosed her eyes and
gazed into the mirror which her husband
had arranged for that purpose. \ faint
smile fitted over her lips when she recos-
nized how barely perceptible was now
that crimson hand which had once blazed
forth with such disastrous brilliancy as to
scare away all their happiness. But then
her eyes sought Aylmers face with
trouble and anxiety that he could by no
means account for.
is it with this lotion that You intend
to ba.he my cheek asked Georgiana,
anxiously.
'-Oh, no" hastily replied her husband;
this is merely superficial. -FOUR case
demands remedy that shall so deeper"
In lis interview with Georgiana, Ayl-
ner generally made minute Inquiries as
to her sensations, aud whether the con-
the atmosphere agreed with her. These
questions rad such a particular DRIFT that
Georglana began TO conjecture that she
was already subjected to certain physical
influences, either breathed il with the fra
grant air or taken with her food. She
fancied hkewise-but it might be alto
gether tancy-that there was stirring up
of her system; {. strange, indefinite sensa-
ton creeping through her veins, and
tlngling halt painfully, half pleasurably
at her heart. Still, whenever she dared
to look into the mirror, thele she beheld
herself pale as white rose and with the
crimson birthmark stamped upon her
cheek. Not even Aylmer now hated it so
much as she.
To dispel the tedium Of the hours which
her husband found 1t necessary to devote
to the processes Of combination and
analysis, Georgiana turned over the
of his scientific library. In many
dark old tones she met with chapters full
of romance and poetry. They were the
works of the philosophers Of the middle |
ages, such as Albertus Magnus, Cornelius |
Paracelsus, and the famous friar
who created the prophetic Brazen Head. |
All these antique naturalists stood in ad- |
vance Of their centuries, yet Were imb.ed |
with some credulity, and therefore were |
and perhaps imagined them
selves to have acquired from the inyestiga-
ion Of nature power above nature, and |
rom physics sway over the spiritual
world. Hardly less curious and magma
i've were the early volumes Of the trans
actions Of the royal society, in which the |
members, knowing little of the limits Of
natural possibility, were continually re-
'ordins wonders, or proposing methods
whereby wonders might be wrought.
But, to Georgiana, the most engrossing
-olume was large folio from her hus-
oand's own hand, in which he had re-
,orded every experiment in lis scientific
'areer, its original aim, the methods
-dopted tor its development, and its final
uccess Or failure, with the circumstances
o which either event was attributable.
The book, in truth, was both the history
nd emblem Of his ardent, ambitious,
yet practical and laborious
life. He handled physical details as if
here were nothing beyond them; We:
piritualized them all, and redeemed him
elf from materialsm by his strong and
. ger aSniratinn toward the infinite In |