Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-10-27

resume of the principal events in my his
tory-chiehy consisting, can assure you,
in my courtship, marriage, wedding lin
Guiding my dot, which reposes in the rack
Algy's imperative tour, and my now go
ing on to be with him once more after
nearly four weeks of cruel separation; te
all of which the Comtesse listened atten
lively and courteously, with interest, anc
little, sympathetic, womanly smiles anc
mods. Before I have finished, I think hel
the most delightful, motherly, charming
lady that L have ever encountered-were
it not for her nose; but endeavored JC
avoid looking at that, and strive to rive1
my attention solely on her bright eyes and
pleasant smile.
Nine. la Comtesse in return confdes tC
me her card-a fac-simile of that so neat
ly tackled to her satchel-and tells me that
La Comte is long since deceased, leaving
her the mistress of a small Independence
that she resides in London, 'sas she loves
the dear English" and just now is en-
route for Baden to drink the famous
waters.
We get on famously, the Comtesse and
I, and think joyously of how glad Algy
would be to know of my being under the
wing of so charming and educated a per
son. In fact, at the end of our fourth day
together, I feel as if I had known the
Comtesse all my life, and I feel also that
she likes me. The nose Expresses me fire.
quently, but contract habit Of talking
and listening to her without looking, and
this somewhat. ameliorates the situation.
On Friday evening at O'Clock we az
rive at Baden, and, as the Southern train
does not start for two hours yet, [ &C cept
my new friends offer of spending the time
with her at her hotel quite gratefully.
1 am installed in the little parlor of the
Comtesse's pretty apartment, en- t4oisienae,
it is true, but affording delightful view
of everything and everybody that pass. I
am seated alone. for my friend has gone
down to see to the arrangement of her bag
gage. She returns, her face full of alarm,
and a coarse, reddish envelope in her
hand.
''Be not alarmed, my child; tits tele-
gram for you, think. Mime. A. S. West
moreland,'" reads the elderly lady from
the wretched thing in her hand.
monsieur Won Linden just gave it to
me now as I passed by the ofice.''
take it, and with trembling fingers tear
open the envelope and unfold the bit Of
paper. A smile breaks over my face and
the blood resumes its place in my cheeks
nothing more terrible than this:
''Wait over day at Baden. I will join
you on Saturday evening. ALGY."
I read it aloud to the Comtesse, who
shares my joy in charming fashion, and
instantly offers to ring the bell, summon
the hostess, and secure me room at once
for my stay. Iaccede gracefully, and ere
long am comfortably, nay, luxuriantly,
ensconced in a bright, elegantly furnished
room adjoining the suite of the Comtesse,
in fact, communicating with it by "a door,
which beg may stand open, as [ am con-
siderably more than timid.
After sumptuous supper, served in my
new friends apartment, with great neat
ness, by pretty, blue-eyed German girl, [
make my excuses and retire. I am, in
truth, worn out with sleepless nights in
railway coaches, and am very thankful
when find myself in a veritable led. [
dream queer mass of nonsense, and, amid
the vagaries of my night in the hotel Of
Monsieur Won Linden, dream that I am
suffocating, smothering with some strange
smelling stuff held tightly over my mouth;
then that it Is removed, and that I see
distinctly, although can move no more
than if I were a stone. 1 see that the
communicating little door between my
room and the Comtesse's little parlor
stands open, letting in a flood of bright,
warm .candle-light; 1 see a woman in a
rose-colored wrapper gliding steal lilly
about the apartment. She is young. and
pretty woman with short, very blonde
hair curling all oyer her head, and she
walks carefully about my room, peering
into this corner and that, under my clothes,
under the lounge cushion, and into the
chest of drawers; and finally she creeps up
to the bed. I feel her hands crawling over
the blankets, and at last searching under
the piled up pillows beside me-for what!
My cot, my precious diamonds, which !
placed there for safety. I try to scream
but cannot; I am as silent as the dead land
I watch her, helplessly, recross the room
glide through the door, close it, and then
no more.
When awake in the morning, the bright
Baden sunshine is streaming in my win.
dow, and 1 feel strangely unrested; my
eyes ache and my temples throb. l rise
and close the creaking shutters. As l dc
so hear low wall from the apartment
of the Comtesse, and like a flash of lightn
ing my dream occurs to me. made one
plunge to the bed again, pull aside the
pillows-my dot is gone! A knock comes
at the communicating door, accompanied
| by another wall.
''Come in!" I cry, as / sit staring dis
! tractedly about me.
'sAh, Nine. Wesmoreland! What have
[ here? All! all! my few jewels gone
The thieves, the burglarsl All! I will have
satisfaction from Mons. Won Linden All
| what will become of me?"
The Comtesse had then been robbed
also, poor lady! She was well nigh beside
herself as she recounted to me almost m,
own experience the sensation of suffoca
ton, and of hearing some one walking
stealthily about her room. AS my new
friend said nothing about having seen tn,
robber, I held my peace, being rather as
named of telling what I now know mus
have been dream, mixed up,oddly enough