The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1878-03-28
ieadly hatred for her DESTROYER

He found them not. They had gone
in the yacht which had brought the
traveller to the island, and which had
been lain waiting his pleasure. in the
harbor. Whittier? To France. some
said. To France he therefore went.
by the first vessel that sailed.
1t would not profit to tell of the
long, fruitless search; to tell how, fol-
lowing them from place to place, al
ways too late, he traversed all the
Mediterranean coast until, one dav,
hearing of him and that he was now
travelling alone, he knew that the in
evitable had come to pass, and that
she had been cast aside for fresher
face, a newer love.
Still searching, he found her at last.
Found her in slum, surrounded by
thieves. by Migrants, by women who
were only women in name, dead with
a breathing babe on her rigid heart.
He took the child, and returning
with it to his native place, put lit
among those who would care for it,
and once more turned his restless face
toward his goal. He carried keen
knife now, and had use for it sworn
over her sacred grave.
1t was dreary waiting, and some
times his heart failed him. The
knife-blade rubbed so often to kill the
rust, was becoming thin.
1t was becoming sharper, though,
and he smiled each time he felt it's
constantly keener-growing edge.
at will do its work all the BETTER"
he thought. sit will do it the more
surely, swiftly. and tatally.''
Sometimes, however, fear would
beset him. Might he not die? The
very rowing life his pursuit led him
exposed him to perils which might
balk his purpose.
elf l should die before l meet
him. he thought. ''My God if that
should be -
And at this thought his blood would
turn ice, and strange horror come
over him, a horror that would set his
brain to whirling, full Of mad devils,
that had all one single, hooking face,
and seemed to jeer at him and taunt
him with defeat-defeat
In one of those despairing fits let
ter reached him from what had been
his home. 1t told him that the child
her child-was i'll. and besought
him to return at once.
With curse upon the fortune that
interrupted his purpose even for few
days, he set about it to obey the letter,
nevertheless.
He was in Palermo. The old brig
yonder lay there, bound for Majorca,
and he shipped on her.
On the night of the third day out
they came upon boat drifting. and
in it a fainting man-the last survivor
of pleasure-yatch foundered in a
gale two days before.
He was taken on board, revived and
restored, and next day appeared on
deck. The husband saw him, and his
heart gave one great leap.
The end, long sought by many la
borious ways-through deadly peril,
trouble, bitter want. but always with
undertaking faith. had come at last.
He and her murder stood face to
face
His hand went at once to his knife
in his bosom, but touched the priests
letter and fell again.
He must be cautious. He must not
create any barrier to his seeing the
sick little one among the Majorican
Hills.
His work could be done secretly and
surely on some one of the days of the
voyage yet to come.
Several of these days passed without
bringing the opportunity.
At last it arrived.
One night the traveller and the
captain sat late together over their
wine. They were deep drinkers both,
and the cabin-lamp saw many a
bumper emptied before the carousers
separated.
The nan at the wheel, looking
down through the open cabin hatch
saw them rise at last. and heardsthe
Englishman speak. pressing his tenn
Piles between his hands:
Il have "a headache he said: Il
will go on deck for breath of what
little fresh air there is
1t was hot: a breathless. heavy sum-
mer night. oppressive with the intense
warmth of a coming storm; but to
the helms-man. as he felt for knife
in his bosom, all the furnaces of hell
could not have brought such fierce
gust of flaming joy as turned his blood
to fire and flashed red mist in his
eager eyes when figure stepped upon
the deck.
At last /. at last,
"A close. hot night. my man." said
the Englishman. in his easy. careless
way. as he lounged slowly to the taft
rail. 1.-The sort of a night to remind
one of the fortunes the damned under
go below"
The brig gave lurch to leeward as
the sea twisted her unnamed rudder.
A bright blade flashed redly in the
light of the pinnacle; one figure only
stood where the two, had been, look
ing with blazing eyes into the black
water where circle of sharp ripples
fringed with phosphorecent fire,
widened in lines of paid flames and
vanished.
There had been a single deep groan,
aud figure had plunged past the
cabin window, figure whose heart
was cleft by keen knife, whose blade
was worn so thin that it had been
snapped off. leaving only the handle