Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-09-04

Il @%~N&T NNM#< 74 ANAA
fells Imagine t2 lion caused
By a deadly posson. dhanly og
that poison. reed ~ Letters: all.
Then I refolde8 I6 led - r,b-
bon, replaced e. INA sIns o.
1 drawer.
Il Easv IL a lss her
aE 70 o'clock aN as BE- afom
| fhe COUNTESS iii 1hs nn. Ana 60
Il happened. SHE Mn hastily
i.er i, ..,.s &c .:''..''... sa:''sss ss'.|s .
Shs kizskd Dc 81. s.selns lsnass.
ness and seemed 10 BE- very dad 10 De
with me again. Jet nosking be seen
on my face. We talked, We supped To-
| gether aud then retired 10 our separate
bedrooms. did not clese my eyes.
Wide awake, counted every hour.
When the clock struck quarter past
midnight ] got up and passed into her
bedroom. There was the beautiful
blonde head buried ia the white pillows.
Il is thus that angels are depicted in the
midst of white clouds. What fright
ful lie was this on the part Of Nature;
vice with q face Of such innocence I
My resolution was taken. | had the
stubbornness Of the madman haunted by
fixed idea. The poison bad corroded
my whole soul.
81 placed my right hand gently under
herthroa and hastily strangled her. She
| opened for one moment her large, dark
blue eyes, looked at me with astonish-
ment, then closed them and died. She
died without struggling against me, as
IL falling asleep. She was never angry
with me, not even when killed her.
One drop ofbIood fell from lIpr mouth on
the back OF my hand You know where;
did not perceive il until the next day,
when IL had dried. We buried her
without any one suspecting the truth.
lived there In complete solitude; who
was there to control my sctions. She
had neither relatives nor protectors TO
question me on the subject and | de-
signedly put of writing to ny friends,
so that none Of them couA arrive in
time.
ION coming back from the vault did
not feel the slightest weight on my con-
science. had been cruel, but she de.
served It. dad not hate her; could
forget her; / hardly thought about Il.
Never did man commit . murder with
less remorse than /.
"OuAmy return. found in the cha
teau the Countess 50 often mentioned.
Ny measures bad been SO well taken
7fthat she also arrived TOD szt1 fbr the Iu-
neral. She seemed much agitated on
seeing me. Terror, sympathy, gnef-
know not what-made her speak so
confusedly that could not understand
what she said to console me.
"Did / even listen TO herr What
need had OF consolations / was no!
sorrow stricken. Finally she took me
familiarly by the hand and said in low
voice that she was obliged 10 confde to
me a secret and that she counted on my
henor as a nobleman not to abuse IL.
She bad given 10 my wife 10 keep for
her q package of letters that she could
not keep herself, and she begged Of me
10 give them back TO her. While she
was speaking felt several times that
shivered from head to foot. With APP
parent coldness questioned her on the
contents of these letters. At this ques-
tion the lady started and replied with
Indignation. -
"'Sir, your wife was more generous
than you. When she took charge Of
these letters she did not ask me their
contents. She even gave me her word
neyer 10 look al them, and am con-
Tinced that she never even glanced at
them. Hers was noble soul, and she
would have disdained to break in secret
her given word
/" 'It j. well, I reylied, How shall
reeognize the package 2
IT was tied by pink ribbon with
silver edge
al will 60 and search for IT.
81 took my wiie's keys and began to
search for the packet: although knew
where il was, pretended to have some
difficulty IN finding il.
"'Is Il this 2 ] said. handing It to the
Countess. 80 5sg s
Eyes, yes! See, the knot made
is still there. She never touched e."
81 did not dare to lift my eyes to her.
feared lest she should read in them
that / had undOne Il, and thatI had
undone something else besides. took
leave OF her hastily; she got into her
carriage aud drove. OF. Poor woman,
she had her excuse. Her husband was
brutal and dIssipated. Ii had been
like him should have deserved wife
like her. Oh but my wife, Her heart
was innocent, her soul angelic She
loved her husband even in The moment
when her husband killed her. / do
not know what ] did during the first
hours that followed. When I came
back 10 the consciousness Of the born
bic reality, was 10 The vault beside
the coffin. saw the I'd slowly raised
and the dead woman wlEhln rose neise-
lessly before me. ] was stretched, stifr
and stark, beside the coffin, one hand
on its edge and The other beneath her
head. The. lips of the corpse were
white; one drop OF blood hung from
them. She beat slowly towards me.
opened her eyes as when I murdered
her and kissed ms tight hand The
dOoP Of fFblpad 1eN Pgsip on mfq ReslE
her eyes shut once. more, she Eell back
on her cold pillow and the eoffn closed
over her dead body. ...--.,-. -.
"a short Tune alter Twas awakened
by pain as sharp .as That produced BY
. scorpions sting. ] rushed into the
open air II was early morning. No one
saw me. The drop Of blood had dis
appeared; there was no outward sign
OF the Pain, and yet the spot where the