The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1880-11-04

1ACuse lues regret my mistake
most sincerely. / am short-sighted and
have mistaken your wife for IA woman
whose name dare not even mention IN
the presence of lady whose husband il
Q gentleman. Once more, excuse me-
The stranger walked away, leaving
Nordhof in fearful state Of excitement,
uncertainty and dread of something the
horror of which he could scarcely faith
ON. SEEING his w1fe's arm with an
iron grip, he led her home without utter
ing word or needing her lamentations
about his ebrutality.' Neither did he
ask her any questions when they reached
home. He was trembling from head to
foot as if with terror. At length, mas.
tering his emotion, he exclaimed in q
hoarse whisper:
Tell me where you have seen that
man."
"Did he not tell you himself he had
made mistaken was the indignant
reply.
But Nordhoffs suspicion, once aroused,
was not SO easily to be disposed of. He
pressed Stella with questions, and there
was an expression in his eyes, riveted on
her, that somehow awed her into par
tial avowal. She told him she had met
that gentleman at a cafe Gil Sixth avenue.
"a very decent place, she averred, where
she had been but once to eat some ice
cream. Nordhof pressed her no further,
but resolved to watch her. One night,
about week later, instead of going to
the Office of his journal, he remained con-
cealed behind corner of the street he
IN Vvho ho
view of his house. He had been waiting
scarcely half an hour when he saw his
wife come out of the house, and, after
looking about her carefully, hail car
and drive away. Resolved to have done
with his suspicious, once for all, Nord-
hotf followed the car on foot. He ran
thus over one mile, painting for breath,
the preparation rolling in thick drops
from his forehead. At length the car
stopped and Stella aighted. She crossed
the street rapidly and entered an ssestab-
lishment,' = over the entrance of which
Nordhof read the words: "Concert Hall
Entrance Free-Beautifu1 Barmaids in
Attendance
: Half mad with rage and misery he
pushed the door open, entered, walked
straight to the table at which he saw
Stella sitting and took chair. The wo-
man became pale as death and was about
to 1un away, but Nordhof held her fast.
'sYou need not fear me- he said in an
apparently calm tone. 81 will not inter
tere with you any longer. Good bye"
Saying which, he rose and walked out
of the room. Whittier he went that
night no one knows. He simply disap-
peare1 in our great metropolis. His name
was added to that list of the s:missing,,'
and few days latter he was forgotten.
A week after the meeting at the con-.
cert hall a policeman picked up in one
OF the most disreputable by Streets of
the west side man lying in the gutter,
apparently in state Of drunken insensi.
bility. Before the judge the man was
unable to give any name, and SO was
sent for ninety days incognito to the is
land. He must have been very drank
indeed, Tor during these ninety days he
did not recover his senses and remained
IN state of physical and moral lethargy,
utterly Indifferent to all surroundings. In
due time he was released and came back
to New York. Wandering listlessly
through the streets in his absent, uncon.
sclous way, he came upon an old ragman
who was bending under the load Of bag
by far exceeding his forces. The re-
leased prisoner offered to help him. took
the bag on his shoulders, carried it to
the old mans home, and after
depositing his lead in the
middle Of the dingy Placement room, sat
down on it and smiled blandly into the
old mans face. Wise political econo-
mlsts call poor men dangerous and ill
natured.' Perhaps this was the reason
that the old ragman, who certainly had
always belonged to the poorest of the
poor, had pity on this miserable speci-
men of humanity which had followed
him into his den and lett him remain
where he was. During the day the poor
harmless idiot helped the old man in his
work. at night he lay down on the rags
he had gathered during the day.
SO this strange pair lived on for nearly
a year. Suddenly the sick man seemed
to grow worse. He became restless. re-
fused resolutely to leave his couch and
at night screamed and cried and talked
all sorts of nonsense. A few days later,
precisely on theanniversary OF Nordhoffs
parting from Stella, the ragman's weak
minded comrade executed that extraor
binary freak which again brought him
into collision with the police authorities
and then to the city hospital.
There he lay nova miserable. wretch
ed wreck OF the brilliant Nordhoff I
visited him daily and watched the daily
progress eff the sickness which was to
give his death stroke to his ruined mind
and body. On the tenth day he died. A
few minutes before closing forever, his
eyes suddenly recovered part of their
termer lustre, smile crept over his lips,
he whispered, "Stellal'' and fell back In
to the pillows-dead.
And Stellar What became of herr Who
knows and who cares to know!
Do Trees Fall Before a Storm?
tits a matter of common Observance
that trees and their branches tall during
4 IL 4