Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-17
THE PROLOGUE.
THE LEGEND OF THE SILVER ISLE.
PApr L-THr s1N.-fContinuedl.

purpose. Side by side they walked,
treading in dead footsteps. The lower
world grew less, and the lights in the isle
so faint that they could now scarcely be
distinguished. The unknown world was
before them.
"Your brother and you," said Evan
geline, did not walk this road in silence
last nght:''
"We spoke of many things, of many
persons, chiefly of YOU"
''Of none other?"
g l have said, of many"
"You had mother who died years
since, and whom you loved. Your brother
has told me of her, and friends who knew
her have mentioned her name to me with
tenderness and reverence Did she find
no place in your converse?"
''You are torturing my soul with your
questions r'
g Are you pleading to me for pity: 1
believed you to be bold and heroic No
man in the isle could cope with you in dar-
ing. What should turn you back when
once you had resolved? Fear? You had
not, then, your brothers nature. Be silent
if you choose, and leave me to find my
way alone"
He continued, in a set, stern voice: We
spoke of our mother, and recalled all the
tender "reminiscences of the past, COM
mencing at our childhood's days. The
stream we used to battle in our woodland
rambles; our dreams our fancies our
VOW to live our lives together, to share
each others joys, each others woes-a vow
repeated when our judgments ripened and
we were men. We dallied with sweet
memories. Hold !" he cried suddenly.
''Take not another step forward? 1t is
death On the edge of this precipice we
kissed, and parted"
SAT whose desire 2"
cat his. He wished to be alone.
The crescent OF the moon rose over the
snow mountain, and by its light Evangeline
saw that they We're standing upon the
brink of narrow precipce, which shelved
sheer down into an awful chasm, formed
by the splitting of the rocks on either side.
No mans eye could pierce the. gloom, and
no mans foot could tread the perilous
descent.
"And then ," whispered Evangeline.
"And then? Proceed. There is more to
tell"
81 walked slowly away. Had my will
been in my own control, l should have fled
in haste, but a demon held me in his
power My feet were as heavy as lead ; 1
could scarcely drag them on. Exhausted,
was forced to stop and rest; and when 1
would have continued my path to the val
ley, an unseen force pulled me to the spot
where l had lett my brother. My feet
were free now FASTENED quickly back.
l found him here lying on the ground,
kissing love-lock you had given him.
The madness of jealousy, suddenly
aroused to action, fell upon my soul and
blinded me The air was thick with
phantoms Voices cried to me Here lies
he who bars your way to heavenly happl-
ness What deed is too terrible for dear
loves sake?' l raised a mass of rock and
hurled it forward. 1t Numbered down
the abyss When sight was restored to
me, saw not my brother ~
The girl inclined her body towards him,
and gasped in horror
"Not a sound? Not a cry? Gone,
without sign!''
He scorned to lie.
GA wall rose from the abyss. Your
name-Evangelinel''
ellis last word His last thought
Oh, God be praised that he was mine in
death, as in life!"
She knelt swiftly upon the brink of the
precipice. He held her tight so that she
should not fall over. The moons light
had grown stronger now, and she could
see more clearly. Her eyes searched the
ground with feverish eagerness, and found
what they sought-stains of blood upon
the rocks. the life blood OF her lover, lying
dead in. the black depths below. She
pressed her lips to them, and kissed them
again and again, with sobs and cries of
love, and presently, when her paroxysm
was over, she rose, and with a sudden and
violent effort, twisted herself from the
grasp of the man who held her The
movement was so unexpected that he had
no power to prevent it,, else it were an
easy task for him to have borne the slight
and fragile girl to place Of safety.
''Stand where you are!" she cried.
"Move but hairs breadth towards me,
and fling myself into this dread chasm !"
They were separated by more than an
arms length, and he dared not stir. The
girls voice convinced him that her life
hung upon his slightest movement. Firm
and still as the rocks around them he
stood, with his dark eyes fixed upon Evan
geline and she, like white specter in
the light of the moon, faced him with
steadfast look.
Have you more to say ?" she asked.
81 have told you all. have darkened
your life; but a star shines for you and
me-ny love, my deep, unutterable love
for Evangeline! J"
"What would you have of me?"
"The redemption of your pledge"
~ do not understand you"
"In life you were his; now, you are
mine. have made you SO by crime !
claim your
sit is true" she murmured. 81 am
his, or yours. But if l were dead Do
not stir There is danger in it - If
were dead"
81 should follow you to the other land. s"
"Who, then, would claim me-you, or
your brother? To whose arms should I
fy?p Slowly she unwound the girdle OF
roses round her waist, and dropped them
into the abyss s'There is but one hope
OF salvation to you-to live, when l am
gone, and endeavor to expiate the crime
which has blasted the happiness of three
| lives IF vou do not This my hate sbaII