Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-06-19
CHAPTER XXI.

heart with the force of an uttered cry. l
was as though the unhappy girl. stood be
fore me, appealing for justice.
EJustioe she can never obtain. Reveng
may come. Through me? Perhaps. TIL
strange change which has placed her con
fession in my hands is but part of desigr
yet to be completed.
at is not chance; it is destiny.
g For some time after reading the con
fession, persons and events swarmed in ny
mind in almost inextricable confusion
Gradually they reduced themselves t,
something Ike order. What are the con
illusions plainly to be drawn from THU
tangle Of deceit and treachery?
"That Harold and Mauvain are villains
It is no new discovery. From the first
have formed q just estimate of the char
acter of these gentlemen.
BEST to call them gentlemen. Men
with true sense and appreciation of man
hood do not Systematically betray limo
cence. ChivaIry is not utterly extinct,
But men are scarce; gentlemen abound.
"Leontine, mysog, you are to be en-
WED. Better to be faithful hound than
human being vino lives for the pleasure
of the hour and cares not who suffers.
CT is really question which IS the
higher animal. man or beast.
what did this scornful sculptor say TO
Mauyain? Mature throws our sins at
our doors, and wise men make haste to
bury them And again The true phi
losophy of life IS the pursuit of pleasure.
Then, indeed, life is bestial gift, and all
that is fair most foul.
"Aye, Harold, you were right when you
said that Nature throws our sins at our
doors. You may live to prove your words.
And l, the hunchback, may open the grave
in which you have made haste to bury
your cowardly crime. Your haste was
happen that the hour will come when lis
brutality shall pierce your heart and cause
you unutterable pain. Trust me to direct
it to that end. So strangely do things
come about In your widest dreams you
could not have imagined that on this lonely
snow clad mount tnearer to heaven than
you will ever beg the flight of hawk
thirsting after my white dove, thirstiDg
for it's innocent blood, should be the means
of bringing your villainy to light,
"Clariee and the lady who sought re-
fuge in my mothers hut on the night of
the storm arc one. By what process of
reasoning do 1 arrive at this conclusion
For unless the point is definitely fixed, all
the circumstances which surround it, in
which strange fortune has made me prin-
cipal agent. vanish into air.
% Fair in its promise was Clarice's life;
most unhappy in its fulhllment. The con.
fession in the Bible proves it the words Of
sorrow that fell from the lady's lips in my
mothers hut prove it. Clarice had a child
the lady, also child who was torn from
her, as her sister was. AS Clarice's sister,
Marguerite, was torn from her. The lady's
father vas dead at the time the confession
was written. Thus, there is as yet NO con-
hicting line in the history of these two
live-wh ca are not two. but one.
''By what means was Clarice's sister
torn from her, BY treachery. 1t was
plot planned with skill and cunning;
plot to which have no clue. And there
must have been another hand in it-a hand
at present hid from me. Patience, Rant,
patience; all will be made clear to you in
time.
90 Between these sisters existed devoted
love- More perfect on Marguerite's side
than ClariCe's, fer in Marguerite's breast
beat the stronger heart; she was the
guide, the protector. Clarice was child
Marguerite woman.
Hapless Marguerite Faithful sister
Had fate led you to Clarice in the hour of
her delusivs dream your honest glance
would have pierced its hollowness. Had
fate led you to her in the hour of her
anguish you would have indicated her
honor and exposed the knave who had be-
trayed her. l can see Harold shrinking
from the indignant looks and words of
Marguerite, whom his smooth tongue is
powerless to deceive; can see him turn
ingaway, Inundated at the exposure of the
trick which destroyed the happiness of an
innocent young life.
BY what means was Clarice's child
torn from her? By death? No. She
lives, and her name is Evangeline.
La my mothers hut, upon my return
from my wanderings found the Bible in
which Clarice's confession was concealed
All evidence points to the presumption
that Evangeline is Clarice's child. In what
manner my mother obtained possession of
the child and the Bible time may never
disclose. Death mas placed its seal upon
this mystery.
Z" Conjecture here must find place
there shall be as few blank spaces in the
picture as possible.
g Harold should do her justice, Clarice
declared. 1t was cry of despair forced
from her suffering soul-an appeal which,
in the fruit it should bear, was utterly, ut
terly hopeless.
60 Her grief her shame, were not for the
eyes of those who had attended her in the
pretty cage provided for her by her lover.
Alone, she, with her child, would traverse
the weary road. She crept from the cot
tage at night, with no thought or knowl-
edge of the difficulties in her way. She
suffered-do | not know what she suffered
1, strong man, Injured to hardship, meet
ing it with scorn, could not avoid the smart
of the worlds cruelty; how much less
Clarice, weak girl, frightened of shadows,
and as poor perhaps as 1 when she set out
on her journey2 By her side walked
phantom which all men and women could