Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-17
PART II.-THE EXPIAT1oN.

| PART ll.-lHE ENPIATI0N.
At sunrise the following morning the
islanders went to church to seek Evan
geline. 1t was already known that she
had not passed the night in her home. In
the church they found only the tablets left
by Evangeline upon the altar, and written
ON them these words:
None but am guilty. The sin is mine.
and mine only, and 1 90 to atone for it.
Be merciful to me, as God will be! If YOU
can think of me with tenderness, shall be
glad. l shall know, for my spirit will live
forever in this dear isle.
EYANGELINR.
The sin was hers: What sin /? They
gazed at each other with questioning
looks. Evangeline, the pure, the spotless
maid, the child OF their hearts, gone from
among them with a sin upon her soul
They would have scorned themselves had
they for single moment allowed the belief
to linger in their minds.
Whittier had she gone? The last that
was seen of her was when she was standing
on the nights, the previous night, she and
the brother who had remained with her in
the church. Their forms could be but
dlmly distinguished from the valleys, for
mists We're on the mountains, and there
was no moon but it was observed that she
and the brother were at peace with one
another. Their attitudes proclaimed it.
Her spirit would live for ever in this dear
isle &! Was she, then, dead? They dared
not give utterance to the thought But
they mourned for her as for one lost to
them.
"She has gone from u.s." they said,
"Our sweet Evangeline, in the flower of
her youth.
Old men and women wept as they would
have done at the death of beloved
daughter, and the younger ones went
about their duties, oppressed with heavy
weight of sadness. They had lost more
than friend; they had lost a child, a
sister, in whom their brightest hopes were
centered. Every household felt the be-
reavement. Truly their hearts went out
to the hapless Evangeline.
But was she really dead If so, they
must find her body, and bury it in the
sweetest spot in their beautiful isle, where
flowers would bloom and birds would sing
above her grave. The performance of this
last sad office was a sacred duty.
By the aid of the bridal flowers which
were scattered on the road they tracked
Evangeline up the nights. Their search
was vain-they discovered nothing. Be-
yond certain point all traces were lost, and
naught remained to direct them farther.
They returned to the plains in sad per-
plexity. Every flower they found was
, treasured, and distributed among Evange-
lines dearest friends. For long, long
afterwards the faded yellow leaves were
shown by the old people to their grand
children, and Evangeline's mournful story
told, with fearful eyes and in tones of
tenderness.
Later in the day, wrath was mingled
with sadness. a guilty deed had been
perpetrated-a dread mystery was in their
midst, and the clue was in the hands of
those who held aloof from them. Where
was the bridegroom who had brought desc
lation and death to Evangeline? Where
the brother, to whom, but few hours
since, they had intrusted the unfortunate
girl?
AT the end of a fortnight he suddenly
appeared among them The news spread
from one end of the Silver Isle to the other,
and the islanders ran out to meet him.
They gazed upon him with wonder He
had grown twenty years older in less than
that number of days. His hair and beard
were gray his eyes were wild with inward
suffering his checks were furrewed with
deep lines, and the corners of his lips were
drawn in. He looked like one whose mind
and body had received shock from which
~ was iHipoSSlDle TO recover.
The islanders received him with sincere
compassion, deeming him crazed at the
tragedy which had visited those who were
near and dear to him. But when they ap
preached him. he shrank from them, and
gazed at them now vacantly as he would
have gazed at strangers, now fiercely as he
would have gazed at enemies. They held
consultations among themselves, and de-
clded that it was necessary they should
ask this man certain questions, and that he
should answer them. The honor of the
isle was at stake. It might be that he was
the only human being in whose power it
was to give them information of the fate
of Evangeline and her lover.
He strobe past the houses in silence, and
the islanders confronted and questioned
him. He shook them off savagely, and
took no notice of their words. He had
come to the plains with purpose in his
mind, and he walked straight to the house
of the priest.
LAND, and cattle, and grain, are mine,
he said to the priest, without preliminary
"Sit you down, and take reckoning of them
from my lips
The priest obeyed him, as in the past all
men had done, and noted every particular
furnished him by the unhappy man, who
then in simple words dictated deed of
gift OF all his property, to be disposed of
in the service of the poor and of God.
Even in the Silver Isle there were men
less fortunate than their fellows.
81 come to you" he said gloomily to the
priest, :" because l know you to be a just
man. I dispossess myself of all worldly
wealth. Dispose of it in such a>manner as
may bring happiness and comfort to some.
81 will hold it, " said the priest gently,
:" in trust for you. In little while, when
your mind is calmer, you will resume your
place among men, chastened by the grief
which afflicts you"
81 have lost my place, and can never
regain it, shall never strive to regain it.
You have known me from childhood, and
have never known me to waver. l shall
not WAIVER now by hairs breadth he
eb,ddared % tha words eccaped bis Inns