The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1881-08-24

SION. VINO we're these hidden enemies who
had discovered q secret which she had be-
lieved to be beyond the power Of man to
fathom7
The stranger remained in the anlo-roOm.
The bride of few weeks let fail the curtain
which she had held back for few moments
while she looked below. She sank into
chair and waited fox the coming Of the per-
son who was said to be the possessor Of her
letters. The door between the box and the
Rnte-Foom was ajar. After waiting for
about q quarter of an hour, Mrs. Dumont
heard the sound of low knock upon the panel
of the outer door, the door which opened on
the corridor Two minutes afterward, the
masked stranger looked into the box.
1.-THE person whom you wish 10 see IL
here. madam" he said. 81 will bid you
good night"
She heard the outer door close behind
him before she entered the ante-room. A
strange, shuddering terror, which she was
poweTless to control, seemed to root her to the
spot upon which she stood. Without know
Ing why, she dreaded crossing the narrow
threshold which divided the box from the
chamber adjoining it.
Maud Dumont entered the ante-room and
found herself alone with the stranger. He
wore a simple evening costume black
dress coat, vest and pantaloons, and cravat
of white silk. But, like the man who had
led her to the box, he wore a mask.
"You have some letters, written by me,
some time ago, in your possession said
Mrs. Dumont.
The man bowed, but did not speak.
The graceful head of tha woman was half
turned away from him. 1t seemed as if her
contempt for him was too great TO be con-
cealed.
''What is the price which you demand for
the restoration of those letters?" she asked,
haughtily.
Still the man did not answer, but, lifting
his hand, he slowly removed his mask.
As he did so, Maud Dumont, turning her
head partially, looked across her shoulder
at his face.
She uttered loud and wailing cry, which
Yibrated through the small apartment and
mingled discordantly with the distant music
of the orchestra.
The face upon which she gazed with the
stony glance of horror and despair was the
face of the dead! 1t was the face of Clarence
Suydam, line for ,ine-the face with whose
every feature she was familiar.
For one moment wild thrill Of hope ran
through her veins. What if Clarence Say-
dam were still alive? What if she had been
deceived by William Gorton and the Span
lard, LeVintof What if no murder had bean
committed in that miserable hOyel in Brook
lyn2 What if she had not seen his body in
the cofin2 But, in another moment, that
hope gave way to horror and horror and
despair. The face upon which she looked
was not the face of living man. The fea-
lures had the rigidity of marblR. the eyes
had hollow and CLASSY lustrs. 1t was In
deed tho face of the deadl
For few brief moments Maud Dumont
gaZed wildly and fearfully upon this strange
apparition, then, with terrible effort she
tottered forward, meaning to defy the CHASTITY
being, but, at the first step, she reeled and
fell senseless to the floor.
An hour afterward, the General and q
couple of the officials of the Academy en-
tered this ante-room, after searching almost
every part of the vast building in their en-
deAvors 10 find the missing woman. What
was the surprise and CONSERVATION of Gran
by Dumont on behOlding his beloved wife
lying senseless on the floor in this empty
apartment! He lifted her in his arms, whils
one of the officials brought glass of ice
water.
Mrs Dumont slowly revived and languidly
lifted her ivory lids, fixing her large blue
eyes upon the General At the sight of his
face, she uttered cry of delight.
''Oh, thank Heaven" she murmured, 'il
Is you, Granby-only you'll"
''Who else should it be, dearest? said the
General. tsnderly. Tell me, my darling,
what has happened. How is it that 1 find
you here?"
81 lost myself among the crowd, CRANKY,
and was driven this way by the throng
Fearful of being knocked down in the hurry
and confusion, entered the first empty
box I saw, and, I suppose, must have tainted
away from exhaustion and fatigue"