The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1883-05-15
aah sfera @autadon 3srianrs, Bnktts 9ans,nsats Il
II mean to; I'm going to put I! in the

NAA4OS Il - 1IOD1A Il
81 mean to; I'm going to put !! in the
| ire"
"And take the bread out OF your own
rnouthp Don't ID af idiot, girl lock /,
up and put the key under my pillow.
I'll see lawyer Equity in the morning.
There! goodnight. Burn it, to be sure
What fine -bonfire 1t would make 1!
Houses and what not all swept away In
a single night by the devouring element! |!
us safe with old Equity If de Is a slow
coach. There! / shall 60 to sleep
pow."
While she doznd off again Carrie held
the will 10 the reviving blaze till it drop.
lped into shreds and sshes on the hearth.
And crouching beside it till.the brands
were cold and the gray dawnlnt looked
N at the basement, trying 10 follow che
tangled citw o. right and wrong. 10 jds-
fifty error, to make sure that her motives
were unselieh she needed the
money not so much for her owu comfort
as for "poor mamma" who had strug-
Igled bravely through years Of poverty
and merited justice-wonderlng how 1t
would seem to have enough to keep the
wolf from the door, since, after ell, this
would only entitle her mother to share
her grandfather's estate alike with the
other heirs Of Miss wondering
if the one whom DR.. Gilbert was going
to marry would have resisted such q
temptation, or II be would have low ed
her all the same-ti.l her brain seet'ed
reelipg, for retribution had fairly over
taken her. "The king shall have bis
own again!" she cried, rising at length,
benumbed and shivering. Had any one
spoken, or was it the echo Of her own
voice through the silent chamher2 She
turned quickly toward the bed. Miss
Parrot was sleeping-the sleep of the
Ijuat, shall we ssy2
"You had been watching all night p
asked Dr.. Gilbert when he came softly
into the room after hasty summons, re-
garding her haggard air, her languid
movements, the dullness of her eyes, the
pallor OF her face, white to the lips.
II had been up," she answered, "not
watching. ! was-I was busy; that was
ALL"
"Had she seemed worse after I left 2
Did yoa see any reason to expect a
changer"
"No; she was somewhat confused at
one time when she walked suddenly, but
that often happened"
| The ashes and scorched fragments of
the will we're still scattered upon the
hearthstone; when he had passed dowE
stairs she gathered them up hastily and
put them away.
81 wouldn't have thought Carrie set
so much by old lady Parrott," said Mrs.
S'are to DR.. Gilbert after having been
over to condole in neighborly fashion
Though / fol: sight more'like offering
congrsl ulations," she confessed. "She
sat there with sort Of absent look in
her eyes, and when you epoke to her it
was IS if her mind had been playing
trusnt a thousand miles awsy II SLED
poisoned the old lady she couldn't have
looked more wietched. I've heard say
that moneys mighty unsettliEg. Mavbe
they've told yon there ain't any will to
he foundi So Mrs. Fame shares her
grandfather's means with all those bus.
sics who haven't a right to led cent"
"They have told me nothing" said
the doctor, who was puzzled himself by
Carries mood
"You were very fond OF Miss Par
rott7" be ventured to say when they met
sgain
"No," answered Carrie, honestly and
briefly, as il the subject were dismissed.
"Was it the near neighborhood OF
DEATH" he asked himself, (which lent
her that distraught air, that frozen, i'm
passive gaze, as il the objects Of to-day
passed before the retiua without impres-
sing themselves upon it,or bad the proe-
pect Of sudden possession wrought the
spell ?"
Whatever the cause, she grew daily
more reserved and absorbed one need
ed to address her twice before claiming
her attention. A deep unnatural color
burned upon her cheeks, or left them
white as snow; her eyes grew hollow
and glittering, and month from the
date Of Mrs PARROTS death Dr. Gilbert
found her in high fever.
The king shall have bis own again"
she muttered, looking into bis face with
no answering recognition. "It was all
our own. you know; no harm done
oh, those ugly beads! How big they
have grown! as big as canuon-balls !
They will crush me to death; don't lei
them! Pick them up-one, two, three
= slippery things! pick them mp. How
1t hlazed, tool pretty bonfire, bv my
life! Mammals grandfsther's. There
they come again, those beads, yellow as
gold. Take them away; they're like q
milestone about my neck. l don't want
them; want nothing. only Sleep"
"Poor child!' thought the doctor
"good fortune has worked ber i'll Miss
Carrie, will you drink this for me p
"For your cup OF cold poison p
Oh, DR.. Gilbert" With CLEAN OF in
telligence, quickly fading away. "Would
the woman he loves have done so If it
had been her great-grandfather's p
Would he have loved her just the same I
Just bit of paper to make all this coil
II tell Aunt Parrott when she wakes,
she will see her mistake and do better.
How cold she isl! Aunt Parrott, speak
speak! speak! Oh. the beads! II
tell him he will hate me, despise me-"
And so day after day, with occasional
CLEANS of consciousness, with confused
mutterings and references to some har-
RAISING care, at which DR. Gilbert could
only guess, the fever ragged, till one
uorring she Law upon her pillow weak
as an infant, but sane.