Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1883-04-09

WioA iucd VI gaining llHic, uidudSou
to gasp out
ssBut why-why must you kill me?
What harm have ever done you, or
anyone? never saw you before !"
ssYou have done me no harm. |
regret deeply the necessity laid upon
me. but it is a necessity
aBut how? Why?'' 1 calculated.
Because of my oath,' he said
sternly. II have sworn to kill every
lady meet with hair the color of
/ yours, and I cannot break my vow.
Besides, after all, it will be kind
ness. Am not / saving you from
her fate?" and his look became so
wild and fierce as he spoke, toying
exeitedly with the revolver in his
hand, that I thought my last mo-
ment had come. Again essayed in
desperation to speak:
sWhat has my hair to do with it,
and whom do you speak of as her,"
''Of my sister of course-my dar-
ling, lovely Lucy? You are like her,
your eyes like hers and your hair,
that glorious hair, exactly the color
of hers.
How little had l ever thought my
chestnut hair would bring me into
such fearful danger as this for, lu-
dicrous though it sounds-to lose
ones life because the color of ones
hair happened to be that of another
person's-I could not doubt that the
mailman beside me was determined
to murder me!
/ knew that the next station we
stopped at would be Stafford and
we were many, many miles from
there; my only hope lay in gaining
time, although that was scarcely a
hope; felt that / must die! How
ever, l managed to conceal my terror
and to speak.
"Cannot you tell me about your
sister? What was her fate? ?" Then,
as l saw the ferocity of his glance, l
felt that | had made mistake, and
fastened to say something else-any-
thing. ''What was she like? Was
she very beautiful?"
beautiful She was slovely-lovely
as an angel, with large blue eyes,
and hair of that glorious chestnut
just like your own !' he added, again
fixing his eyes upon my face.
This was becoming unpleasantly
personal, and | fastened to break
the silence:
"Have you any photograph of
her?'
l. Photograph? No; no likeness of
her at all. l would give anything
for one, though do not believe that
any artist could ever reproduce such
beauty as hers"
/ While he was speaking thought
struck met surely must have been
an inspiration to it l owe my life
/ am quite certain. / addressed my
terrible companion again:
81 think if you describe your sister
to me I could draw her likeness for
you. | have often sketched heads
before, and l have my materials
= here"
How thankful l felt that | had
forgotten to pack them up! He
turned towards me with a quick look
of suspicion, which slowly changed
into doubt. My voice trembled so
that the words were scarcely audible !;
and as | fumbled at the strings of
my case, trying to undo them, /
doubted whether my shaking fingers
would guide the pencils. The mad
man evidently suspected my design,
and looked doubtfully two or three
times from me to the deadly little
weapon and back again. At last he
said:
"Well, its very kind of you to try,
though l don't believe you will be
able to do it; but there will be plenty
of time before we get near the sta
tion," with peculiar glance at the
revolver, which curdled the blood in
my veins.
I succeeded at last in getting out
a sketching-book and some pencils
and then, with one brief, earnest
prayer for aid, commenced my work.
The man told me his sisters face
was of an oval shape, and he describ-
! ed it and her features as clearly and
distinctly as anyone in perfect pos
: session of their senses could have
: done.
t At first / tried to lengthen my
task, for I knew Stafford was a two
| hours journey from Rugby, and
A dared not look at my watch to see
f how much of that time had elapsed
! but [ knew that would not do. The
l maniac, seeing no likeness to his
: sister as yet in my drawing, evidently
began to doubt my powers so
4 contrived to proceed more quickly
q and presently, two or three lucky
: strokes altering the whole expression
e of the face, he declared that the
: likeness was really coming. No need
then, to complain of his attention
, wandering: he eagerly watched every
e stroke, offering each moment sug
/ gestion for an alteration here, a curve
t there, and so on, quite intelhgently.
Seeing how engrossed he was,
began to think how / could turn this
| i