The Penn's Grove record., 1884-10-04

was suspected OF having killed his wife
by meSmeriSm so many years ago, OF Is
she only rambling still
Her next words tell me all.
"A widooer tool They say he muir
dered his wife but | don't know. 1t
was never proved, and he went away
almost directly. Dear, dear, now
strangely things come about ~
Aunt, are you sure that the name
of the man who lived at Nethertield
Hollow was Russell Browne 20
Eyes, Russell Browne-DOctor Rua-
sci Browne. Why are You running
away, child p
But l do not stop to reply my pre-
JUDGES are all justified at last, my pre-
sentiments explained. | only wonder
that | did not recognize hlm before.
The engagement shall be broken oil at
once. I would sooner see my darling
lying in her coffin than married to such
a man.
L order the carriage round again at
| once, and send the servant to my aunt.
1t seems ages before the horses are In,
SO impatient am / to be off and, even
when they are ready at last, the coach
man informs me that Il Is going a lit
tie lame, and must be driven slowly.
What a miserable journey this IS We
seem to be crawling along. l try TO re
assure myself by thinking that May is
| not alone with him. / think Of every
| possible misfortune before | reach my
wished for destination, my fears adding
to themselves as | proceed When | am
home at last, | Jump out without wait
ing for the fOOtuIau to descend, and run
up the garden to the house, beckonng
to him and the cOdChman to follow. As
| approach, | can hear voices and laugh
ter from the servants downstairs, and
for a moment am ashamed of my fool
ishnesS, and feel inclined to tell the men
to come no farther. But directly | set
foot in the hall my agony OF mind re
turns, for a char is thrown down in
the middle of the passage, and on the
pale green dado which is painted by the
side of the stairs there is a mark OF
five fingers in blood, scarcely yet dry.
My feet seem to acquire wings, 1t
takes me not more than twenty OF thirty
seconds to look INTO all the sitting
rooms, and then | find myself before
Mays bedroom eoOr. Here there IS -
small pool of blood on the white fur
mat outside, and | see that the handle
Of the door Is blOod-stained as well, as
| TRIP i'll vain to turn it. AS | struggle
with it breathlessly, the men come up
to me, and | call out to them, in the
clearest voice that | can command, to
burst 1t open, and let me see the worst
at once.
But, in spite Of all that | have feared,
| am not prepared for what meets my
sight now. There on the floor is
the lifeless form Of my sister, in a long
black dress, as | had seen her III my
dream her hair has fallen too, but ita
gold is dimmed and s0iled with blood.
Strangest of all, and What impresses
me most ever in this awful moment, Is
the fact that there are wounds on her
right arm and left shoulder correspond
ing exactly with the red light that had
fallen on her in the church that morn
ing.
With one long wild shrek | throw
myself upon the ground beside her
aud then. i'll very mercy, consciousness
leaves me, and Tor a time | know no
more.
When / recover, | find myself in my
own room the blinds are drawn down.
aud my maid is moving about on tiptoe
She comes up tothe bedside when | open
my eyes.
Have they found him ?" l ask fe-
yerishly,. as in an instant all that has
happened flashes across my mind.
About my darling there is no need to
ASK ; the lowereI blinds tell their own
story; besides, have | not seen her ly-
ing dead
"Whom do you mean, ma'am 7"
THE murderer-Russel Browne"
Hush, ma'am You must not tall
of that just yet" she answers uncom-
fortably, making a movement to 60
but | catch hold Of her dress.
DO you think any truth a be
worse than this uncertainty Tell me
all at once"
He wa found dead on the marshes
Yesterday. They say he must have
fallen into a dixie when it was dark.
But indeed, ma'am, this is not fit foj
you the doctor said"
"How can he have been found dead
Yesterday, when it was only to-day it all
ldppbbGd : L luLcllupl lulpdJlCIIl9
then. glancing round the room, and see.
ing the long array of medicme-bottles
aud glasses, the truth strikes me at
last. "Haye | been i'll, Martha 2"
Indeed, yes, ma'am-worse nor
Miss May herself's been"
But, even while / am pulzling my
poor weak brain IN trying to taKe III
this new idea, the doctor comes, and
wisely deems it more ~expedient to tell
me all himself then than let me be wor
RED by a half-knowledge of what has
occurred.
May is not dead and il my gratitude
for that everything else sinks into in
significance. Her wounds had been Sc
we're, that on her. shoulder causing great
anxiety but now she IS cut of danger
cured as well OF her Inflated love for
the man who would have murdered
her.
1t had all happened SO strangely and
[ think the story | told on Christmas
Eve played its part in the d|t9oueGl,pt.
If SO, / do not regret it, for the shOr.
pain my darling suffers now is far bet
ter than the lifelong misery to which
she would have been subjected had SHE
hacama the wife of pusspl Prnwua