Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-16
TIE srEp-sIsTER's STORY.

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THE sTEP-sIsTER' STORY.
After the unutterable horror whose end
was that blessed loss of consciousness,
nv first sensation was that OF painful
struggle after lost memory; desperate
choking and wild, mad pulsation OF my
heart, which beat so thickly and so fast
as almost to suff0cate me. Then, as
began to breathe with greater ease, laban-
doned the effort at recollection and, let
ting my feeble thoughts take their own
channel, / began to notice where l was
and with whom.
was undressed and lying in a large
fodr-post bedstead in handsomely fur
nished old-fashioned room; windows and
bed were draped with sOmbre sage green
moreen hangings. A bright fire burned
on the hearth; beside me stood bottles,
glasses and basins. over against the fire
sat a WOman's spare angular inquire,
dressed in deep mourning. A woman with
an ashen gray face, white hair, and
hopeless, desOlate expression, sad beyond
description. She sat IN high-backed
embroidered chair and looked YEARLY
into the fire. On her face were deep lines
which seemed traced by grief quite as
much as by age.
| lay and noticed all this, but the power
Of movement seemed withdrawn from me-
| could not have moved a finger or uttered
a sound if my life had depended on it.
The door opened softly and another wO-
man entered, little younger in appear
ance than the one who sat by the fire, but
in care lines, in black gown, in white hair,
she was the same.
HAS she moved, Mary?" said the new
conner in a low voice that thrilled me by
its suggestion of a resemblance to some
other voice / had known (IsabePs, as L
know now.
ono. sister Martha" said the other,
raising her faded eyes from the fire; ''she
has been like this now for nearly three
hours. Has Jane not returned YETI"
yes, she has just come in. 1t is some
distance to E, you know, and DR..
Jaikes was out, but she has brought that
new doctor from the High street, who has
the name of clever young man. lie had
better come up now, think"
| closed my eyes; | felt l could not bear
to be called upon to take even the part of
a recognized listener in any conversation.
Presently hand took mine, felt my pulse,
smoothed my hair back and mans voice
said:
'.Poor child, there has been a severe
shock; have you any idea what could have
caused it,"
-.
! has had very serious shock"
/ eve can do nothing more than you seem
aft IS 6eS4qn already DOING" he went on;
right itself naturally. Perhaps y7y9 n 70
I tell me what caused this"
81 will show you," she said, and the
two left the room together.
The lady who had been called MARY"
came to my side and bathed my temples
| with vinegar, and presently / heard the
! Il . \ n Fl asf7
room. Ny nurse heard them, too, and,
( after moments hesitation, slipped away
| 20 if{ntAem, leaving the door ajar.
every sense was alert; though their voices
( were low, | heard distinctly every word
that was uttered. l could not connect
what | heard with what l had seen and
! undergone, for, in respect of any memory
of what had passed in the earlier part Of
| the evening, my mind was utterly blank,
though | felt in every fibre Of my body the
vibration Of the horror that had over
/ whelmed me.
"a dreadful sight, indeed" said the doc
tor, land quite calculated to unhinge a
mind more mature and self-gOverned than
this poor girls. But you Will pardon me
for saying that it was culpably careless
to allow her to visit that room unpre-
pared"
'EOf course, we intended to prepare her, -
said Miss Martha distractedly; 'but She
came long before the appointed time, and
Jane, who had charge of the house, be-
| lieved Isabel to be up stairs all the time"
"Can nothing more be doneY asked
| Miss Mary.
'No,v he answered: ''but with YOUR
permission | will remain here for the pre-
! sent in case any change should take place.
/ My impression is that she is conscious at
! this moment, and may before long recover
/ speech and memory and need instant at
| tentiOn. If it would not be too painful to
/ you, ladies, perhaps you would not mind
! explaining to me the necessity for the eX-
| istence Of this horror, which must always
/ be a danger to any one entering your house
! without preparation"
A slight pause; then Miss Mary said:
! "Sister Martha, tell DR.. Lloyd the story.
/ If he had been longer in the town he would
not have needed to inquire. The chatter
| of servants makes the keeping secret of
| even a part Of the tale impossible, and DR..
Lloyd may as well hear it told truly by
you as garbled by the town gossip-mon-
| gers"
And Miss Martha obedlently began the
story. l suppose she had had to tell it
before, for her words seemed to come very
readily:
Only sister Mary AMI l were brought up
by our T. -her, a widow II, who lived here,
and when we were 80 and SO years of age
he married, to every ones great surprise,
g young and pretty woman. About a year
tier his second marriage he was thrown
from his horse and brought home dead.
That night his twin daughters were born
and his wife died. In the midst of our
grief at this double loss for we had loved
our fathers second wife, the dear little
| babies cOmforted us; we called them
Edith and Isabel. We gave them all our
thought, care, love, and devoted ourselves
to bringing them UP cOnscientiOusly. AS
they grew up they seemed to I'LL the whole
house with sunshine. They were so sweet.
so beautiful, so graceful, so fond OF rs
and so devoted to each other. Perhaps
Edith was thought more beautiful. but
then Isabel was so intellectual and bril-
liant. When the girls were about Is Isa-
bel met at a ball in the next county a
young man named William Lockwood.
who, after short acquaintance, asked us
Tor her hand. he was OF good family, and
his people were quite favorable to the
match, for no one could help loving our
Isabel. She had had some money left her
by her gOdmOther, and, as he was in re-
ceipt of handsome salary, their position
would be one of comfort. The engage
ment was quite satisfactory to every one,
and 1t was expected they would shortly
marry and settle down near us. We were
all, therefore, much astOnished when Mr.
Lockwood one day announced that he was
going to accept a lucrative situation in
India. Isabel could not endure the idea
OF living there and begged him to give it
up, but be would not. One night we took
the girls to ball at the E Assembly
Rooms. At about , O'Clock Isabel came
up to me and said she was tired and would |
like to gohOme. Iasked if something else |
were not the matter, for she looked more |
than tired
tb ,sI q prefer. India to me-" she said,
nave parted forever; he sails tomorrow /
from S-v
why does he go so suddenly?"
"A friend of his who had engaged a /
perth IN this ship is unable to 90, ana WIZ \
is going to take his place." she said.
So fell the first blow on poor isabel
without soitening, without hope Of recon.
citation. went home with her, promis-