Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-12-18
while She would have ten thousand

iiS Htstttsl-Oi-hlIiI nc NOuiu inherit all,
and to me he would give one-third
But the fool, to never dream the other
plot in my mind, which his coming
wonld thwart--a plot that will at least
part Hester and Guy, and then perhaps
| viii win him. 1t is my last hope. 4
Whatever her plot, she PLAYED it
well, for when, three or four months
before the expiration of the wear.
Guy asked Hester to be his wife, She
simply answered him, mo
She gave no explanation, only turn
ed coldly away, but had he seen her in
the seclusion of her own room, he
would have known, no matter what
had caused her refusal, that she loved
him
My love, my love!' she cried;
Though all unworthy, / cannot tear
You from my heart. I
Ali, what weeks would have been
saved at least, what weeks of agony.
had Guy known the truth, had he known
Of a gypsy mother who accused him Of
wrecling her child's life, had cursed
him with mothers curse, for the rip
sY girl who had stood under the tree.
then fled at Cleta's words, lay in her
grave, and her last words to her mother
had been the name of her lover, GUY
Singleton.
My curse around him and around
the woman he WEEDS, she cried in her
frenzy.
Was it any wonder, then, that when
Guy Singleton asked Hester to be his
wife, white and trembling she refused,
turning coldly away from his pleading.
1t was then that Cleta played her
cards well, for Guy found svm-
pathizer in her, and, man-like, Guy
found sweetness in it, at least, balm
for the time for the blow Hester had
given him.
Then it dawned upon him that this
girl. with her eyes of blue and hair of
gold, loved him with a passion he had
never dreamed of.
What man is not tlattered by a wo-
mans love, particularly if she is young
and beautiful and this girl was both.
With soft, sweet smiles she won him.
Not that his heart yielded to her spell,
but his senses, dazzled by her smiles
and sympathy united, put his better
judgment to flight, though his heart
was, and always would be, Hester's.
One of the girls he must wed, or leave
them both penniless. All, had he
dreamed Of Hester's pain and hopeless
ness of heart he might have less quickly
fled for consolation to another.
A few months later almost at the
expiration of the year Guy Singleton
made CIeta his wife. Crime and sin
had conquered
She was mistress of her uncle's wealth
and wife of the man she adored.
She knew her husband did not love
her, but she had triumphed. In time
he would learn to love her. She must
win his love.
Yes, she had triumphed; but did the
memory of the man she had sent before
his Judge cease to haunt her morning,
noon, or night?
Hester bore her pain in silence. II
gentle, she was far from weak, and
though her face grew paer, her eyes
more dreamy, none dreamed Of the
weary days and wakeful nights that
were hers. She had loved Guy with all
the strength of her heart, but he had
proved unworthy.
Did the knowledge-ha the knowl-
edge killed her love? No-a thousand
times no! Love lived, though it lay
bleeding. All, how well she loved him
she never knew till he was the husband
of another.
Her life stretched bare and hopeless
before her, death would have been well
come, or at least she believed it would
have been, in the first great desolation
of her soul.
But then in Cleta's triumph-in the
very height of it, the bolt of God s
vengeance fell, when the end of all
things came.
One day while out riding, man
leaped from a grove near where she
was passing.
A wild cry left her lips. Dead or
alive, Vernon Singleton stood before
her. Heavenly father, what difference
did it make? Dead! had he come to
haunt her living, to drag her from her
high estatep
A moclzing laugh broke from the
mans lips as he caught the reins, and
then-then the horse reared, swerved,
rose on its hind legs, and Cleta lay
white and senseless on the ground.
Without look of pity, Vernon
glanced down on the marble face, and
the pallid lips now fleeked with blood
then turned and left her there till others
found her.
They carried her home, but the doc
tors verdict ended all hope. She must
die
All, what change comes to our spirit
at the hour of death. Then, indeed,
the eyes see clearly, and terrible fore
knowledge that fills the soul with awe
comes to us.
Knowing that it was her death-bed,
! knowing that all she had sinned for
was going from her now, she sent for
| Hester and Guy, and told them all. The
| story of her marriage to Vernon, whom
his uncle had disinherited shortly after
| for his wild career.
How, when all believed him dead, he
returned; and then the story of her
crsme-her crime that had failed, for
consciousness had come back to Yer
non when he struck the water, and the
wound was scarcely even dangerous.
| Then she turned to Hester.
''Hcster, led that gypsy woman to
believe that Guy was the lover who
wrecked her daughters life, but it was
| Vernon.
Her breath came short and labored,
and gray shadow fell over her face
''Guy-Guy-I-I-- All, God have
mcrcyn'
The next instant she was pleading
before His throne.
| One year later Hester and Guy were
married, but they never speak Cleta's
name, which, if not forgotten, is not
| willingly remembered, save by Hester,
whose gentle heart cannot think but
with pity of the beautiful, Sustained
woman who lies in her grave.
Vernon Singleton never came near
them, but he sent messenger for some
money, which Guy gave, and then he
passed from their lives for ever; and
then the past was forgotten by Hester
and Guy-the past darkness that had
ended in happy present, and a future
full of hope.
A Wonder Machine Gun.
A Philadelphia inventor, Hiram s.
| tl,a ,,va,,4S,. ~ Flo