Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-11-15

was Gerald Vereton?
Suddenly. as the wife bent Ger her
dead husband, stunned by this terflpIo
blow, a low whisper reached her, "HlcH
made her brain reel.
"It does look queer; the servants say
that there was bitter quarrel last hlght
between Gerald and his father, and Ger
aid had not been seen since. i tell you
1T looks rather suspicious.
Crushing down with the wild terrible
fear that Swallowed her, the mother Iaced
whisper in angry scOrn, from Wnlch ne
shrank in confusion; and then the WorId
seemed crushing to chaos about iler5 as;
ling1ng out two helpless hands, she fell
across the body of her husband.
MANY came and went through that
long day. A few were urged by friend
ship. many by the vulgar curiosity which
would fain lift the pail Of one VINO mad
died by a human hand, and examine the
blood-circled wounds. But 1t was the
noon of night when Mrs. NeretOn, again
sought her dead, and she started with a
proud gesture of intolerance as she saw
the slender figure of the girl she adopted
kneeling beside the coffin, her face bur
led in tn e velvet pail And as the girl
lifted her blanched young face, the WO-
man who had held her to her heart as a
daughter, mOtioned imperiOusly Tor her
to make way for heT-the widow.
"How dare you come here TO see your
work?" Mrs. VeretOn cried hOarsely.
"You have murdered him, and destroyed
alike the soul and life of my infatuated
sonl It was about you they quarreled;
it is to you I owe it that my son has shed
his fathers blOOdT
Helen gave a low cry, and started TO
her feet.
at is false, MADAME" she exclaimed,
standing in the Pickering light OF the
candles like a denOuncing spirit.
HYOu wrong your son. he never Ilfted
a hand against those white hairsp point
ing to the dead. "H has gone, but not
for fear. I heard the command for him
to 90, and he but Obeyed it. / will also
obey When leave you, now, L will
leave you forever. take with me ten
derest memories of your kindness, your
mOtherly care, and 1 take with me also
the surety that Gerald"
"Hush!" Mrs. VeretOn burst forth,
wildly commanding in her grief and
pain. "YOur baby face was the cause of
all this. 1t won my boy by its unworthy
beauty to disobey and defy his parents.
1t stood between his heart and the
mother on whose bosom he has lain. 1t
stained his soul with murder-With the
blood Of his father. His father, girl
Can you imagine a more horrible crime
than that of the Parricide? L have knelt
I gL4AOLHA many LO4lb VI L--C 4D--6 N-eLy
pray ing that l may Waken from this
hideOus dream, as it seemed to me. Girl
CO. Would to God that you had died
with your motherl Go from my sight
Let me never see you until you have
found power to cleanse my child's young
soul from the blood stains you have laid
upon in it. Cop
The girl bent her dark head silently
and turned away. For a moment hel
I-Ts- 49, l. L. -
shadows; then the woman who had re-
preached her was alone; to kneel beside
her dead and pray-nOt for the sou
which had gone unprepared, but with
earthly passions, soiled with passionate
anger, before its judge-but for one who
rOamed the world crimsOned with 6
BLOOD. stain.
Three years have told their fourfold tale
! Of budding, fruitage, decline and death
f and Mrs. VeretOn, sitting at her desolate
2 hearth. is thinking drearily Of the past
] She remembers that terrible time WheI
/ the whispers which had pierced hel
l heart had been cried forth about her
/ when she had heard men clamOr for hel
sons life, and knew that they were
p searching for him through the length
/ and breadth of the land, and falling tC
3 find him they had turned strange eyes
r on her-the mother of so unnatural g
70 son. She, in her pride and pain, closed
8 her door upon the world and shivered in
.! her splendid solitude, learning to hate
r with bitter hatred the girl who was, as
I she whispered to herself, accountable
for 1t all. She Is thinking of Helen Lee
, now and her thoughts are neither kind
/ nor loving. The door opens slowly and
r a slender figure crosses the threshold
q and advances into the room as Mrs. Yer
s etOn, looking up, saw the dark eyes and
/. perfect features Of the girl whom she
t once was kind to. She arose with &
/ naughty frOWn, but her face blanched
;; sadly; she regarded the intruder In g
: naughty silence, which the latter was
2 first to break.
/ ''YOu babe me come to you, madam,
she said in tones that had desOlate notes
. of pain in their young music, when
2 could take the stain Of blood from Ger
7 AIDS soul. 1t has never lain there-ah
j no! But 1 have brought you prOOf-yOU
5 his mother; proof of his innOcence-the
= confession of the man who murdered
e your husband
at was not Gerald?' the mothers very
? lips were white, her hands clasping
each other in agony. "NOt Gerald? Oh
, heaven has some mercy for me still! My
= boy, my innocent bOyP
For your mercy and future love" the
] girl cried bitterly. For me-yOu shall
Judge when I have told you all, madam
! | must love your son we'll to thus clea
: his name by darkening my own helpless
: Misunderstanding myself the child Of I
= murderer"
Mrs. VeretOn shrank from her with
: faint cry.
It "a murderer's chiId?" she said Ioath
I ingly in that moment Of strange reTela
7" lions.
e For an instant the girls eyes flashed
and she drew her slight form to its ful
J, height