Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1885-07-30
can hear the music from here. That

panu as they LETT the mousse,
81 fear that the worst is not over
yet. He looks so wasted and frail. I"
yes" said Mrs. Cakes, the tears
falling from her eyes, "and his illness
Is something that can only be
cured by Eleanor. Ever since she
threw him over he has been failing.
IL she knew of the ruin she has
wrought, the honey of her life would
turn to gall"
"Why not tell herp" suggested Mr..
Cakes quickly.
"Ncvern cried his wife vehemently,
stopping short IN her walk, her little
form trembling and her blue eyes flash
ing. | am too proud--Victor is too
proud to humble himself before a
coquet. He did il once, and the
blow to his pride was only to keenly
felt"
"But what shall we do with himP"
askek Mr.. Oakes, as they resumed
their walk
| "Oh, don't ask me! | am nearly
distracted, although try to bear up.
But il there is law in heaven, If there
| is justice there, his pale face will arise
as an undying witness against Eleanor
Duncan and bring her the punishment
she deserves, and"
"Hush, Mary, we are at the church
door, and silently, her head bent, and.
her kindly eyes filed with tears,
she passed in, followed by her hus-
band
Left to himself, Victor wheeled his
chair directly before the CRATE, and,
leaning farther back, surveyed the
marble mantel. A pair of Aztec vases
from the base of Popocatapetl adorned
either end; next to these, quantity
carved owl ana a beautiful specimen
of coral, the center of the space being
occupied by large portrait of young
girl. Upon this he bent his gaze, and
as the sound OF footballs died away, a
faint smile played about his moustach-
ed lips.
"Alone, entirely alone" he said,
echoing his mothers words. ''How
little she knows of my solitude. am
lonelier, more to- myself, in a vast as
semblage than [ am here when none
are by. She Is always with me, her
brown eyes looking lovingly into mine;
always near me, and yet cannot touch
her; always looking as she does in that
picture"
The smile fled, followed by the
shadow, and his blue eyes con-
centrated their gaze upon the photo
graph. The mind mirrored the past,
drawing back the curtain from scene
after scene, rejecting the pictures
upon the heart.
AS their gaze dwclt upon tho PFC
ture, the pupils of the eyes lost all ex-
/ nraosinn tho ourroun a nrs wara Lost
in the intensity of that glance, and
the picture seemed to be encircled by
dim mist. The photographed form
grew taller, the features becoming bet
ter defined, the likeness developing,
until, as if in IL startlingly realistic
dream, Eleanor Duncan stool before
him, her dark eyes meeting the hard.
stony gaze of the blue, her lips tremb-
lingly murmuriDg the one word
"Well."
you have come" he muttered II
knew you would, when others said
that you had forgotten me-"
Forget your As if it were possible
to forget"
"And you have come at last" he
continued, "to look upon the wreck
you have made. did not expect you,
until my lifeless clay was placed in the
little church, where my friends might
gaze upon the dead victim of a wo-
mans caprice, and my soul, unseen,
would stand at your side, and, in
whispers heard only by you, reproach
YOU"
"Oh, Victor, Victor, pity me. have
mercy!'
"Pitv?" Mercy? Listen. Four years
ago we met, you remember the time,
in the omnibus. You had forgotten
your purse, and l paid your fare.
From that hour we were friends; from
that hour 1 loved you. Your brown
eyes captured my soul, your smiles
laid waste my heart. They said you
were heart-breaker, but could not
believe it. Poor fool, how innocent
was! l could not believe it. l can
scarcely believe it now, after what has
passed. You led me on, rs you would
have led a child, smiling on no one but
me, and at last you yielded and prom
Used to be my wife. All, how happy
was! Ambition, talent, everything,
were thrown to the winds, and | lived
tor you. l would have died for you
silence! do not speak to me now-I
was happy; you smiled on whom you
pleased, but were ever ready to cast a
sweeter beam on me, until Darlington
came. With him came a change. He
was rakish and free; he laid siege to
your heart, and turned both heart
and head. 1 knew him and warned you
of the leper's touch, but was laughed
at, snubbed, and, in anger finally
thrown aside like tiresome toy.
It was the beginning of the end. 1
humbled myself before you, entreated
you to turn aside. and what did you do
and sayp'
The lips of the girl moved, and her
voice came like an echo from afar:
"I laughed at you, then 1 was an
gered. 1 said the harshest and most
cruel of things, and throwing your
ring into the street, babe you go and
look for it."
YES" he murmured, sadly, ''you
spurned me like dog-scorned my
love as princess would q beggar's.
We'll, you have done well. You can
look on me and say, There lies a vic
tim of my caprice. See what a wreck
he is, how hollow his eyes, how pale
his lips, how wasted and feeble his
form. Learned men say it is the work
of malarial poison, absorbed in the
swamps of Mexico, but they err. 1t
is all my work"
81 have repented my folly; what
more could you ask OF meP' asked the
girl.
"You repented! 1t cannot be. When
you come to my side, and. .lneeling