Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-10-29
CHAPTER TX.

VANITY ID ALONE WITH TEMPTATION.
Vanity was alone in the darkened sick
room. Her little charge was satisfied with
the low song Of ''Now the day is over;;" and
as often as the small, sick voice planted out
its Mamma" the reply Of chantel verse
assured the little sufferer that her best con-
soler was at hand.
The child sunk to sleep, and the doctor
left the room. Then Vanity began to realize
what she had DONE All her life shs had felt
that dread Of smallpox which every woman
must, but which is becoming less familiar as
that pestilence retreats before the firm hand
OF science. Poor Vanity! she was bruised
and almost heartbroken by her late misfor-
tunes, and she still ached with the long, dull
pang of Willie Shows faithlessness In this
forlorn state she was alive to kindness, and
she felt greatly touched by the kindness of
her new friend Maud Neville. When she
saw the mother distracted with grief, and
forbidden to comfort her darling, Vanity at
once formed her resolution. Perhaps her
stage experience suggested the idea of per-
sonating the mother; certainly her skill in
acting helped her to carry out the device
But the act itself was done in the most gen.
erous spirit, and when the daring and firm
ness which it required are taken into con-
sideration, perhaps even cynic might hesi-
tate to deny that Vanity had played the
part Of true heroine
But the generous glow died out, as all
emotion will Now, in the dark room, Van
ity had time to think what she had under
taken; and, it must be confessed, she began
to feel afraid. For time she thought o.
relinquishing her charge, and allowing thu
nurse to take her place, now that the sics
child had been safely removed to its room;
but several considerations, which need not
be detailed, served to dissuade her from that
course, and these were REINFORCED by the
plaintive voice which In the darkness kept
calling her Mamma, mammal Finally she
resolved to stay at her post; and, when the
sick-nurse arrived, she announced her resolu-
tion Of sharing the duties, and still keeping
up the kind Illusion which gave tranquility
to the little sufferer. Thenceforth she saw
none except the doctor, the nurse and one
old woman servant The sick-rooms were
shut off from ths rest of the house, and Van
ity was left alone with her duties, and the
grim danger that lay crouching behind
On the whole she was calm. Now, upon
the subsistence of the terrible excitement OF
the last few weeks, Vanity knew the state OF
her own heart The awful end of her father
had been stunning stroke OF Fate, and had
filed her mind with horror; but she had
known too much of the secrets Of his fierce
and reckless career to feel surprised at its
tragical close. He had never been kind to
her, and none but herself ever knew what
terrible trials she had suffered since her
mothers death; and these trials were iii
some ways intensified by the snatches OF
wild gaiety which intersected their livs,.
Vanity had never known the facts of het
fathers life. The robberies Of which he was
suspected were never, with her nor with
any body, matters of positive knowledge.
Still, she knew that he- father was bad,
unscrupulous man; his conduct made it evi-
dent that some terrible danger was eva
hanging over him; and, accordingly, Vanity
had reasons for the most dreadful surmisos.
His death, appalling as it was, relieved hen
of some anxieties, more especially as his
whole past had been swallowed up in fiery
oblivion, which forever hid the worst facts
she suspected from discovery or from lega
! proof.
But Willie Snow had broken poor Vanity's
heart. In spite of his weakness, which she
could not but despise, she loved him sill
! The words Of rebuke and disdain with which
she had met him on that memorable day
| were not permanently true. Her doom wa.
| that she loved him still. In her secret hear
| she still caressed the dangerous memory d
| handsome Willie Snow. The secret thread,
which bind the heart of woman to mar
| are inexplicabls Even now in her solitude
| she kept running tho skif of her fancy neal
| to those dangerous rapids where many amar