Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-06-05
/ can hear the music from here. That

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"Poor vic,' murmered her hus-
band as they left the house,
II fear that the worst is not over
| yet. He looks so wasted and frail. -
eyes" said Mrs. Cakes, the tears
falling from her eyes, land his illness
is something that can only be
cured by Eleanor. Ever since she
threw him over he has been failing.
If she knew of the ruin she has
wrought, the honey of her life would
turn to gall.'
why not tell her?" suggested Mr..
Cakes quickly.
"Never!'' cried his wife vehemenuly,
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 it once, and the
blow to his pride was only to keenly
felt"
"But what shall we do with him?"
askek Mr.. Cakes, as they resumed
their walk.
sob, don't ask me! I am nearly
| distracted, although I try to bear up.
But if there is a 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 filled with tears,
she passed in, followed by her hus-
band.
Left to himself, Victor wheeled his
chair directly before the CRATE, aud,
|'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 and beautiful specimen
of coral, the center of the space being
occupied by a. large portrait of young
girl. Upon this he bent his gaze, and
as the sound of footballs died away,
faint smile played about his moustach-
ed lips.
alone, entirely alone,'' he said,
echoing his mothers words. GLOW
little she knows of my solitude. lam
lOnelier, more to myself, in vast as
sembtage than am here when none
are Dy. She IS always with me, her
brown eyes looking lovingly into mine;
always near me, and yet l cannot touch
her; always looking as she does in that
picture
The smile ded, followed by the
shadow, and his blue eyes con-
centrated their gaze upon the photo
graph. The mind 1nirrored the past,
drawing back the curtain from scene
after scene, rejecting the pictures
upon the heart.
AS their gaze dwclt upon tho PIC
ture, the pupils OF the eyes lost all ex-
preston, the surroundings were 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 a startlingly realistic
dream, Eleanor Duncan stood before
him, her dark eyes meeting the hard,
stony gaze of the blue, her lips tremb-
lingly murmuring the one word:
"Weu."
"You have come,' he muttered II
knew you would, when others said
that you had forgotten me.'
Forget you? As if it were possible
to forget"
"And you have come at last,' he
continued, ''to look upon the wreck
you have made. I did not expect you,
until my lifeless ella was placed inthe
little church, where my friends might
gaze upon the dead victim of 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 I paid your fare.
From that hour we were friends; from
that hour loved you. Your brown
eyes captured my soul, your smiles
laid waste my heart. They said you
were heart-breaker, but I could not
believe it. Poor fool, how innocent I
was! could not believe it. I can
scarcely believe it now, after what has
passed. You led me on, as you would
have led child, smiling on 40 one but
me, and at last you yielded and prom
ised 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
sweeter beam on me, until harrington
came. With him came change. He
was rakish and free; he laid siege to
your heart, and turned both heart
and head. knew him and warned you
of the leper's touch, but was laughed
at, snubbed, and, in anger finally
thrown aside like d tiresome toy.
1t was the beginning of the end. |
humbled myself before you, entreated
you to turn aside, and what did you do
and say?'.
The lips of the girl moved, and her
voice came like an echo from affair:
II laughed at you, then I was an
gered. / said the harshest and most
cruel of things. and throwing your
ring into the street, babe you 60 and
look for it,
Eyes, he murmured, sadly, .'you
spurned me like dog-scorned my
love as princess would a beggar's.
Well. you have done we'll. You can
look on me and say, There lies a vic
tim of my caprice. See what 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 maIarial 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 me?" asked the
girl.