The Iola register., 1885-01-16


'sOn the goth of August. 1856. at
No. = Horace street, you stabbed here,
to the heart, a young man who was sit
ting at the table. DIR. Ceneri was in the
room at the time, also another man with
scar on his face."
| He attempted no evasion. He sprang
to his feet with features convulsed with
rage. He seized my arm. For mo-
ment thought he meant to attack me-
but he only wanted to scan my face at
tentively. did not shrink from his
| inspection. hardly thought he would
recognize me; so great a change does
blindness make in face.
But he knew me. He dropped my
arm and stamped his foot in fury.
.'Foolsi Idiotsr' he Kissed. Why
did they not let me do the work thor
oughlyw
He walked once or twice up and down
the room. and then with regained COM
posure stood in front of me.
''You are great actor, Mr.. Waugh
an" he said, with a GOODNESS and Gym
icism which appalled, me. ..You de-
ceived even me, and l am very sus-
picious."
.You do not even deny the c,noe, you
villain?'
He shrugged his shoulders. "Why
should |. to an eyewitness? To others
1 will deny it fast enough. Besides. as
YOU are Interested in the matter, there
is no occasion to do So"
81 am interestedr'
Certainly; as you married my sister!
FOL l,,.l l.
groom! my dear brother-in-law! | will
tell you why killed that man and what
| meant by my words to you at Geneva"
His air of bitter. callous mockcry, as
he spoke these words made me dread
what was to come Ny hands were
tingling to throw him from the room.
THAT mani shall not for obvious
reasons tell you his name-was Pau
lines lover. Translate lover into
ltalian-into what the word drudo signi-
fies in that language-then you will
understand my meaning. We, of our
mothers side. have noble blood in our
veins-blood which brooks no insult.
He was Pauline's, your wife's, lover, l
say again. He had no wish to marry
her, and so Cpneri and | killed him
killed him in London-evcn in her pres
ence. As told You once before, Mr..
Vaughan, it is well to marry woman
who can not recall the past"
made no reply. So hideous state
ment called for no comment. | simply
rose and walked toward him. He saw
my purpose written in my face. mot
here" he said hastily, and moving
away from me: - what good can it do
here-a vulgar scutiie between two gen.
tlemen? No; on the Continent-any-
where, meet me, and l will show you
how hate you"
He spoke well, the self-possessed vii
lain! What good could it do? An I'M
seenly struggle. in which could scarce
ly hope to kill him; and Pauline the
while perhaps upon the point of death!
60" | cried. murderer and cow
ard! Every word YOU have ever spoken
to me has been lie, and because YOU
hate me, you have to-day told me the
greatest lie of all. Go: save yourself
from the gallows by flight"
He gave me a look of malicious tri-
umph and left me. The air in the room
seemed purer now that he no longer
breathed it.
Then | went to Pauline's room. and
sitting by her bed heard her parched lips
ever and ever calling in English or
Italian on some one she loved. Heard
them beseeching and warning, and
knew that her wild words were ad-
dressed ito the man whom Macari
averred he had slain because he was the
lover of his sister-my wife!
The villain lied! l knew he lied.
Over and over again l told myself it
was black, slsnderous lie-that Pau
line was as pure As an angel. But as |
strove to comfort myself with these
assertions, l knew that, lie as it was,
until / could prove it such, it would
rankle in my heart; would be ever with
me; would grow until L nistook it for
truth; would give me not moments $
rest or peace, until it made me curse
the day when Kenyon led me inside
that old church to see the fairest sight
of all"
How could l prove the untruth?
There were but two other persons in
the world who knew Pauline's history
-Ceneri and old Teresa. Teresa had
disappeared and Ceneri was in the ST.
berian mines or some other living grave.
Even as | thought of the old Italian
woman, Macari's SANDER began to !
throw forth its first poisonous shoots.
Her mysterious words, mot for love
or marriage" might bear another
meaning, 4 dishonorable meaning. And
other circumstances would come to me.
Ceneri's haste to get his niece married
his wish to get rid of her. Thoughts
of this sort would steal into my mind
until they half maddencd me.
/ could bear to sit with Pauline no
longer. went out into the open air
and wandered about aimlessly, until
two ideas occurred to me. One was !
that would 90 to the greatest author
ity on brain diseases, and consult him |
as to Pauline's hope of recovery-the |
other that l would 90 to Horace street
and examine, by Daylight, the house
from top to bottom. l went first to the
doctors.
To him told everything. saving, of
course, Macari's black lie. | could see
no other way to explain the ease with
out confiding fully. Il most certainly
succeeded in arousing his interest. He
had already seen Pauline, and knew eS-
actly the state in which she had been. |
l think he believed, as many others will, |
all told him except that one strange |
occurrence. Even this he did not scott |
at, accustomed. as he was, to wild fam
cies and freaks of imagination. He at
tributed it to this cause, which was |
but natural. And now what comfort or
hope could he give me?