Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-12-16
:, and |, listening eagerly and yet reluetant.

AORo IVA SOAAO COnIuOupidCO bOluJlOu VI Ill
mystery. But could make little out of it
A deep love, a deeper regret, despair,
finger lost by gun accident when he ant
the girl he loved were children together; al
this mixed up together in manner impos
fslbls to follow.
At last felt as though could stand i
no longer. Istopped short and looked hin
in the face.
'Look here, Lorimer," I said quickly
flesh and blood can't bear this, you know
Either stop talking to yourself or tell m,
the whole story"
He looked up in surprise, begged m,
pardon, and lapsed into silence.
We did not exchange another syllable tina
night, but trudged along steadily until ",
reached the place whence we set out earl,
in the day.
Our landlady's surprise was great OF
seeing Us again, when she thought we wer,
far on the road northward; but luckily oul
rooms were unlet, and SO we were able tt
|Sprn in after hasty supper. In answer tt
inquiries, Lorimer said shortly that we hat
changed our minds, and would follow the
company later. could see the good wo
man looked upon US as a couple of lunatics
and, indeed, now that tho fear was wear
ing off little, l felt uncommonly like one
myself; but she stood considerably in awe oi
my companion, and said little.
1t was in vain l tried to sleep. tossed
about for an hour or SO, my brain whirlinG
with excitement, wonder, speculation; and
then l got up and struck a match to look
what time it was.
Lorimer must have heard mo stirring,
for he called out from the next room for me
to come in beside him. Perhaps he, like
myself, was glad to have human companion.
ship. At any rate, he welcomed me warmly,
and there in the silence Of the night opened
his heart to mo and told me the story of his
life.
1t is not necessary for me to repeat ii
here, and, after all, there was nothing
very uncommon in it. Just tho old story
of reckless youth-chances thrown away,
talents misapplied, friends alienated, and
all the rest of it. Then hasty marriage
with sweet, childish girl whom he had
known and loved from boyhood, and who
clung to him in spite Of everything, and
joined her fate to his in the hope Of reform
ing him, needless of all remonstrances and
opposition.
For a time she succeeded, and of truth
the two must have loved each other very
dearly, for Loriner's tone grew tender and
reverent as he talked of their happiness.
But it proved too hard a struggle for tho
girl-wife, delicately reared and nurtured,
and her health gave way under it. Her
husband saw this and it maddened him.
For her sake he put his pride in his pocket
and appealed for help, first to his own and
then to her relations. But in vain. As the
young couple had sown 80 thcy must reap.
Hor friends offered to take her back if she
would consent to separate from her husband,
but this she refused, oven against his plead
ings. Never If they wore to starve, at
least they would starve together, said the
tender-clinging little creature in answer to
every entreaty.
Perhaps those who wished to separate
them never fully realized how very close the
wolf was to the door; perhaps they meant
we'll to Helen in using every means in their
power to bend her to their wishes; but at
any rate they did not succeed, and bitter
must have been their remorss when the end
came.
She died, and her child with her, for want
of the simplest necessaries of life. What
wonder that Lorimer refused with bitter
scorn to hear of any reconciliation after
that!
She he held dearer than all the world was
gone. He would show them it was not for
himself he had stopped to ask a favor.
And, worse than all, now that there was
nothing left to keep him straight, he became
more reckless than ever. He had lost faith
in the God who had allowed her to die, and
in the men who might have hindered it had
they shown common feeling, and this made
him wild and careless.
understood, as ho talked, what had made
him so different from the rest of us. His
heart was broken, but he had to live his
life out for all that, and the very remem-
brance of his lovo grew bitter to him, and
helped him on the downward path, since
he no longer believed in heaven where
they should be again together. Poor Lori
mer There was nothing but pity in my
mind before he had finished telling mo all
this.
"Ah, if I could only live it over again -
he groaned- 'the last two years l mean.
promised her I'd be true to myself and
to the memory Of our love, and I've been
as false as-you know how it's been with
me, Tom, though hate the excesses into
which I've plunged, and Heaven knows T've
had little enjoyment out of them. One
tries and tries to drown memory and to
forget, but with how little successp'
The next day passed uneventfully save
that broke down and had to keep in bed,
where Lorimer nursed mo as tonderly as a
woman could have done, and when the
manager telegraphsd for us peremptorily
ho Uorimer) sent as curt a reply. There
were others waiting and eager to step into
our shoes, he said laughingly, when fret
ted over the future, and it was only fair to
give them a chance.
knew that Price and Hanson had both
understudied our parts, but this seemed to
me poor consolation. However, I was
really too i'll to move, and indeed it was
weeks before was fit to act again. Ner-
vous exhaustion and shock to the system
the doctor whom Lorimer called in said it
was, and seemed very curious to know what
had caused the shock. We neither of us
satisfied this curiosity, it is needless to add.
l had Overwalked myself, l told him, with
which statement he was obliged to be con-
tent.
Now comes the queerest part of the story.
Lorimer kept it from me until was strong
er, and then told me himself as quietly and
calmly as possible.
On the first night of our conpany's ap-
pearance in B-the theatre took fire, and
before it could be extinguishsd was burned
to the ground. This happened during tho
time tho piece in which we would have ap-
peared was going on, and the actor who
took Lorimer's part for the time WAS the
first victim. A burning beam fell upon him
as he was hurrying off the stage, and crush
ed him under it. Ono of the actresses was
very much burned-so much so that she
died from tho injuries and two others
were seriously injured. Lorimer was a
changed man after this. did not see very
much more of him at the time, for, his elder
brother dying without heirs, he succeeded
to splendid estate and fortune in an out
of-the-way part of Wales, and had to take
the duties and responsibilities of his position
at once. But he kept true to our friendship,
and helped me on as much as my pride
would allow, and often heard from him and
still oftener about him. He was always doing
good in some quiet, unobtrusive way, help
ing the needy, raising the fallen, comfort
ing the stricken. He has never married.
There must be no woman in his Helen's
place, for he feels that she is with him still
in spirit, though tho grave divides them
temporarily.
Neither of us ever alluded again to that
strange warning which came to us in the