The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-06-12

- my leie lhe HouSe,
81 fear that the worst is not over
yet. He looks SO wasted and frail."
Yes said Mrs. Cakes, the tears
railing 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 vehementlv,
stopping short IN her walk, her little
form trembling and her blue eyes flash
ing. l 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?n
askek MIR. Cakes, as they resumed
their walk.
''Oh, don't ask me! l am nearly
distracted, although | 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, and,
leaning farther back, surveyed the
marble mantel. A pair of Aztec vases
from the base of Popocatapetl adorned
either end; next to these, a quantity
carved owl ana a beautiful specimen
of coral, the center of the space being
occupied by a large portrait of a 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
loneller, 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 ted, followed by the
shadow, and his blue eyes ON
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 the PIC
ture, the pupils of the eyes lost all ex-
preston, the surroundings were lost
| i'm tba iptapsitI- .Af that rr1,r,o owl
the picture seemed to be encircled by
a 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 n word:
"Well.n
You have come" he muttered 81
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. l 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
ECU"
''Oh. Victor, Victor, pity me, have
mercy!'
"Pity?" Mercy? Listen. Four years
ago We met. you remember the time,
in the omnibus. You had forgotten
your purse. and + 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 a 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, as you would
have led a child. smiling on no one but
me, and at last YOU yielded and prom
ised to be my wife. All, how happy l
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 Burlington
came. With him came a change. He
was rakish and free: he laid siege to
your heart, and turned both heart
and head. l knew him and warned YOU
of the leper's touch, but was laughed
at, snubbed, and, in anger finally
thrown aside like a tiresome toy.
it was the beginning of the end. |
humbled myself before you, entreated
you to turn aside, and what did you do
and sav?n
The lips of the girl moved, and her
voice came like an echo from affair:
81 laughed at you, then l was an
gered. | 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
spurncd me like a dog-scorned my
Well, 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"
Il have repented my folly; what
more could you ask of me?' asked the
girl.
"You repented! 1t cannot be. When
you come to my side, and. aneeling,
beg forgiveness, 1 will believe. I will
forgive and give you the love of years.
Come"
AS he spoke the figure gradually re-
coded, decreasing in size, the mist
elearai away and tho D~hotopranh RIO.