Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-05-15

arms Papa, ene cfle0. - sue uenui
He beat his head HWe found her under
the cliff. Poor child, poor child!'
sprang from the piano, against which l
had been leaning. 1T was he" cried; he
did it, know, feel
Good Goi." said my father, turning upon
me face In which terror and amazement
were curiously blended; what do you
means'
A rushing as Of many waSers was in my
ears / stretched out my arms wildly, and,
falling, knew no more When ! recovered
from the state Of nervous prostration into
which the awful shock of Helen's death had
thrown me, learned from my mother such
meager details as were to be told concern
ing the tragedy. The beautiful body, she
said, had been less disigured than might
have been expected from the dreadful iaI
of over 100 feet
sOf course there was an inquest" she
went on, |and," looking gravely at me,
sthere could be no doubt that il was purely
accidental There were no signs OF q struggle
only your white knitted shawl had caught
on the tree which overhung the clif-one Of
those Young larches which manage to live
there for q year or two All those who
knew her deny the possibility Of its being
suicide; but dear Helen has often said that
when on a great height she always felt
nervous inclination to throw herself on.
Many persons experience the same"
Poor Mr. Hardcastie was broken-hearted;
but, as was not unnatural in one OF his dis
position, he refused all comfort and had left
for the west as soon as possible, leaving the
house to the care Of the woman who had
served them as cook The white shawl l
put away among my treasures, keeping it
as thing sacred, never to lie worn, or
touched by other hands than my own l
never again breathed the awful suspicion
which had possessed my mind concerning
Horace Hardcastle, hut iEwardly prayed
that he might never cross my path In
agine, then, my grief and pain when few
months after my own marriage, which oc-
CURED about a year subsequent to Heien's
death ] received a letter announcing
Bertha's engagement to Mr.. Hardcastle,
who was, nv mother informed me, staying
at Westfieldene in his old house, though 1t
was his intention after the marriage to re-
side in New York In my despair l
told my husband all my fears and sns-
picicns, which l could plainly see he re-
garded as preposterouS Nevertheless, he
allowed me to return home with the lnten-
ton Of disuading my sister, if possible,
from carrying out what honestly believed
to be a suicidal intention l came unnn
nounce1, and the night OF my arrival
sought my sisters bedroom, and there
begged and prayed Of her to abandon this
man. whose power over her had never been
able to understand. All the promise l coud
obtain from her was that she would delay
the marriage for three months and give me
full consent to prosecute all inquiry con
corning her fiance's antecedents which
might deem proper. She also agreed to
write q note asking him to meet her tho
following evening 1t our own house in order
that they might walk to his residence and
choose what things should lie sent to New
York and what sold The following even
ing, still acting under my orders, she left
the house in the pony carriage, about a
quarter Of an hour before the time appointed
for his coming, leaving HE, as she supposed,
to await him. No sooner was she out OK
sight than slipped up stairs and drew from
its wrapper my white knitted shawl, and
gave the man-servant message Tor Mr..
Hardcastle to the effect that Miss Bertha had
driven round by the read to his house and no
was to come to her as quickly as possible
Full well knew that he coull not but take
the cliff path, which was not half the
distance of the high-road Along this fatal
path l few in the semidarkness until l
reached the spot where Helen had fallen.
There, crouching behind the bushes and the
branches of the larch tree, / let my long,
black hair free from the comb, unfastenei
the black cloak which hid my white dress,
and keeping the snowy shawl well out OF
sight, l waited, painting and shiverinS, for
the approach of the man | feared AMI
hated 1t was not for loI.,. Soon his tail,
spare figure appeared advancing through
the darkness. / was motioniess until he was
some fifteen feet from M THIN, dropping
my cloak, l flung the shawl about my
head and shoulders, while l advanced
toward him from under my shelter. l had
well calculated on my resemblance, as to
height and figure to Helen he gave cry,
which was horrible in its wild terror, and
stood rooted to the spot l dared not ad-
vance, but, raising one hand and stretching
it out toward him, | uttered tbs one word
Murder"
With groan he shrank from me,
hoarsely whispering: "Helen, have mercy;
l loved her So
made a motion as though / would ad
vance Again tho place echoed with that
wild cry as, turning, he fieL lis terror as
much as his words had betrayed him
Hastily resumins my cloak, l made Ely
way to the house, where found my sister.
For an hour we awaited him; finding
turned home As we drove along
Bertha somewhat haughtily demanded an
explanation, which l promised should lie
given in her lovers presence. the hours Of
the next morning dragged YEARLY. A sleep
Ia I.ff
dared not think, for feared that my ten
derness for my poor sister would overcome
my firm determination to accuse her il
tended husband in her presence.
was pacing the veranda in q miserable
state of anxiety when saw my father COM
ing slowly up the path He held in his hand
letter This is for Bertha" he said, hold
ing it up and looking hard at me the while
.Hardcastle has left Westfieldene, as he in
formed me in a note which accompanies
this don't understand it" Let me give
her the letter." with e quick premoni;ion OF
its contents As we'll as lay in my feeble
power, l prepared my unhappy sister in a
measure for the shock l felt sure that she
was about to receive The letter contained.
as / supposed, a full confession Its effect
was for a tins prostrating, but an oppor-
tune legacy from an English cousin enabled
my father to remove his family to New
York, and in the happy marriage which she
ma lie In after years my dear sister forge:
the tragical experience Ut her early youth
The homestead retained much Of The gloom
which these events cast over IL f,f all OF us,
hut the present generation Knows not OF
them The house on the chf was pulled
down by order Of its owner, who never re-
T.. L..
Elisa II. Moore, in Chicago Times