The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1886-02-19
A MENTAL CRIME.
A Jealous Girl Commits Murder
in Her Heart.

Sitting here tonight, the possessor
of great wealth, respected and envied
by the neighboring people, 1 am yet
more wretched than any convict be-
hind prison bars.
For carry in my breast the knowl-
edge of an awful crime.
caused the death of three human
beings; yet no one on the face of the
earth has ever suspected me as the au-
thor of that terrible tragedy.
Sometimes / think it would relieve
the fearful burden on my soul if suspi-
clon did point its finger at me; and so
tonight have resolved to write out
the whole story just as it occurred; to
paint myself in all the hideous colors
OF the murderer that l am.
After am dead, let people read the
story and bestow upon my memory
the scorn it deserves.
was but twelve years old, and he
was fifteen, when my mother married
his father, and | was taken to the
Pines-to this very old mansion where
am now sitting-to reside; his father.
my stepfather, Colonel Monroe, had
never seen me until l came there to
live.
had been at boarding-school when
he met, courted and married my
mother. They went upon quite an ex-
tensive tour, returning to the Pines in
June, and then l was brought home.
How well | remember that sum
mer evening! The ground were all
ablaze with roses as | drove up to the
stately old mansion. Colonel Monroe.
my mother and Sinclair Monroe, nv
stepfather's son, stood on the veranda.
to welcome me.
After greeting my mother, she led
me to Colonel Monroe.
"This is your new papa, dear 40
mes, she said, "whom hope YOU will
love very much; and this is Sinclair,
your new BROTHER
Sinclair bowed with strangely pol
ished air for so young boy, thought.
and smiled. noticed that his face was
very handsome and proud and almost
cold until he smiled Then twas radi-
ant rs the June day itself. Colonel
Monroe took my hand and leaned
down and scrutinized my face.
Bless my starsN he cried out in a
hearty voice, ''what a beauty we have
mere! A perfect gypsy queen! Come,
Sinclair, | should think you would like
the chance to kiss such cheek as
thatrn
Sinclair blushcd slightly, and came
forward and shook hands with me then.
but he did not kiss me. AS we stood
there facing each other, Colonel Mon
roe placed hand on either head. IA
handsome couple, Sybyl," he said, adj
dressing my mother, ga handsome
couple, surely. l think we will have to
plan to keep them always with us. 1
should like to see them man and wife,
some day
And so, indeed, would t. nv
mother answered, smiling, ''but it is
early to think of that, Colonel. Let
time do its own work. ~ Then She led
me away to my room.
From that time began TO think Of
myself as Sinclair Monroe's wife. We
speak idle words in the presence of
children, and forget them, but the
seed takes root in the young mind and
silently grows into a harvest for good
or evil.
was to remain at the Pines and re-
ceive my education from private
teachers. Sinclair was only home for
his vacation, and in September he re-
turned to college. We were playmates
and comrades all through the long
bright summer. We used to ride two
little ponies which his father had pre-
scented us with soon after my arrival,
and one day Sinclaic show ed nue. the
broad acres of his estate-the one which
would be his when he attained his ma
jority. II shall build q splendid house
there" he said, pointing to a noble
eminence which overlooked the city,
just below us, ga house larger, oh, ten
times larger than the Pines, and shall
live there in the summer and 90 to the
city in the winter. ! hate the country
In the winter.
As we rode back l reveled in dreams
OF the future, when / should reign a
queen over that splendid mansion.
AS years passed on the idea strength
encd in my mind. Sinclair and were
always together when he was at home.
He made me his confidante in all his
college escapades, and we correspondent
constantly. To be sure, he always adj
dressed me as isis" an abbreviation
of sister, / suppose; and he never kissed
me in his life, save when he come
home or upon his departure. Yet al
ways thought of him as my future hus-
band, and ! planned my life according
y.
My mother was poor widow when
Colonel Monroe married her. She had
barely means enough to exc out our cx-
pcnses, but she was very handsome and
Fascinating. She had what people
called 81 way with men" that was
irresistible. She fostered the idea that
! was to be Sinclair's wife, One day
she and were driving together about
the estates, and she turned to me and
smiled and said
Glow strange it is. ma petite. that
you and /, two penniless creatures that
we were few years ago, will one day
possess both these splendid estates for
orr very own. 1t is like fairy story.