Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-12-19


with confidence. With proclamations and
pealing Of bells was announced for the fol-
lowing day the solemn benediction and
dedication OF the bridge, and the Toledanos,
from the heights commanding the vale Of
the Tajo, contemplated with joyous emo
ton their beloved Cigarrales that for years
had been sad, lonely, almost deserted, and
which were now TO recover their old-time
beauty and animation.
Toward nightfall Juan de Arevalo climbed
upon the scaffolding Of the central arch to
see that all was in readiness for the NOR
rows ceremony Meanwhile, he was gayly
singing. All at once the song died on his
lips, the light faded from his face, and sor-
rowfully he descended, and slowly took his
way homeward. His wife Catalina came
forth 10 meet him, full Of love and content
ment; but a frghtful pallor overspread her
face az the sight of the despairing counten-
ance Of her husband.
"Oh, Father in Heaven" she cried:
"what is IL, then, my dear onei Art thou
mP
"nl-no : dead-yes--in hope, in power. In
honor Ayei In life itself for will not
survive the dishonor Of tomorrow. Nay,
tho only shred Of honor can wrest from
fate will be mine but In dyingw
mol nor' cried Catalina; "Juan, thou
dreamcstl Thy great excess Of labor has
doranged thy thought, my dear one. Come
hithcr, let me call the lcech and heal thee
4" Not 20. II is the truth tell thee. When
was most sure Of success, most confident
Of triumph, now on the eve Of the test.
have discovered an error in my calculations
that tomorrow will bury in the Tajo the
bridge aud the unfortunate who unsuccess-
fully planned IT,"
"rhc bridge may fall, beloved, but thou
shalt not 60 with IL. On my knees will
ontrcat the Archbishop TO exempt thee
from that horrible promise"
"And II he yield, then will not accept
tho dissolution. I care not for life without
honor"
Now swear that thou shalt lose nor
life Nor honorr murmured Catalina, softly,
yet with infinite resolution.
IL was already almost dawn. The cocks
were Growing. Catalina seemed TO sleep,
and her husband, sOothed in spite Of him
self by her calm dcmeanor, at last fell into
a htful, feverish slumber, that was full OF
nightmare horrors. Catalina arose, as silent
In her motions as the passing Of a shadow,
and, opening n window, looked out on tho
vale of the Tajo No sound was heard but
the murmuring current of the river and
the wind that whistled through the timbers
Of the scaffolding at the bridge. A dense
and somber pail of cloud overhung the
city, and from its gloomy bosom darted,
now and then, lightning rays of terrible
brilliance that blinded the beholder. AS
yet no rain was falling; and the terror of
the impending storm seemed concentrated
in the thick, palpable darkness, the omlnous
brooding silence, and the sultry, breath
less thickness Of the close atmosphere.
Cioafpn the xufpdorr tho x..ffa 81 tho
architect caught up an unextinguished
brand that smoldered still on the hearth
stone. Out INTO the night she went, and,
for all the pitchy blackness that marked
that last dark hour before the day should
quicken, she sought not TO guide her steps
by the light Of the tire-brand, but rather to
conceal its CLEAN with the folds OF her
raiment, as she hurried over the broken
and Uttered way to the river, and with pain
and peril climbed upon the planks of the
staging. Below her the wind shrieked
among the timbers, and the river reared
and beloved as it hurled itself upon the
opposition OF the piles, aud Catalina shud-
dered. Was ii for the solitude and the
darknessi for the danger of losing her
footing and tumbllng headlongi or because
she realized that those about her, overlook
ing the sacrifice Of affection, would see in
her movements only the Odious deed OF
criminals
She recovered her calmness with an ef-
fort, shook until it burst into a blaze in the
blast the torch that until now she had hid
den, and applied it 10 the lighter braces of
the staging The resinous wood caught
with vigorous flame, and, famed by tho
wind, leaped abroad, and climbed with ter
rible rapidity up the scaffolding
Not less swiftly, by the light Of the
spreading fire, Catalina recrossed the dan
gerous path she had trodden, and reached
her nome and her chamber while her hus-
band was still sleeping.
BY this time the massive sleepers Of the
bridge OF San Martin were cracking. A
little later dull and prolonged murmur
was heard throughout the city, and from a
hundred belfrIes tolled tho omnous fire
alarm, to which lugubrious signal ensued a
crash that called from the Toledanos tho
same cry Of distress that they had uttered
when the bridge succumbed to the vaudal
attack of Don Enrique
Juan dc Arevalo awoke with a species of
spasm Catalina was at his side, apparently
sleeping. Juan clothed himself hurredly.
and, as he reached the street, his heart
loapcd with JOY as he realized that the fire
had obliterated the proof Of lis faulty judg-
mcnt
The Archbishop and the Toledanos at
tributed the fire TO bolt from Heaven,
and the sorrow they felt for their own loss
was tempered by the sympathy felt for tho
architect, whom they deemed TO have seen
the results Of his labor destroyed even in
the hour OF triumph; and the architect him
self, who was a pious soul, OF profound
faith IN the protection of Heaven, was de-
vout IN the same conviction.
AS for Catalina, she assured her husband
that she was entirely OF the same opinion.
and, as women are rarely guilty Of false
hood, surely so venial lie may be forgiven
10 one who had saved the honor and the lie
of her husband.
The confagration only retarded for year
tho triumph Of Juan de Arevalo, for a
twelvemonth later, TO a day, on the fete of
San Yldefonso, the Toledanos crossed the
bridge OF San Martin to their beloved Gig
arrales, and the successful builder Of tho
structure was the toast Of the occasion and
the honored guest at the banquet spread in
Joyous celebratlon.-Y. II. Adds, in Aruondld.
KINDNESS SAVED HIM.
How Humane Judge Made a Good Man
Out OF n had Boy.
AT dinner-party, several years ago, In
4.