, 1888-11-10

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the door. Again he turned, folded his
companion in a passionate embrace. and
was gone.
A thrill passed like an electric shock
through my frame. That dark. hand
some Spanish face, with its Jagged scar
across the left cheek, had | not it's coun
terpart in my possession?
The storm was now at its height
Waves of wind and water seemed testing
the house to it's foundation. Peal after
peal of thunder reverberated on my ears
Suddenly a binding flash of lightning
came, like a stream of liquid fire, pour
ing through the crescent. permeating, as
it were, the entire gallery and outlining
each stone in the moldy wall. The woman
seemed enveloped in flames as tongues of
fire played around her figure. The deaf
ening peal of thunder I was dimly con.
scious of as l fell to the floor stunned and
blinded.
When l recovered my consciousness it
was with a woman's Shrek resounding in
my ears. By the ftful illumination from
the lightning / saw that l was alone. |
went to the table and lighted the candle;
no fixed purpose inducing me, perhaps,
still not quite recovered from the electric
shock. Mechanically l picked up the
copper waiter which now lay on the floor,
and which l had seen, when the vivid
lightning had come, in the woman's hand.
started at the sight of it. It's former
gnttering surface was so no longer; burnt
into 1T and confronting me were the fea-
lures of a well known face. How well /
knew those long, almond eyesl that
gracefully curved chinl the thin, tightly
compressed lipsl
recalled some broken sentences:
drops not strong enough-white powder
beats forty-five-all over"
A sudden. tarrib1a Suspiciop hro1yo ,,por
me as Reynolds Herholf's CHASTITY face,
growing thinner and thinner daily, rose
before me. She was giving him drops
daily-a Spanish tonic, he had told me-
and was numbering her own husband be.
fore my eyesl
l sat down to debate what 1 should do.
BY Thursday, the man whom 1 now knew
to be the scoundrel Alvarez had said, all
would be over. 1t was already Tuesday.
Too late to hope for his recovery, per
haps, but | must attempt it. Yet how?
lie could bear little excitement in his
weak condition, yet to tell him without
causing excitement was impossible. The
waiter would condemn her, but could he
survive the discovery 1 had scarcely
reached my room when there was a knock
upon my door, and | obeyed a summons
to Reynolds room.
Beads of moistus TODD upon his brow,
and he breatbed i intense difficulty.
He apologized fo. G,aturbing me to keep
him company, but the storm had made
him sleepless.
Resides" he went on, 81 thought l
heard a scream, a fearful, horrible scream,
last night, when the lightning struck that
tree on the lawn. | was too weak to get
up, and would not disturb my wife.
haven't got clear and the noise doesn't
leave my ears. hear it always. 1 heard
it then"-he ~shuddered. and covered his
face with his hands for a few seconds,
then started up in a listening attitude as
he cried: "Therel Ihearditl Oh, Iheard it
againl Help mel Help mel Oh, Charlie,
you heard nothing, did your
l stroked his brow so~othingly, and put
ting a pocket flask to his lips, l urged
him to swallow q little of the stimulant.
In a few seconds, so complete was his ex.
haustion, he had fallen into a nervous
slumber.
An old family servant beckoned me to
the door, and closed it behind us as he
said:
Mars Charles, don't yer let on ter Mars
reynolds, but TO- de Laud ye kyan hep
hearin' dem heather noises what Miss
ben err maxim sence TO day. Jes' fur all
de wurl like de ole oman, her ma, made,
so folks say. Tank de Laud l wusn't
here den, when dey had her shet up in
dat room what Miss Mia got now"
could only repeat: THE old woman?"
"Why, you see-dat what dey tell me
-de ole man couldn't er got de money eff
de folks In dem furrin places d er knowed
dat de ole 'owan d gone out'n her mine.
So he just switched her off here, en- nor
ated in no time how dat she wa dead.
En- TO de Laud, dar she was shet up, en-
nobody knowin' de way ter her cep'n de
ole man hisself en- Miss Nita. When de
po' creeter died dey shet up de stairway,
en- Miss Mia low she mine ter live in dat
room herself; but hit clean beat Jacobs
time how sheIin stay dar. Hear datP'
1t was the same sound 1 had heard
when in Reynolds room.
dat de way de ole oman kyar on when
dem spells wus on her. En- dem soun's
been reachin' out here sence fo' day. Ye
kin guess now why dat po' lovin' creeter
in dar d rather think he crazy hisself N
ter hear dat noise. l be'nNer humorin' NV
him, but | dunnol' and the old man shook
his head sadly.
The sick man still slept, and l stepped
softly to the adjoining room. turned
the key, lifted the latch, and ventured a
cautious glance behind the portiero.
In the room beyond the room in which
| stood, Anita Herholf, the most beauti.
1ul woman l had ever seen, was a raving
maniac. Her long hair hung like a thick
cloud about her; her magnificent eyes
were distended and bloodshot; her cloth
ing torn and d~isordered; and as she
swayed her slim, graceful figure back and
forth in a movement almost snake like in
its suppleness, she uttered a dog like
snarl, which occasionally was prolonged
into the revolving sound that reached
Reynolds room. ~Incipient disease had
been developed by the strain her nerv-
GUS system had been under, and the cleo
trio shock had FASTENED the climax.
The murderess was feeling her own fangsl
l summoned medical aid at once. The
physician pronounced Mr.. Herholf un-
doubtedly a victim to the deadly narcotic
foxglove. His condition for weeks was
one between life and death, with almost
nc hope of recovery. His wife was placed
in an asylum, where she died before he
was able to leave his room. He never
knew her crime. When he was able to
travel he went abroad, leaving the house