Omaha daily bee., 1888-10-07

them and the great future before them.
a few months later Martha awakened
to find disgrace staring her in the face,
and in her anguish Of mind she natur-
ally turned for advice to the author OF
her shame. With Narifa's revelations
the scales dropped from Narvoeze's
eyes, and he saw himself faced by utter
ruin. He saw that he violated the most
sacred laws of his church: he saw, too,
that he had set the stamp of shame upon
the character of an innocent girl for
eternity. His remorse was great, but
his p~erpleXity as to What to do was
greater, and in his excitement he did
what any other man might have done.
He proposed to Martha that she fly
with him to the Spirit island, in
Lake Tahoe, where she woul
be safe from the scOrn OF
those she loved and where he could care
for her. The girl agreed TO the propo-
sition. No other avenue to refuge
seemed open to her, and two weeks later
Ferdinand NalasqueZ awoke one morn
ing to find his beautiful daughter miss
ing.
The people were aroused and the sur
| rounding hills searched for the missing
girl, but in vain, and NelasqueH was
compelled to return to his home with no
solution for the mystery surrounding
the disappearance of his child. In u
comfortable log house built for her.,
among the rocks and shrubs on Spirit
Island, Xarifa was safe from discovery,
for in those days the shores Of Lake
Tahoe were visited only by hunters, and
they came but seldom. Carlos con-
tlnued to perform the duties OF his
Office at the mission and he spent n
great deal of his time with Vclasquez,
endeavoring to soften the grief that vas
tearing his heart. His " face had
grown sad and the light had gone out of
his eyes. His form, once so straight
and powerful, was now bent, and his
step had lost its elasticity. His inter
est in his work at the mission seemed
to grow less, and he would often absent
himself for days, and when he returned
and was questioned as to where he had
been he would reply: Among the
hills And his associates would look
wisely at each other and point omin-
ously at their forcheads. They thought
the sudden taking away OF the beauti-
full girl who had been his companion so
long had affected his mind.
One night a few months after Xarifa
had taken up her abode on Spirit Island
she gave birth to a child, whose spirit
a few hours later fled upward. h
sense of her sin and disgrace had
wrought so upon Xurifa's mind that she
survived but two days after the death OF
her babe. Her life passed gently out
ward as she lay in the arms OF the man
whose love had bcen her death. Her
last request was that she should be
buried in the lake, where her mother
would never look again upon the face of
the daughter who had brought ~dishonor
to her household. Secretly, Narvoeze
lowered mother and babe, wrapped in
one winding sheet, into the bosom of
the lake, and locking the door Of his
heart went back to his duties at the
mission. Five years he kept his secret
from the world, and IN that time he had
followed Xarifa's parents to their
graves. Ten years he battlod with an
accusing conscience and at last was van
pushed. The story above is what he
told an associate priest.
Narvoeze was promptly eXcommuni-
Gated and the mission abandoned to the
elements. Keenly Narvoeze felt his
disgrace, and he became a ~recluse
among the hills, looking TO the charity
OF the farmers about him for sust nance.
Seven years ago he began building his
tomb, for he wanted to sleep, he said.
where he had buried his heart. Fate
was his keeper, for in the storm OF last
week his body sunk beneath the very
waters that covered The face Of his love
and Tvs offspring. l.. B..H.
.. 49, . ' 49, ''