Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-07-17

served to render the darkness still more Wis
ible. l thought l saw her turning her head
toward me- became frightened in earnest,
and blew out the light turned my face to
the wall, pulled the bedclothes over my
head, drew my night cap down to my chin,
and finally went TO sleep.
/ did not dare to look at the accursed
tapestry again for several dayA
1t MAJ be well hero-for the sake OF i'm
parting something OF verisimihtude to tho
unlikely story am about to relate-to inform
nv fair readers that in those days / was
really a very pretty boy. l had the hand
soonest eyes in the world-at least they used
tn tell me so: much fairer complexion than
| have nova true carnation tint; curly
brown hair, which | still have, and II years,
which | have no longer. / needed only a
pretty stepmother to be a very tolerable
cherub; unfortunately, mine was 81 years of
aye, and had only three teeth, which was too
much Of one thing and too little Of the other
One evening, however, finally plucked up
courage enough TO take peep at the fair
mistress of Hcrcules-she was looking at me
with the saddest and most la1guishing ex-
preston possible This time l pulled my
night cap down to my very shoulders and
buried my head in the coverlet.
bad q strange dream that nIght-if, in
deed, it was dream. | heard the rings Of
my bed curtains sliding with sharp squeak
( upon their curtain rods as II the curtains had
/ been suddenly pulled back l awoke-at
I least in my dream it seemed 20 me that
swoke. / saw no one
/ The moon shone full upon the window
panes, and projected her wan blush light
/ into the room. Vast shadows, fantastic
! forms, were defined upon the floor and the
walls The clock chimed O quarter, and the
vibration of the sound took long time to
die away; it seemed like sigh. The plainly
audible strokes of the pendulum seemed like
| the pulsations of q young heart throbbins
with passion.
l felt anything but comfortable, and a very
bewildernent Of fear took possession of me.
/ A furious gust Of wind banged the shutters
| and made the window sashes trenible. The
wood work cracked; the tapestry undulated.
l ventured to glance in the direction Of ON
phale, with a vague suspicion that she WAS
instrumental In all this unpleasantness for
some secret purpose of her own. was not
mistaken.
The tapestry became violently agitated.
Omphale detached herself from the wall and
leaped lightly to the carpet She came
straight toward my bed, after having first
turned herself carefully in my direction. I
fancy it will hardly be necessary to describe
my stupefaction. The most intrepid old SOL
dier would not have felt very comfortable
under similar circumstances, and l was
neither old Nor q soldier | awaited the end
of the adventure ia terrified silence.
A flute toned, pearly little voice sounded
softly in my ears, with that pretty lisp at
fected during the regency by warehouses;
and people Of high degree:
"Do really frighten You, my child9 1t is
true that you are only a child; but it il not
nice to be afraid Of ladies, especially when
they are young ladies and only wish you well
it Is uncivl and unworthy Of French
gentleman; you must be cured Of such silly
fears Come, little savage, leave off these
foolish airs, and cease hiding your head I'M
der the bed clothes In my time, cherubs
were more courageous"
'But, lady, it is because"-
because it seems strange to you to find
me hero instead of there" she said, biting
her rudy lips with her white teeth, and
pointing towards the wall with her long,
taper finger; "well, in fact, the thing does
not look very natural; bat were I to explain
| it all to you, you would be none the wiser.
Let it be sufficient for you to know that you
are not in any danger"
81 am afraid you may be the-the"-
'sThe devil-out with the worlds it noti
That is what you wanted to say. Well, at
least, you will grant that l am not black
enough for devil; and that if hell were peo-
pied with devils shaped as 1 am one might
have quito as pleasant time there as in para
disc"
And, to prove that she was not fattering
herself, Omphale threw back her lions skin
and allowed me to behold her exquisitely
nodded shoulders and bosom, dazzling in
their white beauty.
"Well, what do you think OF meT' she ex-
claimed with pretty little air of satisfied
coquetry.
Il think that, even were you the devil him
self, should not be afraid Of you any more,
! Mime. Omphale."
"Ah, now you talk sensibly; but do notcan
me madame. or Omphale. do not wish you
to look upon me as a madame; and am no
moro Omphale than am the devil"
Then who are youa"
81 anu the Warehouses de Belierive A
short time after was married tho marquis
had this tapestry made for my apartments,
and had me represented on it in the character
of Omphale; ne himself figures there as Her
cules That was queer notion he took; for
| God knows there never was anybody in the
world who bore less resemblance to Hercules
than the poor marquisl 1t has been a
! long time since this chamber was occupied
! | naturally love company, and l almost died
of ennui in consequence. It gave me the
headache To be only with ones husband il
the same thing as being alone When you
| came | was overjoyed; this dead room be-
! came reanimated; l had found some ono to
! feel interested In. ! watched you come in
| and go out; heard you murmuring in your
sleep; l watched you reading aud my eyes
| followed the pages found you were nicely
! behaved, and had a fresh, innocent way
! about you that pleased n,ein short, fell in
love with you 1 tried 10 make you under
stand; sighed-you thought it was only the
signing OF the wind; l made signs TO you;
! looked at you with languishlng eyes, and
| only succeeded in frightening you terribly
/ So, at last, in despair. resolved upon this
/ rathe, Improper course which l have taken,
! to tell you frankly what you could not take a
hint about Now that you know | love
! you
The conversation was interrupted at this
| iuncture by the grating of key il the lock
OF the chamber door.
i Omphale started. and blushed 10 the very
whites of her eyes
"Adieu.r she whispered. It'll tomorrow
And she returned to her place on the wall
! walking backward, for fear that l should Sec
! the reverse side doubtless
1t was Baptiste. who came to brush my
clothes
. ,chf rnfk 70 cla x~ifh h..i