Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-01-17


of the moaning owls in the belfry-one
of the parish goodmen was fastening
home belated through the narrow calle-
.juela where dwelt Luisa, when ne saw
in the space before him something that
made him pause and tremble, for he
was of the timid bourgeois class that
carried no staunch Toledo blade nor
slender, deadly rapier from the belt.
The night was dark, almost to palpa-
bllity. No ray of light fell into the cal
LeiuelG, save the dim ray from the little
lantern, swinging before the rude image
of some saint in a niche near the tablet
on the wall, at the entrance of the by
street where it opened with blunt an
gle into wider thOrOughfare. That ray,
falling through the weather stained pane
of the lantern, was dim and fitful,
and almost seemed to make the
darkness denser, and more concrete
than the shapes that the honest wayfarer
fancied he saw fitting along the wall
Now these might be some of the gal
lants that were always wrangling here
abouts for the sweet sake of Luisa, albeit
there had been a notable falling-Off in
their attendance, since it was Tumored
she had finally hearkened to the voice of
one of their number. Or-and the hair
of the honest fellow bTiStled at the idea,
for all the darknesS-it might even be
Don Nuno himself, and his worship, by
all accounts, would not hesitate to spit
like curlew from the marshes one whom
he might meet poaching on his preserves.
So, fearing to be mistaken for a gallant,
the honest citizen shrunk into himself,
and fattened his portliness against the
convent wall as best might be. And
the vague shapes passed him by in 81
lence, unperceiving.
He repented him of his timidity the
next morning, and reviled himself for a
fool and coward, when the neighborhood
thrilled to the news of the flight of Lui-
sa Haro. Her door stood ajar, and the
poor belongings of her stood undiSturb-
ed in order. All the evidence pointed
to the fact that her flight was voluntary
and deliberate, and the popular voice
was unanimous in declaring that her
comrade must be Nuno, Marquis of
Monies Claros. 1t was this pair, no
doubt, whom the worthy goodman had
seen stealing away through the dark
ness, and his repentance was keen that
he had not followed them, to possess
himself of the knowledge of their move
ments and destination that would have
made him important among his fellows.
From that day, her Old-time neighbors
knew naught of Luisa Haro, save that
some one whose affairs had taken him
to the suburb of San Cosme brought
back the story that he had seen her there,
blooming and with sumptuous accesso-
ries, in the balcony of splendid man.
sion that was known to belong to Monies
Claros.
4 x
Six years after the flight of Luisa from
her homely abode in the narrow GALE
.jlLeIG, she sat in the luxurious home
where Monies -Claros had placed her,
brooding mournfully over her situation.
The moonlight streamed through the
open window and illuminated her de-
spondent figure. In face and form she
was more beautiful than on the day she
fled with Montes- Claros, but still she was
not beautiful enough to keep the tickle
fancy of the Spaniard. His attentions
and his interest had gradually diminish
ed, until the unhappy woman now had
but too much reason to consider herself
altogether deserted. She had lacked no
material comfort, it is true, thus far, but
this was little consolation to a woman
whose thwarted affection was as strong
and unaltered as when her passionate
heart first poured out its ardent incense
before her lover.
She had not seen Monies Claros for a
fortnight, and she was resolved to know
the worst without further horror of sus-
pense and anxiety. She rose and car
ried the infant in her arms to an alcove,
behind whose silken curtains lay two
older children sleeping. She laid the
little one beside its brothers. She
shrouded herself in long, dark, cling
ing mantel, left the house and took her
way to the central streets of the city.
She knew the family mansion of
Monies Claros, and shortly found herself
before it. The windows of the facade
were ablaze with light, and the alarmed
watcher saw that the rooms were full of
festive throng. Nuno was there in
the midst of his guests with his proud
mother, and beside him a young girl,
tall and handsome, in bridal raiment.
The heart of Luisa sank like lead
within her She plucked by the sleeve
bystander, gazing like herself through
the window. "Do you know, friend,
who is the young lady beside the Senior
Marques?"
"Who should it be, laughed the man
she questioned, "but the bride he we'd
ded this morning at ten of the clock in
the chapel of Sagrario?"
No word answered Luisa, but neither
made she outcry, only presently fell back
from the window, and pushed her way
to the open street through the crowd of
on-lookers.
Slowly, mechanically she held her way,
never fastening, never pausing, till she
reached the house of San Cosme, and let
herself in at its great arched entrance,
and into her own chamber. An antique
Golfer stood there. an ancient cedar chest
with Mauresque decoration, brought over
from Spain by the family of Monies
Claros. In it Nuno had been wont to
deposit, while he yet frequented the
dwelling, such odds and ends as, fancy
ing, he might buy On the way out thith-
er, or matters in his possession at the
moment that he found cumbrous.
Still under the spell of that awful,
deadly quiet, Luisa opened the old chest,
and took from it dagger, a curious
jeweled weapon, that Nuno had tossed
down long months since, and forgotten,
though its memory had lived in the fer
vid brain of the woman.
Still lighted only by the pallid, ghast-
ly moonbeams, she went to the alcOve
where her little ones lay sleeping, and
drew aside the curtain.
sEYOur father has fOrSaken rs my