, 1889-05-05

OF Philippe. His lear personality In
which l which 1 had robed myself, burnt
me like the shirt Of Nessus. It seemed
TO me that / could see him starting from
his grave at Elsasshausen and crying:
Enough Give me back my uniform,
my f~iancee, my mothers sorrow. Give
me back myself, robberr
All at once-it Is only women who are
subject TO this sudden change of ideas,
but those who were living at that period
will understand it-an at once my moth
er exclaimed;
You are hungry, are you not2 You
have been hungry the last nine months
My hands must have the pleasure of pre-
pairing the first repast which you are to
enjoy. Remain with Odette. You must
have many things to say to each other"
THE young girls face became i1lum-
ined as with a spring Juror She took
ray arm and pressed 1t.
"Oh, my Beloved What a day Is thisi
1t seems to mo as IL you had arisen from
the deadf'
l turned pale and gazed at her wildly,
letting the arm that she was holding fall
inert.
What is the matter2 Do you no longer
love me?' she stammered, also losing her
color.
Yes, yes; but let US 81 no moro about
the dead; they cannot come to life again"
"Truei Stay, 1 am selfish. / forgot
the other one-your other self, he of
whom l was almost Jealous, l loved you
30. Do you remember what you said to
me there, under the arbor, when we babe
each other good-byY'
1t seemed as IL the earth was opening
at my feet.
"Ah, yesl ah, yesI" I stammered like
a culprit.
In this love duet 1 was playing out of
time and tune, and she no doubt felt it.
Tell me what it was," she went on
suspiciously.
Excuse me; I've thought of 30 many
things since. My poor headl My broth
en-
Sho pushed me away, gazing at me
with n frightened expression.
"Are you not Philippe? Stayi what a
horrible thought You are not Philippe.
II you had been you would have already
taken me in you arms and covered me
with kisses 30 l could not have spoken.
And white as n ghost she shrank back,
holding up her finger like an accusing
angel, and said in a voice trembling with
emotioni
"You nro Maurice, and it's Philippe
who is dead"
l fell on my knees before her and COW
cred my face with my hands.
Pardon" / murmured.
She uttered a piercing shrek and fell
to tho ground as one dead.
My aunt, my mother, the servant,
everybody, came running In. She lay
on the foor apparently ~ifeless, while 1
was on my knees sobbing. What could
l say? / confessed all.
Tho colonel of the regiment had
escaped tho casualties of war and was
residing OH his estate near Nantes. I set
out the same evening, leaving Odette, In
n sort of cataleptic fit, in charge of the
physicians and went to return to him
the sacred deposit intrusted to me by
my brother and to tell him my terrible
story.
He embraced me as if / were his son,
undertook to make everything right and
sent me back to my afflicted relatives
with the expectation Of obtaining a three
ilhOlIllb cav VI hDbtllSc-
1t came a fortnight later with n medal
'for bravery ut the battle of Elsass-
hansen, and for having saved half the
funds of tho regiment"
Ali youth At the end of q month,
thanks to our tender care, Odette was
herself again and ! told her all. We en-
tered into an engagement that was to
last until the close of the wal provided I
could obtain my mothers consent.
When my leave of absence expired 1
said to the poor child:
"odette, 1 am going away again. COM
fort my dear mother"
"You will not go away" she replied.
philippe appeared to me last night and
commanded me to love you. 'We are
but one being he said; If you love me,
you also love-him."
You are only making q sacrifice for
my mothers sake"
mo, 1 swear 1 am not" she replied,
blushing.
Then raising her beautiful eyes filled
with tears, she continued:
"In loving you I am still loving my
Philippe"
l remained. There is now another
Philippe, my o and he is the living
image of my brother and me.-Translated
from the French of Edouard Siebecker
for The Home Journal by ]. Henry