The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1889-12-19
women TO sit by silent firesides alone and

| ana paSSru ueI ilunuS lSPCa'SNiy S'S' AiS'
forehead. The thought of. Gilbert
Fraleby now only presented itself to hel
in the light of IN immense temptation.
BY lust so much rs she felt herself pre-
cipitatcd toward him by her love and the
inexorable impetus of a woman's fate did
she struggle against the tide that was
bearing her away and fastcn herself blind
ly to the one thought that this sacrifice
must be made, laid on the altar of that
divine rift of which she felt herself only
the receptacle, the. repository Many
ether considerations had entered hereto
fore into her battles with herself. The
fear that Gilbert would think it "A weak
hearted shrinking from poverty with-him,
in ignoble desire for the riches which she
could command if she went upon the
stage had been one of them. Now moth
ing remained but desperate determine
ton to hold fast to an ideal-such de-
termination as might have inspired the
vestal virgins, also custodians of holy
flame. And sitting down, without Civ
ing herself time for hesitation, she wrote
the few lines following with a flying
pen:
H: DEAR SIR have decided
to accept your offers for all engagement. l
should be glad to be able to see you, with
view to the settling of certain details, and
with as little delay as possible;
When Gilbert Fraleby left the office
of Fielding, Homer & Co., lawyers, he
left it ruined man. A man whom one
speaks of rs ruined is usually understood
| to have fallen from some at least moderate
height. But this was not the case with
Gilbert Fraleby. He had always been a
poor man and he expected to remain a
poor man. He had always had saturn
inc contempt for the greed of wealth.
Walking along the crowded downtown
thoroughfarc now he asked himself
whether he had been in his right mind
the past year that he had SO far departed
from the customs of his whole life as to
be drawn into these speculative transac-
tions which, through the rascality of one
who had called himself his friend, had
suddenly left him literally beggarcd. 1t
seemed to him that he must have lost his
mental balance. Well, the retribution
for his folly had come upon him swiftly:
he thought of it with half whimsical
bitterness. lie should have to begin
again now from the beginning. Gilbert
suddenly WINGED. Octavia's name had
confronted him, staring conspicuously
from q poster. 1t was not the first time.
She was being we'll advertised for her first
metropolitan appearance. He went on
bllndly enough for moment and uncon-
scious of the surging crowd around him.
He found himself at ferry before he
realized the direction he had taken:
Mechanically he passed his money through
to tha ticket takcr and walked on to the
ferry-boat and to the extreme forward
part OF 1t.
1t was at the crowded evening hour,
and the men stood closely packed to the
furthermost edge. A breeze blew stffly
IN Gilbert Fraleby's face and the slanting
sun rays dazzled him. He leaned over
the railing and s;ared down at the churned
track of white and green waters beneath.
A sort of daze had come over him. A
veil seemed to cover the future. He
realized that his life, which had seemed
to break sharply that day, had really
broken a year ago. 1t did not seem to
matter much how he ever took it up
again. He felt himself suddenly pushed
from behind, and the crowd surged for
ward.
As he raised himself there was shrek
from the throats of the terrified women.
A dark form had thrown itself over the
edge. A glimpse of one Quitting arm,
of a tattered plaid shawl, rose above the
water. Gilbert Fralcby tore oil his coat
and plunged after it. y
There was 4 moment of wild confusion
on board. A bell rang. The engines
stopped. Gilbert Fraleby rose once to
the surface and again disappeared. The
second time he clutched the woman. 4
small boat had been put out. A rope
was lowered. The woman was dragged
up. Gilbert Fralcby, exhausted, sank
again. As he came to the surface for
the third time, he struck, with head and
shoulders, against the side of the boat.
Then followed unconsciousness.
Life returned to him in the ambulance
and driftcd away afresh, to renew itself
once moro in the narrow hospital cot.
Clean, white curtains surrounded him,
and tall, straight, middle aged woman,
with stout face and a white apron and
some white about her neck, hovered over
some bandages and bottles near his bed,
which was the last one in the ward. Then
everything grew confused, and intervals
of delirium followed sanity after what
seemed ages.
One morning, at las, sanity remained.
An ugly, snub faced, good humored
looking young doctor was smiling broadly
down into Gilbert Fraleby's eyes.
"Well, you'll pull through now; that
was a fine thing you did. The wonans
case has got in the newspapers, too.
Guess I'll have to let the reporters know
you'll soon be on your feet again, as we'll.
Good deal of interest felt about it.
There's been a subscription raised for the
woman. Guess she won't be trying to
make way with herself Immediately
again"
Poor wretch. The best thing could
have done for her would have been to let
her go down"
The young doctor stared, then laughed
at his patients whimsicality.
The SLOW; hours dragged away. A de-
termined looking yoang woman, fashion