Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-02-21

maid, but 1 cried bitterly too, for it was
sad story, and my heart ached for the
poor wife.
"Will you come up and see him?" she
asked at last in whisper, while her tears
fell fast; and then almost a smile crept
into her poor wan face as she added, 81
think he will have gone home before they
find him. ;"
stayed with her to the end, which
came that evening, as the night wind
moaned over the sea. hid my face as
the husband and wife took a last long
farewell, and held poor frightened little
Reggie to receive his fathers last kiss.
And so all the mystery was over, and the
pale moonlight shone through the win
dow upon a thin white face from which
the lines of suffering were fading for ever
The next day the blind tapped against
the framework of the open window where
the dead man lay. looked up at it sad
", and whispered to the boy in my arms
that papa" was in heaven. Even as /
spoke cab pulled up at the door of No.
2; and hurried in to tell Mrs. Darlington
that some one had arrived.
l shall never forget the expression of
her face as she glanced out of the window
and saw a tall well-dressed figure getting
out of the cab.
lit is Sibyl Graham come for her re-
venge," she whispered; and [ asked eag-
erly if [ should not spare her the pain Of
the interview, for following Miss Ora
ham were two men who | guessed were
detectives
"No: let her come" said Mrs. CARING
ton quietly; and in a few me aents they
were all in the room, and the young
widow went forward to meet them with
a pale face.
''You have come for my husband" she
said, in clear voice. "He is upstairs;
will you not come up?"
Miss Graham looked at her with an ex-
preston of almost fiendish delight in her
eyes.
cat last!'' I heard her mutter, as we all
followed Mrs. Darlington swiftly up the
staircase.
At the closed door she paused for a
moment, and then opened it wide and
walked straight up to the bed where he
lay in the awful rigidity of death. The
chill of the room, the white draperies,
and, above all, the still outline under the
sheet, all told their own tale. l saw
Sibyl Graham's proud face grow pale
with sudden emotion, but the eyes of the
smitten wife were shining brightly.
Here he is" she said, in clear, unfal
tering tones, beyond your power-you
cannot harm him now!''-and without q
word the newcomers went away one by
one.
I fingered for moment; but Mrs. Car.
rington, standing beside her dead hus-
band, waved her hand for me to go away
as she said
leave him with me-"
So went away softly, and saw Sibyl
Graham going down the garden-path
slowly, with bowed head. At the gate
she turned and gave one long look up at
the window, and her face was as white
as that of the dead man upstairs.
Poor John Darlington was buried, and
Mrs. Darlington seemed so homeless and
miserable that one day [ said to her,
when she spoke of going away
''Will you not come with me, and let
us live together in some quiet place?
love your child most dearly, and l am
only an old maid; it would make me so
happy if you would live with me-"
So she agreed, and we have lived to
gether ever since; and little Reggie is the
Joy and sunshine of oUI life.