The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-07-02
They rang the bell and De Dlaise's

They rang the bell aaQ De D1alses
old coachman opened the door.
"Why, Tom, what does all this mean?
Where is Henry and the rest of the
servants, and your mistress and the
madam"
"The servants were all discharged,
and the mistress was stolen out of the
house night after you left, and the mad
am, why, I don't know where she 49,
either"
De Blaise was standing in the hall,
while Tom was explaining the strange
and sudden change.
The library door was standing open,
and De Blaize, looking more like
dead man than one alive, reeled and
staggered into the room where he had
last seen the two injured beauties.
The chair in which Lonora refused
to sit, in his presence, still stood in
the same place as it did when he left
the room on the day of his departure
for Springfield.
Sick at heart, and thoroughly con-
vinced that it would be useless to at
tempt to find either of the ladies, he
surrendered all hopes and himself to
his present bitter fate.
The two men guarding him never
left his side, and scarcely removed
their eyes from his face.
It was evident from the expression
on the prisoners face that he was men
tally suffering almost more than ne
could bear.
For some time he stood gazing
around the room from one object to
the other, evidently seeing nothing, but
remembering everything that had hap
pened in that room, when suddenly he
looked steadily into the faces of the
two men guarding him, and in tones
strange and hollow, that were entirely
foreign to him, he said:
81 am now man enough to realize
that I never was one before, but l was
rogue, a villain-aye, worse, [ was q
brute!
"In this very room I have, no doubt,
uttered the words that caused the
death of her-whom-I-really-
love; oh, my God how much 1 cannot
tell, and never knew until now!"
The last few words were scarcely
audible, so low and hollow was his
voice. He sank down in the chair by
his side, and covering his face with
his hands, he wept like child
Finally the sobs grew fainter; he
looked up at the men, with pale,
parched lips, and haggard, tear-stained
face.
With some difficulty he arose from
the chair, scarcely shadow of what he
was the last time he sat there.
"Oh, would to God it was in my
power to undo the wrongs of my past
life! but no, that cannot be.
my soul must 60 to hell and my
heart burn forever for the redemption
Of those SINS"
As he ceased speaking he cast q
pleading glance at the men at his side,
as if it were in their power to relieve
him in some way, but finding no re.
sponse to his silent pleading o deep
moan of unutterable misery escaped his
lips, from the very depths of his mis-.
erable wicked soul.
"Oh, if you have no mercy on me then
shoot me. He'll and eternal damnation
would be better than this horrible
mental misery.
my God, man, it Is tearing my heart
and soul from my body. Shoot me, for
Heavens sake"
Almost before the words escaped
Sylvester's lips little stream of blood
rushed from one corner of lis mouth
and went trickling down the side of his
pale cheek, flowing in o little stream
to the floor.
Before the astonished guards could
recover their presence of mind to at
tempt to check the flow of blood, a
pistol was fred from behind the cur
tains of the arched doorway and the
bullet entered Sylvester De Blaise's
heart.
He threw up his arms and fell black
on the hoor-a dead man.
ITo BE CONTINUED