The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1890-02-07
SACRIFICE,
A QUESTION OF
Forgiveness or Dishonor.
A QUESTION OF

in me fierce tempest that swept over
him he was shaken to the very centre of
his being; like a reed he bent before the
storm, and gave himself up to be the
very sport of wild passions, whose
force even he had v guaged till
then. .
If she had knelt there at his feet and
pleaded for mercy, he would have
spurned her.
No softer thought came to him in
those first hours OF burning agony; i'll
deed, there was no distinct thought. his
soul was Il battle-ground on to which
gentle emotion and sweet memories
dared not stray. lie knew, felt. was
conscious only of this his dislionored
hearth; his proud name sullied; even
the love and faith so ruthlessly, reck-
lesSly cast back were secondary to that
degradation which blasted the haughtv
patrieian's very life.
lie had not moved his position; one
hand was still pressed heavily on the
back of a chair, the other clenched I'M
tai the blue veins stood ont like cords;
the dark eyes, burning, lurid with the
storm that was none the less fierce be-
cause 1T found no expression in gesture
or word, gazing out straight before him.
Stern in repose that face had ave- been,
but until now, under the quieter infiu-
ence of his later life, those blacker and
more restless passions of his earlier
youth had slumbered; such tempests as
had shaken him when a boy. stung by
injustice or brooding over his ~loveless
life, had visited him rarely since man
hood; now they were aroused again to
life in all their full power. reused by .
scatliing agony before which all the ha-
bitual control of a lifetime went down
like shivered glass.
lie could have borne to know she had
not loved him, that she had come too
late to the knowledge of her own heart;
only, II she had not sinned, only if she
had not thrown name and honor to the
winds; he could have borne to see her
lying dead at his feet. to know she had
died alone, suffering; but not this-not
this! Was it not all a frightful dream?
Was there no miStake-no escape from
the inevitable conclusionY Could she
be guilty. that fair young wife who had
come to him as the gentle rain from
Heaven who had laid her head on his
breast. whom his arms had clasped.
whose brow his lips had pressed? Had
he not whispered only a few short days
DelOTc. MY QafllnglH
His darling! Even then, as he had
kissed her, she had been set to betray
his trust-even then those fatal words
he clenched now in his right hand had
tempted her from her faith.
One by mi there came back to his
memory all things that had perplexed
him during these past w~eeks-her quiet
question. "What if | failed in love or
duty?'h his stern answer. and her altered
manner. That very night she had
seemed so disturbed when her letters
came in, and her passionate weeping
when, later, he had returned and met
her in the garden.
All her strange anxiety and excite
ment at the races, and a hundred other
things, so slight in themselves-words,
looks, tones, needed but unread at the
tlme-all clear now under the fierce
light flashed on them by the knowledge
he held.
Who was this unknown, this cursed
tempter? The mar shivered like an as
per from head to foot with the wild
surge of deadly wrath, as the question
came, and was flung unanswered on one
side. What mattered it even? What
aXailed it to know the robber who had
stolen the priceless jewel. and in steal
ing shattered it? Would that bring
him back her spotless purity, restore to
him her broken faith? Could the she'd
ding of his blood whiten a blackenea
name?
1t vas a slight thing to make the first
check IN that whirlwind of passion that
scarce left space ever for grief.
The Watchdog Wolf, who had been
hers-his w~ife's-came softly out of a
corner. where unseen he had lain. and
thrust his head against the closed right
hanG. uttering q gentle whine.
The touch. the sound. reused him.
With a start that sent the mad blood
bounding to his heart, he turned. draw
ing away his hand sharply as if stung.
and his eyes fell on the dog, and a
change came over his face.
He had often caressed the creature.
and it had seemed to love him, follow.
ing him about from to room, OF
lying at his feet. and now came Offering
its dumb sympathy.
But all that was good and gentle and
tender in that mans he. 1T was turned
to bitterness and wormwood. He could
not be touched now by n dogs simple
faith. lie could not be softened to give
a caresS to anything that had loved her
And reading, with the sure instinct
that is given to these lower animals
the steady, bitter hardness of the face
his eyes sought, the poor brute lait
his ears down and skunk away under
the table.
Aye" Philip said between his teeth
"you too come and ask for a caress. ant
will turn and rend the hand that give.
it. And have done with ALL"
With all! Down the sad vista of his
life came the memoriesaof childhood. o.
\ vnl1th hntNnr nf 1oXro Mot ~ yht~,
he had touched but had turned to ashes
in his hand; not one creature he hat
loved but had failed him-dumb crea
lures, brother, wife. Where were they
now? Where was that one enduring
love he had dared Of late to rest in a:
a haven in which he had anchored witt
the trembling newborn trust that thi.
at least would bear stress of wind ant
tide? Well. where was the haven
where his anchor of faith?
The tides had come. and the wind;
had blown full strong, and behold tn,
haven had vanished, and the anchor la,
broken on the ground.
And l have done with all.n he nut
tered. lifting his hands in strained
locked clasp to his forehead. witt
life-with honor-with love. Had
ever love? Was that counterfeit thin,
that showed me its tinsel wings and tut
tered round me for a sunshine sc S O
was that love: and yet-and yet l lovet
her." He fell down, stricken in agony
his head bowed OF his arms. "Brothe
wife. Oh. God! oh. God! why has
Thou marked me out so pltllessly to b
hunted down down to worse thai
dcath?'
He never knew how the minutes spe,
away into hours. He had lost all hee,
of time, or place, or change. The wine
came sweeping round the house. vail
ing like some lost spirit. But he hear,
it not, was not conscious that the dusl
had deepened into darkness, and tina
even the dull red light of tho fire ha'
died quite down.
When he rose at last it seemed a
though years had passed over him in
stead Of honrs-years, too, of daily