The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-07-08

took up her interrupted course, ano
reached the spot among the interlacing
trees, the obscure and indefinite line
where land and water met. At the edge
of the pool, almost within reach of the
fantastic arms which strained toward her
as if to enfold her, she stopped
In the heavens there was but single
star; there was single star, too, in the
pool 1 was not dreaming, for l noted
that.
Long, long she stood undecided, and
sometimes she seemed to wish to fly to
the house; but oftener, lost, shivermg in
the breeze, in the garb of death OF of a
bride, she held out her arms to the shadow
which silently called her.
At last she threw herself into the ter
rible pool The water must be up to her
waist, for saw only the whiteness of her
breast. She advanced ever toward the
Shadow, and the Shadow came to meet
her. Then l saw only her head, appear
ing from time to time between the reeds
then / saw nothing.
But the rushes ratified more dolorously,
twisted, bent, pushed aside; the phantom
which followed the movement of their
tips writhed so that his chest shrank
away from one side, while his legs grew
long on the other, and his arms, as if
they enlaced in the depths some prey
caught at last, disappeared all at once in
a mighty parting of the reeds.
Madeleine had drowned herself in this
black, awful pool. had not seen her,
but surely / would have heard her cry
out if the terrible water had not filled
her mouth. Oh, horrible deathl-her
feet sinking in the humid slime of the
pool and her hands vainly clutching at
the elusive support of the rushes! Little
by little the motion became more rare,
more convulsive, less prolonged; Made
leine was dead beyond doubt. Anew
the wind alone agitated the great, noisy
grasses, and saw the constant phantom
slowly re-foFmitself on the surface of the
greenish blackness.
The next day at breakfast ate little
and spoke scarcely at all. The old stew
ard asked when it would suit me to in
spect the estate.
Immediately" 1 replied, "for leave
this evening"
AS we started toward the pool, 1
noticed in the forest an old piece of
ruined wall.
"What is thats' asked.
at is all that is left of an ancient
chapel" replied Charter; your father
greatly admired the. stained glass win
dow, which represents an apostle stretch
ing his arms toward heaven. When the
moon rises behind the window, it casts
the image of the apostle on the reeds of
the pool. Sometimes, in the night, it is
terrible"
As Charter said this, I felt my legs
brushed by something furtive, soft and
light, as if cat had rubbed against me-
1t was a napkin, still damp, detached
by the wind from a cord where linen
hung to dry few steps from US, be-
tween two trees before the house.
"Well," said I to myself, 'T must
confess that the fever and wakefulness
have played the fool with me. l have
taken for a woman in white some sheet
or garment borne by the wind, and for
q phantom the reflection of a stained
window on the reeds" And l began to
laugh, to reassure myself completely.
But / returned to Paris that evening.
Three years passed. had sold The
Alders 10 an industrial company which
to drain the marshes. 1 had
given no thought to my sojourn at the
melancholy chateau, except now and
again on sleepless night, when one
in a journal opened at hazard,
| read the following:
In the unhealthy district Of -, whose inhabi-
tants already begin to enjoy better health thanks
10 the draining Of the marshes by a celebrated
society, there stfII remains q vast
pool which forms part OF the estate known as
The Alders This pool IS famous In the legends OF
he country. Each night, it is said, a gigantic
phantom Is to be seen sleeping lightly on Che tips
# the reeds. Some enlightened persons having
that this phantom was nothing but the
'ehection Of an ancient stained glass window 10 o
wall near by the wall demolished; but, by the
eport of the people Of the place, the phantom has
lot ceased to appear every night.
sit has not ceased 10 appear" I re-
oeated, with shudder, and l read on
With feyeTish eye:
However that may be, recently, while the work
nen labored at the draining Of the pool one Of
hem, in rolling some stones from the bank near !
st NJ. Charters house, discovered among the (,
eeds, deeply imbedded in the mud a skeleton I
bsolutely stripped Of fiesh it is supposed that it
S the skeleton Of young woman whose death /
nust have taken place three or four years ago.
Then 1t was not piece Of linen flying |
n the wind, that pale and hesitating
orm | had seen from the window-it |
vas Madeleine herself, drawn into the |
'oOl by the nirrored demonl Her death |
lad taken place full month before my |
rrival at the chateau. Some inscrutable /
viii, then, had accorded me for a few
iours the unpleasant power Of retro
pective vision; or, perhaps, the dead |
ONE from their 'shadowy abode, some
mes, at night, to visit again on earth
he scene of their ageny.-Translated for
he Argonaut from the French of CatulIe
iendes by L. s. VassauIt.
The onion and the lily are botanically /
I the same family, but their odors are
ot olEad uoSol N,;J