Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1890-11-28

Drummond. Tho rigid outlines Of his
body STOOD ont beneath the merciful
white covering which the hands Of Low
ing care had placed over bis death'dis-
tortcd features An the rest Of the room
was black with the darkness Of night;
only the Ehastly LIGHT of the single cnn-
die. shaded by her hand, ba5hed in the
Pickering white glcams the body Of the
man who had gainel eternal sleep. I
saw her bmeel by the bedside: / saw her
lift the linen from his face with deliber-
ate hand. Then. after gazing long and
earnestly ut -hc face Of her lover, she
drew y peukiife from her pocket and
with o quick movemslt punctUred the
vein at the ride Of his temple. 'Peste.'
she eaid: i forgot that dead mon do not
bleed. Then changing her resolve she
cut % lock Of brown hair from his fore
head and swiftly passed me as l stood at
the door. Good night she whispered,
as the faint echoes OF her footsteps rang
down the corridor.
1.-THE whole party broke mp the next
day, and we Jne and all departed To diff
ferent points Of the compass. / do not
suppose that any but myself knew
Of the scene / have tried 20 describe; bat
on me it left az inatfacea6le impression.
It was, perhaps. natural that she should
wish to see him. but her strange action
and her abrupt. swift movements utterly
dissipatcd the idea Of a touching fare
well. Did She really love him or not:
Was tho situation. Of which / was an
unwilling witness. the last act in q
hearts tragedy? Perhaps you al tell
me-
"Well. | can give you my experience,
and then you can judge for yourself. Az
| told you, | met her under an another
name at Monaco. You remember that
Il merciful dispcnsation Of providence
secured me in the nick OF time the accu-
INFLATED life treasure OF an affecsionGte
aunt. l was abroad at the time when |
heard the news OF my good fortune, and
az owed neither regret nor, perhaps,
even respect to my defunct relative. !
was not deferred byaay feelings Of com
junction from enjoying myself. At
Monaco Imet the Lady Violet Montargis
"a real celebrity, Us / learned, who was
not unknown at Paris or Vienna or even
Buda-Pesth.
"There had been an unusual run on
the bank. and every a was watching
her galre and stalking on her luck. The
FIRST time l saw her she was only just be-
ginning her career OF triumph. fol
lowed her, more ont Of gallantry than
out Of any determined gamblers resolve.
Afterwarl l had sufficient instinct in
these matters to know tnat ! was i'll tie
presence Of one of those who, for the
moment, cannot even by accident go
wrong. Il was really wonderful to see
her ut the tables; II few strangers and
newcomers, who did not know how the
cards lay, played their usual caution
game apd lost: the older hands kept
aloof. as they always do, when some
diabOlic influence 10 in the air. After
a few days a friend introduced me to her.
and l got to know her pretty well. Any
where else, except at the tables, she wcs
positively charming, insOuciantc, dcbon-
nair, full Of polished ~Gllurelnents and
insidious beauty. Insnersedin the game,
she was a devil; nc other word could de-
scribe her.
"One night there was a strange inver-
sion Of thiugs-a positive dabacle. Lady
Violet Montargis was losing heavily and
leading her followers TO incurable ruin.
She came huyriedly to me, and in a low.
whisper spoke these remarkable words;
"'Tor the love of heaven go to Ivy
rooms and ask my maid for my ring; che
viii know which one l mean; you see
have not my usual rings on my inger8.
''SGe spoke ncrvously and rapidly with
a FACE oGt of which had departed all the
Triumphant calm, giving place to a low
contracted look Of inscrutable cunning.
l performed her commission for her, and
then ventured TO ask her the reason.
knew that all gamblers Greeuperstitious
but was hardly prepared for her reply.
Sang de Dieu, she said, could you
not guess that the ring contained a sui
cide's hairT' john NJ. Marquand in At
lanta Constitution.