Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1890-12-17

minute by minute, more beautiful to
me. Our minds were at unison. il
was her savage sensual soul that an.
mated me.
How long the enchantment lasted
can hardly say; gradually our wild
steeds slackened pace painting, cover
ed with foam, they at length fell into
a walk.
She was breathless the heaviness
of exhaustion lay round her eyes.
Then /, too. felt unaccountably brok-
en- with fatigue, chill crept over me,
and in that second, as if q chasm had
opened before me, | saw my danger
1--WE must go back" / cried in n
toneless voice, trembling like a craven
and conscious of hut one clear thought
the imperative necessity of my in.
slant DEPARTURE turned my horses
head homeward She followed me,
she spoke to me, cannot remember
what answered, or if l answered at
all. The spell was broken, the CLAM
our had faded. In silence we reach.
ed the house. l dared not glance at
her. was afraid to help her dis.
mount; / sprang from my horse and
rushed into the house. AS luck
would have it, in the hall I found u
letter awaiting me, which / seized up.
on as a pretext, and straightway
sought my host.
81 have had news which necessita-
es my leaving you" l said; "can you
send me to the station to-day?"
"There is train at ten o'clock" he
answered, simply. II shall order
Gregor to be round after dinner"
Then moved by the same impulse,
we clasped hands.
The early hour of the Hungarian
dinner came. She was dressed with
greater elaborateness than usual at
her throat cleaned the little brooch
dinted by my bullet; her face SEEM
ed more weirdly white, her lips more
scarlet, her eyes greener.
a feeble conversation fingered a
while between Herzfeldt and me. He
piled me with his best wine, he talked
not without emotion, Of our college
days and the love he cherished still
for England and Englishmen but /
found it hard to respond, and so we
fell into silence. BY tacit, though
almost unconscious, understanding
neither he nor | alluned to my i'm
pending departure. After my meal
took an early opportunity to escape
to my room and don my travelling
gear When | came down again the
great hall and the adjoining apart
ment were deserted; thinking the
husband and wife were together.
forbore to seek Herzfeldt and fell tC
pacing the length of the il.lighted
dining. room from end to end.
Presently in the gloom and chilling
silence, an uncomfortable impression
of being watched stole over me, and
gradually, as if drawn to it, / met the
gaze Of two shining eyes fixed on me.
1t was the woman again. She advanc.
ed softly into the light.
"You dare to gol Coward, YOU
are running away y
I felt giddily that ! was falling into
her power again. Her hand fell on
mine. Mine must have been icy cold
for her touch was burning Her gaze
encompassed my whole being, and be-
fore / could grasp at my intelligence
and save my honor, the 1.-the gorgeous
: form was in my arms. As in dream
l could not measure time, but the
madness could not have lasted a Sec
ond. My arms had barely closed
round her when with an angry move.
ment, like Il snake disturbed, she had
glided from me, and at the sound of Il
voice the thrall fell away with rush
like that of torrent from my brain.
could you not have waited p il
said, quietly. 1T would not have
been for long"
Thrilled to the marrow, looked
and saw Herzfeldt-my friend, my
host % His face was asian, his eyes
shone with phosphorescent light
Then slowly he went away.
At that moment came the sound Of
carriage wheels at the door, and my
first impulse was to fly at once from
the accused place but as | turned
into the hall, the hateful vision OF
Hedwig arrested me on the threshold
Silently, with significant gesture
she fingered the broken trinket at her
throat and vanished
My mind leaped to her evil mean
ing, but with widely different con i
clusion-the thought of seeking death
before Herzfeldt's pistol came almost
as a relief
Like mailman l rushed down the
passage and burst into his study. He
was sitting alone, painting, with his
nails dug in his breast; when he saw
me he smiled--an awful smile of con-
tempt through the agony OF his seiz-