Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-09-14

ceive her. His heart had turned TO stone.
"Unspeakably wounded, she lifted her
hand in an oath. and with the words
Never shall you see your wife and child
again. she severed the last tie which had
still attached her more or less to this in
human monster who had envenomed her
youth and given her over to misery and
despair.
"Her son Paul had inherited the brill
liant talent of ..his father, but was still in
Ignorance of his name, his mother having
adopted her maiden name again upon her
return to Paris. It was Claire's desire to
extinguish wholly and absolutely the mem
ory of him. Her pride, her joy was this
boy, who lived wholly for his mother and
his art
"Borsa stood on the pinnacle of his fame
when that fateful splinter of marble struck
his eye. In the long, dreary night of SOL
itude which now ensued, total change
took place within him. Still rich in ma
teriai possessions, but separated from his
calling and his old circle of profigate
friends, the voice of conscience slowly be-
gan to awaken in him.
THE blind eyes now saw distinctly what
the seeing eyes had failed to perceive, that
he had sinned immeasurably against his
wife and child; that he had carelessly cast
from him and spurned the best this earth
has to give-a true heart. Remorse
seized him with relentless force in the
eternal night of his solitary misery. I'm
able to bear the solitude, the anguish of
his heart any longer, he determined to
seek his forsaken wife and the son whom
his eyes had never seen.
"Her lodgings were found. The blind
man was led to them. He forebore to warn
her of his coming He was conscious how
deeply he had wounded her-how irrecon-
cilably he had wronged her, and was
therefore hardly hopeful of forgiveness.
But he would make the attempt neyerthe-
less. 1t concerned the recovery of his lost
peace.
"At the door he dismissed his guide.
He knocked. The voice of youth bade
him come in He entered the ROOM He
could not see how modestly-how poorly
it was furnished. Nor could he see the
establishment of the young man, who
guessed at the first glance who this blind
visitor was. And now followed a scene
which no pen could describe, no brush
could paint. A repentant father pleading
for forgiveness to his angry son--a son,
knowing no pity, no compassion, standing,
pale with passion, like Judge over the
man who had deserted his mother and
himself
"To all prayers the same unrelenting
answer was given: Too late, too late-my
mothers heart is broken, and her health
ruined by your infamous conduct. she
has not long to live. | demand you to let
Us alone and in peace for the short time
we shall yet be together. You, least of
all, have the right to force yourself be-
tween US. Never dare to venture here
again My mother shall not know
that you were here-I will not have her
peace disturbed.
''Just as cruel, as pitiless as he himself
had been, the son turned him from the
threshold
"Borsa, crushed and deeply affected, re-
turned to his studio, never to leave it again.
For hours he would sit before the wet clay
His friends shook their heads thinking he
had become insane, inasmuch as he still
tried, while blind, to work the clay into
form. But he withdrew his work from all
eyes, except those of faithful servant who
attended him and help him to all the
necessaries
"In the meantime the rumor reached
Claire through her fellow tenants that
blind man had been in her apartment, cry
ing and lamenting. Paul could not resist
the urgent questions of his mother. He had
to tell her everything
"Vhere was no thought of revenge in
her angelic heart. She forgave her be-
loved all and everything. She only knew
that he was repentant, alone and unhap-
py. Her faithful heart forgot everything
else
'In vain Paul reminded her of her oath
that the unfaithful one should never see
her again But, you know she replied,
appealingly, he is blind-so | will not
break my oath, he will not see me again,
but he shall hear my words of consolation
"Paul, not wising to let his mother,
whose strength was daily decreasing, go
alone to this meeting, decided to be her
mute companion. But they found an
empty home. Borsa had fallen very sick,
and he had been taken to hospital.
"His atelier, however, was besieged with
visitors. Everybody spoke of the wonder
ful, the incrediblel The blind master had
created work Of marvellous perfection.
His inner eye had guided his hand. A
Economically beautiful youth standing
upon pedestal, which bore the inscrip-
trion, The Angel of Vengeance, consti-
tuted the wonderful creation.
"Seized by that awe, with which the
sublime, inconceivable, fills the human
soul, Paul, profoundly moved, sank on his
knees before this master work Of his blind
father
''The features of the statue bore a mar
velously close resemblance to those of the
son, whom the artist father had never be-
held with his own eyes.
''Borsa died the next day in the arms Of
his wife, while Paul stood weeping at the
foot of the death-bed. The last request
that the dying man made was that this
statue should be placed upon his grave,
standing guard there as an angel of death
while symbolizing the angel Of venge-
ance"
So ended my companions story
Detroit Free Press.