The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-05-15
4 BAG OF DIAMONDS.
The Tragedy That Was Enacted
in the Old Misers Bedroom

In the Old MiSer's Bedroom
Many times he had thought Of il, and
finally had screwed his courage 10 the
sticking point
After all, what good to the old man
was that bag Of gems? What good eX-
cept to count over, mark their twink
ling facets, gloat over their value, and
laugh at those who might covet them
Palsied fingers would shake as the
strings of the chamois-sllin treasury
were rapturously united, and a mo
ment's life and energy flash into
pinched check and faded eve, as every
evening the revelation of untold wealth
woke in 4 withered heart its only sur
viving passion. But what good TO the
world or to the man was that briei
minute of ecstasy? Was it not paid for
a hundredfold 10y nights Of fear and
forbodings Of robbery that made life
perpetual horror? How often had Paul
heard his uncle wake from his noontide
nap with dreaming cry: My dia-
monds, my diamonds! Is that you,
Paul? | thought il was a robber."
His thoughts were TO come true to-
night. Paul tried to persuade himself
that the treasure he had set his heart
on belonged to him a. much as if they
had been lying in Il mine, the prize Of
the first finder.
Then came another thought His own
poverty and his great love. His uncle's
ward was as poor as himself-poor,
proud and beautiful. Such flowers only
grow in hard and solitary places, in the
nipping air and uncrowded even by the
unobtrusiveness of love. Straight,
Il.
big soul beaming in her face and eyes,
with meek, silent ways, and bearing
unfiinchingly the blows OF an Old mans
brutal tongue, this girl had presented
TO the poets mind the image Of power,
of profound passion, of untiring con-
stancy, such as mad enchanted him and
transformed his life. She had been
first to shy him, then wistfully tender
as she piticd him. It was in the arbor
at the foot of the garden where he was
seated now, behind the hedge of clipped
yev. that She nestled close in his arms.
and they had known the first moment
OF happiness in their deserted lives.
I'VE must be patient, Paul"
Patient did she say? They had been
so long enough. His plans were ripe
now. and he was watching the light in
MS uItlt = NlECoN- lAC O4Al MIN
would sleep well-he had taken care of
that-to-night. II he awoi1e? Wen,
that was provided for. Old men are
not hard to smother. The night, dark
and damp, suited dark thoughts. And
the sting Of long oppression. the blind
feeling after revenge for years of cruel
Sights and insults, had long engendered
such thoughts. And now came vision
e l. he -
life beyond the seas
''Yes, viii fly with you at any time
you ask the girl had said, resolutely.
I'VE shall be happy, rich or poor"
No, not poor. He would provide
against that.
The lights in the windows of the
mansion had gone out Even the win
dows on the ground floor, which open
on the piazza, are dark This is his
uncle's room. Paul rises from his seat
The dripping jasmine spray that strikes
his cheek as he leaves the little summer
house makes his heart stop for mo
ment He fears even the faint crunch
of his footsteps on the gravel There
is a dog baying in the distance, ~ if
conscious that thieves are about.
He steals past the big pear tree at the
corner of the piazza. and trampling in
the soft mold of the flower garden, where
her jonquils and tulips grew, he creeps
breathlessly to the back porch. The
outer door is quickly opened. He
thrusts out his hand To find the knob OF
the house door, and, taking a latch key
from his vest pocket, he opens it too.
AT the end of the hall is his uncle's
room. The house is silent But harkl
did he hear a football? Ii must be a
heavy football that is heard on the
thick carpet and steady floor of oak.
He had never before explored this old
rambling dwelling in darkness 1t was
always 10 him sad and dreary place:
place of faded hanEings, old-fashioned
and tasteless bric-a-brac, paintings in.
sipid in their tarnishcd frames, and
books that echoed the fancy and opin
Ion OF IA dead Observation-Disclosures a.
yesterdays news.
He has reached his uncle's door
There he produces q dark lantern from
under his cloak. Drawing up the slid,
for a moment he flashes the cone O
light over the hall and up the staircase
1t lights up for & moment oaken wains
coting, crowded hat-rack, the antler
overhead, and the statue of Cupid, palli,
- n ghost, and then falls on the stair
,ase. As it does so he snaps down tn
,lide, and all is darkness again
Yes, all Is dark and quiet There
10 witness TO his crime.
What would she say or think IL sh
saw him covering and crouching at hi
uncle's door2 The thought of her rise
like a phantom in his mind; she Is a
in white, yet calm, resolute, an
beautiful-an angel in contrast wit
the inferno of his own trouble
thoughts-and yet it deepens his reso
luton He is the martyr seeing TIA
martyrs crown, the soldier with the n
ward of his valor before his eyes Il
her purity, her strength, her peace,
seems 10 him he would find an escap