Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1891-09-02

the first occasion.
When the hand was dressed, the dead
~ Pallor passed from the face. tn,
color returned to the cheeks; but tn,
patient no more smiled. This time b,
thanked the doctor sadly.
Il thank you, doctor" he said. eth,
pam has once more left me. In a few
days the wound will heal. Do not b,
astonlshed, however, to see me return
before month has passed"
"Ohl my dear sir, drive this ide,
from your mind"
The doctor mentioned this srranc,
case to several of his colleagues. who
each held different opinion in reearC
to 1t, WI hout any of them being able
70 furnish a plausible explanation oil
its nature.
As the end of the month approached
a awaited with anxiety the reap
pearance OF this en1gmatic parsonage
But the month passed and he did moi
reappear.
Several weeks more went ". Al
length the doctor received letter from
the sufferers residence. 1t was very
closely written, and by the signature
he saw that it had been penned by his
patients own hand; from which he
concluded that the pain had not re.
turned, for otherwise it would have
been very difficult for him to have held
a pen.
These are the contents of the let
ter -
Dear doctor, cannot leave either
you or med cal science IN doubt in re.
gard to the mystery of the strange
malady which will shortly carry me to
the grave.
81 will here tell you the origin OF
this terrible malady. For the past
week it has returned the third time,
and will no longer struggle with it
AT this moment | am only able to write
by placing upon the sensitive spot a
piece of burning tInder in the form of
a poultlce. While the tinder is burn
ing L do not feel the other pain; and
what distress il causes me is a mere
trltie by comparison.
''Six months ago [ was still a happy
man lived on my income without a
care. L was on good terms with every
body, and enjoyed all that is of interest
to man OF five-and-thirty. | had
married n year before-married for
y AhuNiSOut, Will u
cultivated mind, and heart as good as
any heart could be, who had been a
governess in the house of a countess, a
neighbor of mine. She was fortune
less, and attached herself to me, not
only from gratitude, but still more
from real childish affection. Six mouths
passed, during which every day ap-
peared to be happier than the one
which had gone before. If, at times, 1
was obliged to go to Pesth and quit my
own land for day, my wife had not a
moments rest. She would come two
leagues on the way to meet me. If /
was detained late, she passed a sleep
less night waiting for me; and if by
prayers / succeeded in inducing her
to go and visit her former mistress,
who had not ceased to be extremely
fond of her, no power could keep her
away from her home for more than half
a day; and by her regrets for my alb
sence, she invariably spoiled the good
humor of others. Her tenderness for
me went SO far as to make her renounce
dancing, so as not to be obliged to give
her hand to strangers, and nothing
more displeased her than gallsntries
addressed to her. In word, | had for
my wife an innocent girl, who thought
of nothing but me, and who confessed
to me her dreams as enormous crimes,
If they were not of me.
81 know not what demon one day
whispered in my ear: Suppose that all
this were dIssimulation? Men are mad
enough to seek torments in the midst
of their greatest happiness
SgMu uiFa ha1 tunrG fahIa tha
drawer of which she carefully locked
/ had noticed this several times. She
never forgot the key, and never left
the drawer open.
"That question haunted my mind.
What could she be hiding there?
had become mad. / no longer believed
either in the innocence of her face or
the purity of her looks, nor in her
caresses, nor in her kisses. What if all
that we're hypocrisy?
Zone morning the countess came
anew to invite her to her house, and,
after much pre- sing, succeeded in in
ducing her to go and spend the day
with her. Our estates were some
leagues from each other, and promised
to join my wife in the course of a few
hours.
''As soon as the carriage had quilted
the courtyard, L collected all the keys
in the house and tried them on the
lock of the little drawer. One of them
opened it. | felt like a man commit
ting his first crime. | WAS thief about
to surprise the secrets of my poor wife.
Ny hands trembled as L carefully pull
ed out the drawer, and, one by one,
turned over the objects within it, SO
that no arrangement of them might be-
tray the fact of a strange hand having
disturbed them. My bosom was op-
pressed; was almost stified. Suddenly
under some lace-1 put my hand up
on a packet of letters. 1T was as if a
fl sh of lightning had passed through
me from my head to my heart. Oil
they were the sort of letters one recog
nizes a glance-love lettersl
'The packet was tied with a rose-
colored ribbon, edged with sIl or.
Gas / touched that ribbon this
thought came into my mind: Is it con-
ceivabie?-is this the work of an honest
man? To steal the secrets of his wife!
secrets belonging to the time when
she was young girl. Have L any
right to exact from her a reckoning
for thoughts she may have had before
she belonged to me? Have L any
right to be Jealous of a time when
/ was unknown to her? Who could
suspect her of a fault? Who?
am guilty for having suspected her.
The demon again whispered in my
ears: But what if these letters date
from time when you already had a
right to know all her thoughts, when
you might already be Jealous of her
dreams, when she was already yours?'
1 unfastened the ribbon. Nobody saw
me. There was not even a mirror to
make me blush for myself. l opened
one letter, then another, and l read
them to the end.
"Oh, it was terrible hour for mel
ssWhat was there in these letters?
The vilest treason of which a man has
ever been the victim. The writer of
these letters was one of my intimate