The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-02-13
BESSIE'S LOVER.

showing the bare, S1leWy arms.
marked and scared as with q red-hot
ix0n. Twenty years ago first met
Bessie Morton. She was going across
the clover field vonder. tR.king her
father his thinner He was miner in
Company. and Bessie was all the kin
he bad.
.sAt that time / was young and
handsome, aud had Just been installed
foreman Of the blast furnace of the
Bergen Iron Company.
stepped aside to let Bessie pass,
and lifted my hat rs I did so. She
smiled-the faintest shadow Of smile.
but Ii made me happy al day. You
know how IL is, if yon have ever been
in love.
Then i did not even know her
name, but I lost my heart TO her ari
never got 1t back again. Afterward /
learned who she was with the disa-
Rreeahle fact that Mark Gaillaird ad-
mired her. Gaiilaird was one of the
members of the coal company mil-
lionaire -niddIe-aged. handsome and
nnprincipled.
1T made my blood boil to hear him
speak of Bessie IN that cool, supercil-
ions way of his, in which he spoke of
every woman.
rAnd the scoundrel lit his choice
Havana and strOlled of to what he
called his work. which was sitting in a
luxurious Office signing checks and
reading French novels.
IL had been some two months ac-
@auafnEed with Bessie. when one day /
told her that i loved her, and won her
sweet consent to become mine. And,
truth 70 tell did not feel quite sure
or my Bessie until had % legal right
10 her. Not that / doubted her. but in
sort Of indefinite way feared Gail
laird
80 ron can understand that was
anxious to make-her my wife and have
her under my own protection as soon
d possible
ss0ne morning. eight or ten days be-
fore the time set for our marriage.
Gaillaird came to the works. and. un-
der pretense Of looking at the working
Of the furnaces he got speech with
me, for generally avoided him.
Look here. Gilbert. he said, is
this bosh that L hear about You marry
ing Bessie Morton true?
II answered him eoolly:
1ssYes, sir; am to marry her.
He put his face close to mine, so
close that felt his hot breath like the
blast OF an oven on nv cheek.
81 love her myself he said hoarsely.
Af FIRST thought only to amuse my
sell. rs / had done with a score of silly
girls before her. but since have come
10 know her royal nature, to know
what a very queen she is among
women, have decided to make her
NV wife. Now listen to my PROPOSE
ton. Resign Bessie Morton and Won
shall have Hamburg's place at S.. 600
u year-the best Office IN the gift of
the company, and with that you can
take your pick from the youth and
beauty Of Bergen. Refuse these terms
and | swear TO be your utter ruin. /
have warned you. I give you three
days TO decide
II told Bessie something of this
making very light of ii as I saw how
pale and frightened she was. but she
clang to me and wept. and begged me
not to trust myself alone with Gail
laird.
Il promised to keep clear of him, to
SHtisfv her, though truth to tell did
not feel any fear OF him. for I judged
him 70 be a coward, and hardly be-
iieved he had courage enough to lay
violent hands on any one.
Three days after my interview
with Gaiilaird ] was going my rounds
as usual to see after the furnaces. It
was after dark, but ] carried no lam
tera-the light of the molten metal
made objects sufficiently visible for my
purpose. Have YOU ever examined
one of these blast furnaces? They
were vast piles Of masonry-hollow
like baFrel-with a capacity of seven
tons of ore. Some of these were twen-
ty or thirty feet deep and four or five
feet in diameter.
s.The furnace was full of ore to
within five or six feet of the top, and
the intense heat from below was stead
lily rising, until before my eyes I saw
the grayish yellow mass grow lurid
red and knew it was fusing.
ssAs / stood l heard step at my
side. Some subtle presence told me
that I should see Gaillaird when ]
looked up. He was standing close be-
side me. The sullen red light of the
metal played over his face. and showed
me the cruel eyes and white teeth
cleaning savagely under the dark
nustache. He took step forward
and looked into the seethfng crater al
my feet, then lifted his eyes to my face
s'sWell, said be. do you accept my
offer and give up BessieP'
Never, said |. i would rather
see her dead, well as I love her. before
would yield her to fiend in human
guise.'
ss.Then feel my yengeancer he cried
fierceIy, and hurled at me a blow
which, off my guard as I was, sent me
down, down into the mouth of the hor
rible pit / had been regarding will
sueh feelings of strange fascination!
= Elm the brief seconds of time before
1 touched the red-hot iron l realized
ore melted it would sink down, down
doWn-and I along with it. until a
last! Oh, heaven! I closed my eye
at the terrible picture and was hope
lessl Only second-the excruciatins
pains which filed me at the touch o
that tierv heat nerved me to super
human strength. Bounding upward
seized upon staple set in the side o
the furnace to fasten a lid to- and ex
ertfng all my power I swung mysel
upward to the platform, the flesh drop
ping from my feet as ] did so.
.sGaillaird fell upon me like de
non. and /. burned and bleeding AM
alf dead as / was, closed with hin
nd fought for my life!
1t was sharp and frenzied strug
= He had the strength Of a mad
4 in those delicate arms of his. ant
ne it seemed as if I had the powe
men. One last desperat
I6eeed myself from him AM
8 backward. Ali even now
iemoniac face as he went down
aK- -. -