The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-02-15

walked alone to the castle.
The French doctor from warsaw gives me
every hope; but. Louis, something tells me that
| shall die, and 1 shall have died in saving the
life of woman who is worthless.
Louis, there is great news for you, my brother;
the Car is willing to let by.gones be by-gones;
Prince Ylastof only to-day handed me the re-
script from his imperial master. Count Boil
skoi," he said. as he pressed my hand, don't
speak TO me of gratitude; shall ever be your
debtor"
brother, there is no hope, and must die 1t
may be question of days or hours only. Al
ready swallow with the greatest difficulty.
Pray, Louis, pray for the soul of one who
Your unhappy brother, PAUL.
There were two other letters-one from Prince
Ylastoff, another from the French doctor; they
gave me the dreadful details of my brothers.
DEATH He died, as he had predicted, after fear
full suffering from the mania of hydrophobia
have visited my brothers. grave have
seen the place where my brothers. life was sac
rifced for the Princess Bakouline-for she be-
came the Princess Bakouline, of course-and
then went to St. Petersburg to thank my i'm
perial master for his clemency, and stayed with
Prince Vlastoff. One night, as l was talking
with my host he said to me: ''You've never
been in this room before think; the very rug
that killed your brother. The head is wonder
fully life-like," he said.
Yes, there was the head, with glaring ewes of
glass, the mouth wide open, the lips retracted,
showing double range of fierce and cruel
fangs.
ut makes me shudder when l look upon It,"
said Prince Vlastoff; "but it's work of art all
the same,n he added, with a little laugh.
Presently he left me, and sat by the fire in a
half doZe, and thought of my brother and his
miserable death mid iphf
The door was suddenly thrown open, and a
tall woman in evening dress, muffled in an opera
cloak, rushed into the room. locked the door
behind her, and flung the cloak from her shoul-
ders On her pale cheek there was q great red
mark. When she saw me she fell upon her
knees.
paul !'-she cried in Mortified accents
paul Bolskoi, have you come back from the
grave to haunt me ?"
AS l stared at her in astonishment recog-
nized my brothers. evil genius in the beautiful
creature who knelt before me, looking into nv
face with frightened eyes.
MADAM" l said, coldly, 81 am Louis Boil
skoi."
And then she rose. ''You are very like him.
she said mechanically; and she sat down in the
chair opposite me, and stared at the CHASTITY
grinning mask Of the dead wolf, and as she
looked she shuddered.
"Your brother saved my life, Count Bolskoi."
she said with groan.
l bowed, but 1 did not answer her.
Your brothers was dreadful death,' she
went on, ''and l sat by his bedside and listened
10 his last rawlings. He prayed, in his wild de-
lirium, that might never know happiness in
this world. l sacrificed your brothers love to
vain ambition, and sold myself to Prince Bakou-
line. Tonight he struck me-you see the mark
upon my face-and leave him forever. Just
before your brothers. DEATH when his failing
voice sunk to whisper, he opened his eyes and
seemed to recognize me- 'Nadia,' he said, you
VIII repent, and when you have repented you
yuil1 -
to meet your God He never spoke again,
Count Bolsko. l have repented, God knows
no = bitterly; and when l saw you sitting there
l thought that Paul had come from the land be-
yond the grave to drag me to the judgment-seat
of heaven. Count Bolskoi,'' she said, bitterly,
81 long for death''
She never looked at me, but stared at the
VOLTS face upon the floor, and mechanically she
placed her tiny foot between the double row of
white and glistenng teeth.
There was furious knock at the door. The
Princess Nadia started to her feet, and as she
did so she gave little scream of pain, and
saw small spot of blood on her satin foot-cov-
ering. The door was shaken furiously, the lock
gave way, and man broke in and hurled furi-
GUS words at the beautiful woman, who stood
confronting him, pale and silent He spoke in
Russian, and then he turned to me.
"You are Count Bolsko, sir,' he said; "why
do find you here closeted with my wife ?" he
cried, and he glared at me with furious eyes in
hamed with drink and jealousy. 81 am the
Prince Bakouline, sir,' he said, more calmly,
''the husband of this-this woman"
"And l am her fathers guest" / said; ''and
l do not handy words with drunken men at
midnight. But Prince Bakouline, you are
coward. Have the goodness to leave this
house,
And then he turned and left the room without
word. Next day we met, some dozen versts
from Petersburg Prince Ylastoff was my Sec
ond, and shot the Princess Nadia's husband
dead, and crossed the frontier within a dozen
hours And within the month, the woman, who
had wronged my brother Paul, died, as my poor
brother had died, raving maniac. The wolf
skin rug was the instrument of heavens ven
geance; the fangs of the dead beast had still re-
tanned their venom