Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1891-07-24

] y~N ~ M III 40 NJ No. ~ L 02A04 Y Ah0
long. You won't have to wait for the
money. Don't, for the love of heaven and
your own soul, don't murder the girl.
Annette, you are a Thousand times more
beautiful. than she Is; only wait and I will
take you to Paris. where some great noble
is sure to fall in love with you. Ny child,
do not stain your soul with crime for the
sake of-Oh, my God, she's gonel'
I listened with a horror I can scarcely
describe. ,
Haywood had awakened and Joined me.
He, too, had heard the awful story of this
demon who had comprised the destruction
of her sister and was now, alas! exercising
the same fatal power over Haywood him
sell.
"Surely, now you know the truth about
Annette, you will leave this accursed place
at once" said l eagerly.
To my unutterable horror he replied:
pray to God to help me. lean do moth
ing. l am at the mercy of that iend as
completely as ever Marie Lafarge was.
What she wills I must do"
I felt desperate. Reasoning would avail
nothing, I knew, against that fearful in
f1uence.
Stay! A medical friend of mine, who
was a great student of hypnotism, had
oAoSA WIN uC AC oAOu6uV l pOSStSScu uyP-
MOTTO power in no common degree. I had
never cared to test the matter hitherto.
Now I determined to try my utmost to save
my friend.
He gazed at me almost like one dis
traught. There seemed to be a terrible
struggle going on in his mind. Evidently
my power affected him.
For a moment l thought 1 had tri-
umphed. The next moment he said in a
low, broken voice, as of one in despair:
mo, no: I cannot. I must stay. She
wills it,"
For a moment I was utterly aghast. Then
q new idea occurred to me.
l must try to gain the mastery over An
nette. But what if I failed and fell under
the influence of that baleful power. 1
shuddered to think of it. To be at the
mercy of a demon, not only physically,
but morally; to be bound to her hateful
bidding even though she counseled me to
crime. But, come what might, I deter
mined to risk all.
Nine. Lafarge had by this time gone
back to her room.
I hurried down to the chamber of An
nette and knocked at her door. She opened
it.
"Fiend that you are, I have found out
your secret" said I fiercely, and looking
boldly into those fearful eyes, which seem
ed stranger than ever in the light of the
moon.
"Will that Haywood shall leave this
place at once. Will it. I command you"
Heaven only knows what I suffered dur
ing the silent, terrible battle of will that
followed.
For full four minutes Annette stood fac
inn M y1rcb p1rs-. ~ a. L.
fixed fearlessly on mine, and every nerve
braced to meet and master my will.
If failed I knew that 1 and my friend
were utterly lost. It would be better to
lie dead among the mountains with door
Marie Lafarge than to fall into the power
of this creature alive.
l strove with all my might against the
terrible impulse to yield, which came to
me again and again.
At length 1 I began to be conscious of my
W strength. I felt that her will was
giving way. Finally she yielded. Her
eyes fell. Her head bent on her breast.
She fell back into her room utterly pros
trated.
l went triumphantly to Haywood.
He was lying on the bed insensible.
I succeeded in recalling him to conscious
ness, but to my horror I found that his
mind was wandering.
Ny victory had been gained, but at what
a cost! Perhaps at the loss of my friends
reason.
saw that, though I had conquered An
nette, and forced her to do my bidding for
the moment, she still retained the mastery
over Haywood, whereas I, all powerful
with her, had no infence with him.
l made all arrangements for starting on
our journey next day, for Haywood allowed
me to do as I pleased in that respect.
Their lay down to rest until dawn, and
to consider what I should do in regard to
Annette.
could not accuse her of any legal crime,
and yet ] felt that it would b sin against
humanity to leave this demon at large.
At length I hit upon a plan which seemed
right to me. Heaven forgive me if l AVE
in this or other matters abused the awful
power intrusted in me.
went back to Annette and forced her to
give me an account of the death of Marie
Lafarge. She told precisely what I had
anticipated.
I then said to her, Tomorrow you will
go before the b~urgomaster of A, the
nearest town, and confess that you pushed
Marie Lafarge over the edge of the pass,
and you will persist in this declaration,
even though your mother should contra
dict It."
Haywood, though still dazed and stupe-
fed, was able to start next morning. and
we were soon at home again, but although
he had recovered his reason. both he and I
knew that he was not his own master.
A few weeks after our return to Eng
land l read in a Swiss paper an account of