The morning call., 1891-02-15

my mind. Why not enter the church
through the window and seek safety in the
organ-loft, or, ii need be, at some still
higher point?
[ made hasty examination of the win
dow. Its fastenings were of great strength.
and were so deep set that l could not grip
them with my fingers. The flood had
reached my waist, and the strength of the
current and commencement had nearly
wreste,! me from the narrow coping or,
which was standing. Whatever was done
must be quickly done, aud with the in
stinct of self-preseryation / raised my foot
win intent to RICK out OF the glass panels
OF the window, one of which seemed to be
large enough Tor me to crawl through |
raised my foot, and, clinging to the window
frame, drew back to gather the necessary i'm.
petns But as l crouched down on the stone
sill, it brought my eyes more on a level with
dow. A convulsive shock sent nv heart
into my threat. My foot sank back to it's
place. | could feel the perspiration gather
IN cold drops on MY forehead as l elung
mere With my gaze rlyeted upon that ANT
ing. 1t was the Administration, and. al
though the figures. looked at from the out
side. were shadowy and indistinct. vet
could trace with astounding clearness the
outlines of the Holy Virgins head and pro
file. 1t was the very counterpart of INV he
loved, line for line, to the smallest detail.
shuddered like craven felon upon hearing
the terrible words of sentence | sobbed
like child. tried to kneel upon the mar
row stone coping and pray. And now to
double my torment the deep, rich tones of
the organ rose clear and full above the roar
OF the hood. and the voices of the choir
chanting the Mlserere Mel Domino reached
my ears.
"Oh, Marie. Marie, beloved Marie, If thv
pure soul can look upon thy lover now. pity
him, forgive him that he ever dared to think
OF turning his wild human wrath against
God'S house, OF using his strength to mar
Its sacred images, or work an injury from
which tie mad flood itself had shfunkr'
O1ly moment or so was left me now for
action. l had to make my choice. Sink
into the flood and try once more to end NV
wretched existence, or swim around to the
front Of the church and call upon them to
save me. A chill had laid its icy hands
upon my nmps, and they were growing stiff
and useless.
As L stood there straining my eyes over
the swelling surface of the food the thought
came TO me that it would be no sacrilege to
remove the window if | could, and thus
make my way into the church. LII an ill.,
slant had laid hold of an iron brace which
ran from the roof to the leader, and wrested
II Tree. with this rude instrument quickly
loosened the fastening of the lower half of
the window, and tying my line securely to
1t began to lower it gently to the ground.
Beng mostly OF glass and metal it sank
readily. The way was now clear for me to
enter The church, when, as | turned 10 cast
one last searching look over the surface of
the flood, the up-turned face of human be-
Ing floating in the water caught my eve. |
saw that 1t was drifting toward me. Nearer
and nearer it came, the rays of the moon
resting full upon IT,
Its woman" 1 whispered, and the
next instant suppressed cry of agony es-
! capped NV lips. 1t was Marie my beautiful
| Marie, my dead bride.
My first impulse was to stoop down, reach
out and lay hold of the body, but something
restrained me, something held me back with
grip of iron. / could not, | dared not Law
| my hand urOn her. L could only stretch out
my arms as her body drifted in through the
window, and cry out:
60, go to thy fitting resting place, o,
| beautiful counterpart of Holy Mary |
! Thank God that should have been chosen
to make the way clear for thee, fair image.
| Go, spotless clay, 10 thy last resting-place. 1"
AS Marie's body disappeared within the
| church the confused sound OF voices fell
upon my ear, but it seemed to me that they
had come too late. My giant strength was
| gone at last. l reeled. fell back upon the
roof, struggled TO my feet once more and
then pitched headlOng into the flood.