Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-06-12
cigar business to.hjehEs

,,os lIo suu''eh question following the sue.
sktIseive word needed no enlargement ana
meg stirred uneasily. anu
why shouldn't |? Jim knoys iea
lhlse what they re saying. There's haen
y no sweethearting between Will and me-
! +. never Kept company with any one h,t
Liza laughed again.
Just as you please, but | wouldn't
s sii IN your shoes tonight for anv.
when the hour for the evening nor.
romance came Meg stood before ttbo
glass putting the finishing toncb IN tho
gay dress in which she usuallv went
thdr9ough the cigar and pistol episode
one had not recovered altogether from
n.i 'din.iiesS OF the afternoon, and she
opened the little window of tbe Won ~
ie' Vi some arr The suns rays flashed
III striklng upon the shelf that served ne
dressing table. ''' 'e' 'e'' do
ia'eS NJ up the trinkets lying there
ana touched the red stone of the broocb
oiii' had gwen her, until it looked like a
ciot OF palpitating blood '' : "
me9 put out her hand mechanically To
take IT, but at the sight of its color she
tteiiieinDered, with a sickening shudder
ehe req hands that had reused her fer.
TOT lew months before, and she drew
oack' Then she took up another brooch
IRON the shelf, fastened il in her GOWN
am went out to the tent.
The cheer that greeted her anpearanca
restored her self possession. and She
bowed smilingly to the spectators before
she took up her stand at the correct dis.
lance from Jim.
one danced furtively at him, and saw,
renewed that he was looking at her in
restored good humor
lie nodded reassuringly at her, and
signed that he was ready to begin. Meg
turned her profile toward him. and put
the cigar in her mouth, thinking idly
now foolish she had been to make SO
much of trihe.
jim and she were good friends again.
so she stood bravely, no emotion on her
broad, sensual face, while Jim raised his
pistol to take aim.
In the act his hand trembled, his
whole face changed, and a fierce glare
came into his eyes; he bent forward
gesture and eyes alike horribly suggest
ing the panther about to spring@and
CRASHED his teeth.
lie had caught sight of yellow glitter
Id place OF Tie red sparkle of the brooch
by which he had always before taken
aim.
The whole air seemed to have become
yellow, and the strained silence of the
spectators to be background on which
sentence was embossed: They say he
has gwen her gold brooch"
Meanwhile Meg stood rigidly still, won
derlng at the delay, and thinking that
Jim must have heard from Will how
little reason he had for jealousy.
Jims eyes were staring at the sentence.
his ears ringing with the words he had
heard heedlessly that afternoon. They
say he has given her a gold brooch"
Who had given Meg the brooch that had
taken the place of his gift?
For moment his senses reeled. Then
he Strengthened himself sternly, and
affected to examine again the printing
of his pistol
He raised it at length, and with steady
hand aimed-was it at the cigar, or at
the brooch Meg wore, at his request, a
little on one side?
Steadily and long he Stood his pistol
poised, his hand on the trigger, his eyes
on the woman who had given him her
all.
Steadily and long he stood; then sharp
and sudden the shot rang out. And
sharp and sudden rang out its echo-a
woman's wild, shrill scream.
In the silence that followed, Meg fell
forward
Almost before the spectators realized
what had happened, the curtain fell and
screened from their curious eyes the
pitiful thing upon the stage-poor, sinful
Meg. lying with the blood flowing from
a wound in her neck just above the
brooch.
Jim had aimed well; the shot had sev
cred the jugular vein and entered the
carotid artery.
The manager stopped to raise her, but
Jim pushed linn aside and would hay,
lifted her himself. But when he tou hct
her he felt his hands warm with the dow
of her likelihood.
ooh Cod" he cried, shrinking bac',, -
have murdered her"
Meg opened her eyes at the words, az,
a world Of tenderness was in them a siA
gazed on the man she loved, and win
had done her to death.
A great light flashed in her face an,
TRANSPORTED it, so that the divine pro Ms
of what she might have been-nay, IA
it not the fulfillment of the promi G.:
which they gazed;-was revealed t III
men around her.
She reached out and touched Jim req
hand, and as the light faded she ga pc,
no, Jim. it wasn't your fault d.
1t. viii, do YOU hear? moyed-on TN
pose. And, Jim-l've been-true to- -
And SO she proved her faithfulne ;.
Keith Christie in Belgravia.