Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-01-06


my aid-religion; and in time he.
came soothed, if not comforted. tho,
is, after i knew May was irreyocably
welded.
Two months passed. deemed nv
sell sufficiently fortified with good
resolutions to return once more to nv
chosen place of residence. II was
hgh noon when drove up the prin-
clpal street. A carriage dashed by me
a night vehicle. In another moment
1t had turned; and Frederick, May's
husband, was abreast. / involuntarily
drew in my horse. My friends face
denoted anguish intense and concen-
trated.
"For Gods sake, DR.. Lane, nv
early friend, do not stop till yon reach
Mrs. KcndalPsl My May lies there
sick-dyingl'' he gasped.
How ashy pale he wasI Nv face
blanched. i felt singular tremor.
lie dashed ahead, neither speaking
and In fifteen minutes / stood by the
couch of the young bride. That was
an awful hour. At its close I pressed
her white eyelids over her dull, glazed
eyes. All, heavenl thought I, kneel-
ing with an aching heart, can such
beauty be dead? And still, for all.
there was triumph in the feeling-tri-
umph until l beheld the awful grief
OF the bereaved husband-saw the big
drops bead like blood his pale. broad
orehead-almost forced him from the
lnanimate body to which he hung with
the grasp of despair, clasping her to
his bosom-kissing the white lips, the
whittier cheeks, even the gold locks that
lay damp and uncurled over her shoul-
ders.
hnd when l left that house of
mourning, was it not strange the calm
ness / felt settling over my spirits ?
Could this thought, even in the faintest
tracery, pass through nay mind at such
a time? ''Well, she is not mine; and
neither is she his. | am glad that, a,
she could not be mine only, none but
death can claim her now"
L fear, had conscience rightly ap-
piled her torch, she might have read
those scathing words written on tle
crimson portals of my heart.
The next day went over to be pre-
sent at the funeral service, and still
felt that sorrowful happiness. Poor
Frederick was at times raving, then
stupid with his great grief. The
mourners assembled; the beautiful
dead lay robed in satin in her coffin :;
already the large parlor was filled with
weeping friends. / took my station at
the head of the corpse. With unutter-
able tenderness, yet without q tear, /
gazed upon that heavenly countenance.
1t looked not like stern death, but soft
and smiling slumber. They were all
her young companions present, village
maidens, robed in white, whose silvery
voices joined in a simple funeral song.
But, Oh how those voices wavered
trembled, until tears and sobs choked
out their music, and one mournful,
heart rending wall sounded through
the room.
At last the boary headed man of
God arose to pray. Never heard l a
petition so mournfully tender, SO sim
pie, so powerful. How gently he
spoke of her youth and goodness; the
circumstances under which God was
pleased to call her, just, as il We're,
standing on the threshold of her happy
life, and looking toward the rose
colored futurel
still kept my place at the head of
the coffin. My eyes full of tears now
never once moved from that holy
face.
Was it fancy? I thought the dear
features grew dim. My sight was
failing, or-I bent closer to the corpse !;
| drew lack, wiped my eyes, looked
again. God of mercyl God of COM
passionl what sent wild shock
through my frame, and struck my
brain as with wand of fire? l reeled.
l fell almost upon the coffin. There
was n moisture on the glass moisture
that, when | applied my sleeve, would
of the glass.
As was customary every face was
bowed toward the earth in prayer.
What must / do2 There were fear
ful risks to run. My knees tremblek
and knocked together; my heart beat
against my side till my body rocked
like a pendulum. The voice of the
pastor whistled in my ear. Each mo-
ment was an hour; and yet-the con-
fict-the horrible temptation warning
with my better nature came again. 1t
was awful awful If i kept my
silence she was still tho bride of death;
and as much mine as anOther's; If l
spoke she was again the wife of my
rival.
dare not recall some of my emo
tions now. l could not have been my
self when that fiendish temptation be-
set me, and whispered me to let the
dark grave claim her, If 1 might not.
The perspira,,on wolled mp from
every pore, but the agony was passed.
| could n.ye .hrctticd the old pastor
that he did not cease, yet i feared for
the iifc ~ the po.r husband should he
know the truth GO Suddenly. There
was tinglinT from my head to my
fingers ends, j shook like an aspen
leaf.
"Amenl" o, how / thanked God
for that sound clung to the coffin
for one moment, weak and helpless as
! an infant.
The chief mOurners were called first,
that th-y might be srared the shock or
beholding the dear one borne out be-
fore their eyes. The poor husband
tottered cut, supported on each side:
! What wore my feelings as he passed
In,ol -Jext moment the sobbing mother.
Now was my time
. "Cuickl friends neighborsl"
gaspod. "Call the sexton inl Now,
i mar. off with the coffin idl For
Gods sake, decay notl She is not
dead!"
J rather shricked thas said the last
word..
The change that came over that as
serlb;yl Many swooned away
crowd rushed to the coffin-I pressed
thcm back-the hand of the under