Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-05-13
Mrs GailsbOruugh's Diamonds.
BY JULIAN HAWTHORNE.
Copyrighted by d. Appleton & Co, and
published by special arrangement.

Again that strange fancyi What did
it mean2 l could not repress q certain
thrill at the heart as gazed at her 1t
was very weird and strange.
AS l gazed singular change crept
over her. Her face was now quite color
less, and its pallor was intensified by the
blackness Of her mystical eyes. Those
Dyes slowly grew fxed-immovable, as
IL frozen. The lids trembled for a mo-
ment, then dropped, then lifted again to
their widest extent and so remained
Her lips, slightly parted, showed the
white teeth set edge to edge behind
them. The rigidity descended through
her whole body; she was like marble
as one who is in profound slumber.
"Katel what has happened to your
cried in alarm, putting my hand on her
shoulder. Her arm was fixed like iron,
she seemed to hear nothing, feel moth
ing. She was as much beyond any
power Of mine to influence her as If she
had been dead. The diamonds that gilt
tered on her bosom were not more in
sensible than she.
must confess that was somewhat
unnerved by the situation. Kate was
evidently in some sort Of trance; but
what had put her into that state, and
aught / knew it might be the prelude to
fit or other seizure of that nature, in
volving consequences dangerous If not
fatal. In the bewilderment of the mo-
ment the only remedy that could think
Of was cold water; to dash her with
water might be of use, and scarcely
make matters worse. About thirty PAGES
from where we were standing a small
rill meandered among the roots of the
trees and trickled at last in a tiny
cascade down the rocky side of the
gorge. Toward this ran, and, STOPPING
down attempted to scoop up some of
the refreshing element in the crown of
my straw hat.
Rising with the dripping hat in my
hands turned to go back, but the sight
that then met my eyes caused me to
drop everything and spring forward with
gasp of horror.
Moving as if in obedience to some
power external or at least foreign to
herself as q mechanical figure might
move, steadily, deliberately and yet
blindly, Kate had advanced directly to-
ward the narrow chasm, and when l
first beheld her she already seemed bal
ancing on the brink. Before l could
cover half the distance that separated
us, she had set foot on the long beam
which spanned the abyss, and had be-
gun to walk along it. By the time Ihad
reached the hither end she was half way
over, stepping as composedly and Sc
curely as If she were on an ordinary
sidewalk, though the slightest detection
from a straight course would have sent
her down a hundred feet to the jagged
powders below.
Standing on the hither verge, every
nerve so tensely strung that seemed to
hear the blood humming through my
brain, watched the passage of those
small feet which l had admired that
morning as they peeped coquettishly
from beneath her dress in the railway
carriage watched them pass, step
after step, along that awful beam. l
suppose the transit must have been &C
complished in less than minute, but it
seemed to me that was watching it for
hours. l uttered no sound lest it might
rouse her from her trance and insure the
catastrophe that else she might escape;
l did not attempt to overtalze her, fear
full lest the beam should fail to support
our united weight. saw her pass ON,
rigid, unbending, but sure Of foot as a
rope dancer; and at last 1 saw her reach
the opposite side and stand once more on
solid earth, preserved from death as it
seemed by a miracle. l have no distinct
recollection of how followed; l only
know that a few seconds afterward l
was standing beside her with my arm
around her waist.
led her forward few PAGES out of
sight of the ravine, the mere thought of
which now turned me sick, and brought
her to plot of soft turf, beneath tree
with low, spreading branches. The
trance was evidently passing away; her
limbs no longer had that unnatural
rigidity, her eyelids dropped heavily
and her jaw relaxed. A violent trem-
bling seized upon her; she sank down
on the turf as If all power of self sup
port had gone out of her. At that mo-
lnent l fancied heard slight crackle
among the shrubbery not far off; 1
looked quickly up, and SAVIOR thought
I saw-a short, ungainly figure obscure
ly stealing away through the under
brush. Almost Immediately he vanished
amid the trees, leaving me in doubt
whether my eyesight had not after all
played me false.
As turned again to Kate she was sit
ting up against the trunk of the tree, the
diamonds flashing at her throat and
ears, and a puzzled, questioning express
sion on her face.
what makes you look so stranger"
she murmured. "Where is your hat2
How did we come here, Tom? 1
thought"-
She stopped abruptly and rose slowly
TO her feet. Her eyes were cast down
shamefacedly and she bit her lip. She
lifted her hand to her throat and felt the
diamonds there. Then with an appre-
hensive. almost a covering glance, she
peered stealthily around through the
trees, as though expecting to see some
thing that she dreaded. Finally she