The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1893-08-19

brothers speedy departure.
He came to me one day throwing HIM
self heavily into the rustic seat opposite
to where l sat. There was gloomy
trown dishguring his smooth, white
forehead. l read on in silence until he
| blurted out:
Jasper, look here. I want a straight
answer to a straight question. Have
| you been cad enough to extract some
| sort OF promise from Miriam? But no,
no." hurriedly. "Such a thing would be
mprobable-utterly unnatural. Still her
manner is mysterious. l love her and
wish to marry her. She is evanescent,
strange" musingly. Il could almost
swear she loves me-"
The hot blood leaped like tongues of
fire through my throbbing veins. l
| forced my thick, dry lips to open.
You think she loves your
"Think?' with self-satished laugh.
81 am sure OF il; but, for some unaccount-
able reason, she wishes to play the role of
a coquet, or" with a contenlptuous
glance about my form, Il would say she
| had given you some foolish promise out
of pity; but" Struggling his grand, square
shoulders and stretching his shapely
limbs before departure. when / look at
! you | know how foolish and impossible
is my fancy"
/ A furious anger swept over me. L
sprang from my chair; my brother turned
in astonishment; l forced smile to my
mouth.
sit is nothing, brother. Merely a sud
den pain"
| He laughed.
Not in the heart. Jasper, 1 hope. That
would be too amusing" and left me.
| y short time after | saw them walking
in the grounds. She paused before a
great tree of white lilac, and, plucking a
| bunch thereof fastened it in her bosom.
| lie stood before her and seemed to be
| begging her for a blossom. She drew
! down the branch, and, breaking cluster
from the bough handed it to him. He
shook his head, |, watching with eyes OF
fire, knew what he wished. He sought
and coveted the flowers resting against
! her breast.
How dared he? She was my wife-part
OF myself. And, in dull fury, l watched
her. If she acceedCd to his desire in this
why not in other matters? With my
nerves strained and pulses throbbing, 1
watched. Ii she gave him that Hover
she was false, false. she dishonored me.
j The lighting blood of my ancestors arose
In my veins at the thought. My mind
! ran rampant. \ thousand demon voices
! whispered i'll my ear: The flowers, the
| flowers. Ii she gives the li!acs she is
untaithful." With trembling limbs
watched. 'DishonOr is DEATH" laughed
those voices in my ear. l waited and
/
blossoms resting upon her bosom.
/ Would she, like Z true woman refuse, or
i questioned no further. With laugh
and pretty childish movement of pique
she drew the flowers from her gown.
/ His fingers clutched them, his lips
pressed with devourIng kisses, the stems
still warm from her soft, White flesh;
and, at the sight, l staggered backwards,
striking my temples, as with hammers,
f. with both clenched fists.
"Fool fool! betrayed" Scarcely could
| retain my Impotence to rush forth and
strangle her. Fool" | groaned, 10
expect fidelity alter seeing him in his
cursed beauty" How she must hate me.
How repulsive l have become to her.
Then u sudden madness possessed me.
! Ny brain was consumed by fire. Of my
future deeds or actions l neither knew
nor cared. Within. my scorching brain
was Matching horrible revenge. l obeyed
it blindly, helplessly. My brows ached
increasingly. y rumbIlng, as OF falling
timber, beat heavily upon my throbbing
head.
[ saw them enter the house, and
watched the lingering good night. All!
was it to be good night? She mounted
the stairs. whilst he loitered behind to
smoke a cigar below. Silently l crept
after. | would drag her to the floor
and trample upon her smooth, fair body
-ha! ha!-until l stamped it into the
counterpart of myself les, l would
crush and bruise that false, perfect form
as she had trampled on my heart. How
slow she walked. My blood was jump
ing with the fierce swiftness of a blood
drinking animal impatient TO spring and
uuench my ravenous thirst in the warm
blood OF its victim. "Ha! ha! har' Low
and smothered though my laughter was.
she must have heard some indistinct
sound, for she paused with her hand
upon her chamber door knob; hesitated,
then slowly turned towards the low, wide
window leading out upon. the vine
Wreathed balcony.
She leaned her arms upon the gilded
railing. l crawled after, afraid TO breathe.
Oh, dear heaven, how beautiful she was.
My heart softened until some tiend in
my noisy brain sneered:
''She is false-slay her."
| sprang to her side, catching her wrist
in savage grasp. She started with sud
den pain and fright. My long, sharp
finger nails sank deep into the tender
flesh, and the blood, trinkling forth, mad
dened me still more.
so" Kissed, my throat swelling with
rage, you love him, you frail thing, that
1 set my life upon" L twisted her arms
almost out of their sockets. You wan
ton"
With terror, though insulted dignity
seemed to settle about her, she answered
calmly:
Jasper, you hurt me, dear"
Hurt you? 1 mean to kill you"
With sudden fury | stopped and raised
her i'll my arms. Yet still she did not
scream.
why don't you call on your lover?'' I
ieered, "who. no doubt, is impatiently
awaiting your signal. He may come to
your assistance. No. Then go and join
him below"
I carried her to the edge of the balcony.
She chung to me as if drowning.
Jasper, husband, spare me. Don't
kill me-"
L did not heed, but carried and thrust
her over the railing. Despairingly she
clutched my clothes. l beat her hands
of. She vainly strove to grasp the vines
which grew along the sides, but they
gave way with her weight. l saw her
white, agoniZed face as she fell down.
down, until | heard her body strike the
stones below.
lie carried her in all bruised and bleed
ing, wholly unconscious. in which state
she lay for nearly a week. No one sus-
pected my hand was the cause of her suf-
ferings. After my mOmentary madness
dull apathy settled over Inc.
When her reason returned the first
word she said was Jasper"
They came and led me to her bedside.
To the wondering faces she explained:
HE is my husband"
fell upon my knees. To her mother
she said
please leave us alone for a short
time"
l took her hand. so white and thin,
Dear" she said, they think it was
an accident. You accused me of untaith-
fnlness. Jasper, believe me, never in
thought nor deed was / false TO you.
loved you loyalty, truly. No other could