Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1893-09-14

and was on the brink of death Yet
through it all one idea grew stronger
as the others faded; longed to see her
again. Pledges rose TO my lips which
no man could utter and then violate,
which no woman could hear, unmoved,
from one she loved.
1T came into my mind to burst the
door, and ! had got upon my feet to
make the effort when / was aware of
the sound Of some person ascending
the stairs below me. / had no wish to
be discovered in such plight, and so l
put my back against the door and kept
quite still. The hall was as dark as
coffin. / did not see the man who
passed me nor did he have a suspicion
of my presence. He went up the stairs
to the next landing and there paused.
waited for the noise of the doors
closing, but it did not come. Instead,
/ heard a light, peculiar sound, which
even in my miseries aroused faint
curiosity. | remembered suddenly that
the Lawrences who occupied the fat
above were away from the city. What
was this man doing at their door?
Il assembled the stairs uoiselessly.
There was a ray of light above. 1t
came from dark lantern in the hand
of man who lneeled before the door
examining the lock. In an instant a
wild and absurd thought came to me.
drew my revolver aud advanced upon
this man. He heard me and turned.
Enough Of the light from his lantern
struck upon his face to show me pic
ture of fright. This burglar evidently
had not the courage suited to his pro-
fession
Don't be alarmed, said l. If you
do what | tell you and do it promptly,
will let you go
lie looked 1T the revolver and then
he uttered "a sort of growl which re-
solved itself at last into the words:
What do you want?'
with my left hand struck a match
and lit the gas in the hail in order to
have light enough to shoot bv Come
with me, | said, and made him go
down the flight of stairs carrying his
tools with him.
Now. said !, you have nippers in
that little bag. Turn the key IN this
lock. lie did it for he had no choice.
l assured myself that the door could
be opened with a small latch key. My
heart beat like a trip hammer | had
no voice to tell sthe burglar he might
go | waved my hand and he vanished
in a second. Then l entered.
The hall was bare; no curtains hung
before the parlor door. The windows
stared atme. Enough light shone in
from the street to show a room abso-
lutely empty! My wife's name came
from my lips in tone such as a man
may use when he pleads for mercy in
the face of death and has no hope.
Il raised the pistol which was still
in my hand and then l whispered to
myself: Not here Even the bare
walls, I thought. retained some
sacred memory Of her which STAYED
my hand In that room, said,
had come to me the one chance
of my life, and / had thrown it
away; but l would not die there. /
would at least hide my disgrace from
the eye of merconarv curiosity. /
wished no such epitaph as the papers
would be likely to give me.
AS for death itself it had already
come When | turned to leave that
room there was upon me the peace
which is the reward Of the good man
and the pardon of the evil doer-the
common lot of us all. If there had
been any hope in my soul that | could
ever make amends TO her would have
lived in torment, if necessary, to do it.
But had utterly despaired of myself.
II tell you, Harry, l was dead when
| left that room. The function of To-
comotion was all that distinguished
me from one who has passed through
the great change. My mind had ceased
10 exist and my heart to suffer. Doubt
less the muscular energy of my frame
would have carried me to the actual
physical contamination of suicide;
but mentally had died of despair, of
degradation.
II passed down the stairs; opened
and closed the outside door and stood
upon the step. In the sky was the
glimmer of dawn The physical sense
which yet survived in me perceived it
and was more weary of living at this
sign of reviving life and tumult and
struggling. The soul was gone and
the body was impatient for dissolution.
And yet the habits of this life per-
sist strangely in the body. What do
you suppose, Harry, that this present
she'll Of my spirit did when ceased
to direct it?"
shook my head.
We'll Sir, it walked ffty-six feet to
the left-the width of two city lots
turned to the left again and entered "a
house It mounted two flights of
stairs opened door and walked into
pretty little parlor Then ii passed
into room whore dim light burned
and q woman lay asleep with one
white arm stretched ont as if to greet
"a man whom she loved My bodily
eyes saw that, and then my soul came
back I fell upon my knees beside
that bed and covered the white hand
with kisses.
That's the story, Harry The soul
when ii came back To Inc was better