St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-02-05
A MIDNIGHT MYSTERY.


In a cherries apartment on the sixth
floor of a New York tenement one cold,
bleak November night sat young
woman whose face bore evident marks
of intelligence and refinement.
Two small rooms comprised the mar
row domain to which she gave the
name of home. Their cheerleSsness
was increased by the absence of every
thing except the most necessary furni-
ture aud by the wall ing wind, which
found entrance at a hundred
creYces. sending icy currents
across the wretched garnet. The
! young woman, crouching close to the
ldying fire of small stove. was lost i'll
8 sad reflections, from which she reused
herself at intervals to glance at a little
CRIB, wherein lay an infant, all uncon-
scious of its mothers anxiety and dis
tress. Her husband, Robert Desmond,
the second son of all English nobleman,
. had fallen in love with Victoria st.
Clair, the pretty and intelligent Ameri-
can governeSS of his younger sister, and
married her in opposition to the wishes
: of his family. The English aristOcracy
look with much disfavor on meSallianceS
of this Kind
: Soon after their marriage the regi-
iment in which'he was lieutenant was
ordered to India. The young man re-
Signed his commission, and, unframed
as he was in any business or profession.
found himself at twenty-five thrown on
the world without penny and with a
young wife to support. His father,
proud but but generous man, bad dlsin-
l.; h
sufficient, if properly invested, to main
tain him in comfort for life, saying that
all further intercourse between them
must cease.
This money was accepted. The young
couple went to Paris, where he soon
plunged into the most luxurious life of
that gay city, Though man of gener-
Gus impulses and a loyal and affection
ate husband, Robert had an unfortunate
passion for gambling. His little capital
was soon lost at the card table. BY the
sale of Victoria's jewels and some
money she had prudently saved, they
were able to accumulate little more
than enough to pay their passage to
New York.
After weary weeks spent in futile
efforts to obtain work, the little family,
which had been increased by the birth
of a daughter, dritted from moderately
comfortable lodgings to this cherries
tenement house. Their little capital,
gradually diminishing, was now gone.
For several weeks it had been Rob
ert's regular practice to leave their poor
quarters at nightfall, without telling his
wife where he went or at what hour he
would return, and reappear in the early
morning. He eyaded her questions, or
only answered i'll nonOsyllableS.
Night after night she was kept awake
by anxious fears and suspicious. Ii she
could but know his destination, compre-
bend his work: but not being able to
fathom the mystery her Imagination
pictured the near approach of even
greater misfortunes than those to which
she was already accustomed. 1t was
plain that her husbands work was Ia
borious, for. although he never referred
to it, he came home every morning com
pletely exhausted. He grew daily more
taciturn, careWOrn and morbid. Can it
be wondered that Victoria suffered all
the torture and anguish that such
condition of affairs can bring to SEN
sitive woman?
The child, turning uneasily in It's lit
tie crib, began to cry. Victoria took
tin cup from the stove and gave its con-
tents to the baby. 1t was the last drop
of milk, the last morsel of food she had.
What grief wrung the mothers heart as
she tried to Soothe and comfort the little
one, uncertain that she would be able to
procure sufficient food to keep it alive.
Toward morning Robert returned,
evidently very tired, and was surprised
to find his wifes still awake. Throwing
himself on the poor cot near the wall he
was soon fast asleep. For some mo-
meDts Victoria gazed at him through
her tears, mentally asking II this was
the man who had charmed her gIrllsh
fancy and won her young heart with
promises OF bright future?
At length, from sheer exhaustion, she
sank on the dilapidated lounge near her
baby's crib and her weary eyes soon
closed. For three hours she slept
soundly. Awaking unrefreshed, she
was conscious of a sickening feeling of
faintness, the cause of which she knew
too well, and then came the dull misery
of remembering that there was no
money to buy provisions for breakfast.
1t had been Roberts custom to give
her little money every week, which
she had accepted in silence, neither ask
ing for it nor questioning its source; but
the last supply had been spent the day
before, and il was too soon to expect an
other. She had tried to exc out their
scanty income by sewing for clothing
manufacturer, but even this labor1ous
and wretchedly paid employment had
almost failed her, as it was dull sea
son, and the little work she had on hand
could not be finished for several days.
The clock in neighboring steeple
had Just struck O. when, in answer to a
knock at the door, letter was handed
her addressed to Robert Desmond.
ESQ.," 1t bore the London postmark
and the family coat of arms; recognize
ing the handwriting of Roberts father,
she placed the letter on the table,
where her husband could find it when
he awoke, then busted herself for a