The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-07-30

| he first bound her hand and foot. and then.
having securely woven the long, thick
| strands Of her hair into an iron ring In the
wall, left her to starve. Ten days after.
when he imagined his devlish work had
| effected his purpose, he suddenly IN
formed me OF his intention to leave the
! castle and never again cross its thresnOlu.
! paid little heed to his wild words and
| let him go without syllable of dissent.
| had had my eye upon him all along.
Fortunately there was secret under
ground passage leading to this dungeon
prison known only to me. It's existence
had been made known to me by my
father Through this I visited Aurore
every night with food and drink. I'M
pressing upon her mind the necessity OF
Stimulating death in case Saint Gerry should
enter the dungeon. This he did on the
tenth day. and hearing the clank OF the
bolts Aurore obeyed my injunction to the
letter. rolled over on her face ana lay
stretched stark and stiff on The stone f1oor.
Saint Gerry uttered harsh breathing ri
relief and turned away. After the demons
departure | made haste to release Aurore
and entreated her to betake herself 10
convent in the neighborhood. bnt SO un-
fixed was her mind by the terrible expert
ences she had gone through that she re-
fused TO obey On different occasions the
tenants caught sight Of white figure.
with long. flowing hair. seated at the
window in the moonlight, and the chateau
soon acquired the reputation OF being
haunted. At this period-it was about
year after Saint-Gery's departure-that
You came Tor the papers"
'Then it was not beautiful specter," l
cried in astonshment, but Aurore her
self in flesh and blood"
Eyes, my lord" added Roger, with a
sad smile. lin flesh and blood. the beauti-
| full Aurore herself the Inflated mistress
Of Chateau Sant-Gery. who by chance
wandered into the room while you were
searching for the papers.
Zone day." continued Roger, "a curious
idea flashed through my mind. 1t was
that If could only succeed in cutting off
that glorious head of hair percnance Au-
rore might recover her reason completely"
This. my dear friends, Roger now pro-
sleeping potion to AurOre he sheared her
of her glorious tresses with a bold and
pitiless hand while she slept.
Rising to his feet the Marquis unlocked
a panel closet and took out Of it silver
casket from which he drew forth long
braid of golden hair made up of four
satisfy any ordinary daughter of Eve.
These are the radiant tresses. gentle
men," said the Marquis de la Tour-Samue,
solemnly, (which belonged to the beauti-
full ghost of the Chateau Sant-Gefy. which
| combed on that eventful night, and
which l ween would have made Lady
Godiva hide her head in bitter envy"
The two friends of the Marquis drew
near almost reverently, felt the braid and
caressed it, pressing it first 10 their cheeks
and then TO their lips. This done, they
both fixed inQurng eyes upon the Mar
quis and as one man pronounced the words:
And Aur0re"
Rogers experiment was completely
successful" replied their host. "Shorn
of her ill-starred glory. Aurore soon recov-
cred her reason and was easily persuaded
to enter a religious house IN another part
of France, where no doubt she has long
since fully aEoned for her transgressions,
if any she committed by prayer. contriton
and repentance"
Peace. Au:ore. to thy bruised heart, if
thou be living, and rest eternal rest to thy
pure soul if thou art dead" murmured the
army officer. reve:ently.
amen! Amen!'' responded the two
Others, and then. as with one impu lse. they
stretched out their left hands and Joined
them In a triple grasp, while with their
right they raised their glasses to their lips.
NoTE.-The first two chapters of this
story are the last work done by the late
Guy de Maupas5ant before his incarcera-
ton in an insane asylum The third chap
ter is from Leon Fayart, who wrote it out
from his Wedge of what De Maupas-
SAINT intended that the conclusion of the
tale should be.
HMore than 20 600 T,unnon families ear