Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1893-02-18
SYLVESTER'S WIFE.


colonist, with dark. cleaning eyes,
black beard, and skin, the paleness
Of which had been ripened into
swarthness by the fierce African sun.
He was erect and fearless; he threw d
glance of defiance at his enemies, he
nodded and smiled at his friends, and
then, as the door of a private en-.
trance to the body Of the court opened,
and figure draped in purest white,
with bright golden hair ripping in
profusion over the shapely shoulders,
glided in softly and quiet like a sun
beam from the free world outside, he
leaned over the rail which interposed
between him and liberty, and
hoarsely whispered her name-the
dearest name in the world to him.
Elt was SylveSterS wife. She re-
sponded quickly with a look more
eloquent than words; and then the
prisoner drew himself up to his full
height, folded his arms, listened in
tently as the clerk Of the court, an
old friend with whom he had spent
many a registering evening in his
bachelor days. droned through the
indictment, and in clear voice re-
piled to the charge of wilful murder, -
'Not guilty."
The Crown Protector, in slow and
measured tones began to sketch the
history Of the crime; the Judge loung-
ed back in his chair and leisurely
sought for the clean pages in
his record book; the counsel for the
defence pushed his wig back from his
perspiring brow, and hunted out a
reference in an almost forgotten
work of the Roman Dutch law; the
spectators hushed their murmuring;
the punkah swayed regularly to and
fro overhead, and Sylvester's wife,
sitting there in the well of the sti-
filing court, with her sweet blue eyes
-Tiyited on the prisoner, and her luxu-
RANT locks rising and falling with the
artificial breeze, locked to me ieven
more beautiful than TWO years bSfore,
when she nightly ravished the hearts
of susceptible diggers in the make
shift theater in the Dutoitspan road.
In those memorable bygone days
she was Mademoiselle Marie La Cour,
and the star of travelling theatrical
company, which visited the diamond
fields. In the zenith of her fame she
married Dirk Sylvester, and if ever
man deserved his bride he did, for
his passion wore him almost to a
shadow, and his dark eyes cleaned
dangerously if rival presumed as
much as to speak to her. And before
Dirk came upon the scene there were
rivals in plenty; but though Marie
slipped the champagne they proffered,
and even accepted their diamonds,
she laughed openly at all o. them.
DIRK was the proprietor Of one of
the richest claims at the New Rush,
and the moment he and Marie met
the host of more or less hopeful suit
ors saw their chances were over. She
seemed to have fallen in love with
him quite as much as he had with
her, and would have married him
long before she did but that her
father besought her to continue on
the stage for his benefit. At length
the old gentleman drank himself into
the Carnarvon Hospital, and only
came out thence to occupy one of the
graves which are always yawning,
ready dug in the Kimberly cemetery,
for victims to fever and alcohol; and
then Marie La Cour became to us and
all our world ''SylveSters wife"
They took little villa at the ex-
tremity Of the Dutoitspan road; a
neat veranda-surrounded residence,
screened from the dust and heat by
tall blue gums, and half covered with
creepers and tropical flowers. After
that we saw little of the once so well
known Marie La Cour, Occasionally,
at long intervals they would invite a
few bachelor friends-mySelf included
to witness their bliss, and on such
evenings the great bullfrogs which
invaded the garden of s'The Oasis"
as their place was rightly named,
would hush their vile croaking as
Sylvester's wife trilled forth some
gay chansonette to the accompani-
ment Of the Broadwood which Dirk
specially imported from Europe for
her, or sometimes the happy pair
would ride over'to a picnic on the
banks of the meandering Modder
River, and Mrs Sylvester would deign
to astonish us with the feats of
craftsmanship which she could &C
complish with the pretty little re-
yolver-lvorY handled and chased
with gold, which Dirk had given her.
One night, as / strolled into the
Albert saloon for game of billiards,
] found knot of diggers gathered
around a new ARRIVAL handsome
little Frenchman who had come to
the Fields to look after some claims
in which a Partisan firm had in
vested. He was laughing conceit-
edlY, and stroking his carefully
Maxed imperial with q self-satisfed
air when Dirk came in, and was i'm
mediately hailed by man who was
no friend Of his - the manager of