The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-03-26


! gether in a house in the suburbs aud there
we worked side by side, be with maiiet and
chisel, with brush and canvas. Though
/ poor, we were ambitious and more anxious
/ 20 work for posterity than prosperity. We
/ had high ideals ard we lived to realize them.
We we're dreamers, both. Walter, / re-
! member, had IN those days a pet scheme
| whereby be hoped to impart to his white,
| Opaque statues the delicate coloring of the
! living, breathing bodies But he never a =
tanned his object while our friendship lasted,
though he was always experimenting and
/ ever sanguine Of ultimate success.
| while our friendship lastedp' Would TO
| God that 1t had never ended
| l fell in love. Her name was Winifred,
and she was beautiful as a dream of heaven.
| declared my passion; she told me 1t was
recoprocated, and l was happy. l confded
to my friend the story of my happiness,
and made him known to my inamorata.
| BE friends" said. Alas they became
| more than friends-they became lovers.
knew soon that she preferred him to me.
| l flung his peridy Ia his face and we mad a
/ bitter quarrel. The quarrel resulted in
| duel and be wounded me. l have never
looked on his face since-till an hour ago.
left England aud became a homeless
| wanderer in foreign lands. But by and by
longing to see once more the face Of my
| old love came upon me, ana was not to be
resisted. returned to England, and learned
that she and Walter were married; that he
was famous, she happy mother. The sight
OF half forgotten scenes and faces recalled
| to me the old, half forgotten memories. /
thought of the time when Walter and were
friends. l thought of Winifred as /
| confession Of love for me and her
cruel retroRression. My heart wounds
bled afresh, aud / was seized with jealous
rage. would have revenge on him. l would
rob him of some portion of his happiness.
Where did he live2 What was the thing
he priced mostl His wifel But could not
harm her. His child! To wreak my ven
geanoe on a puny babe would be ignobls-
unworthy of o man. Then they told me
that at last his old scheme for impartlng to
marble the rich hues of life and health had
come to fruition, thai he had carved a
statue of his wife ana colored it by means of
| his secret method till it seemed almost to
breathe-it was so like her-so true to her
matchless beauty. This statue was the
realization Of a life's imagining. Walter
| loved 1t as a mother loves her child. I,
who am an artist, could appreciate the
strength Of that love, and at last l felt that
revenge was within my reach. / would de-
stroy the statue know not howl could
not reason on ways and means. | learned
the address of my old friend, and journeyed
down to his home to work out my scheme
ofivengeance.
l can scarce believe that only few short
| hours have passed since | stood within sight
Of Walters new home and climbed the high
fence, and went c-eeping-creeping through
| the gathering darkness toward its rear.
knaw instinctively the position Of his studio.
Ii would face the south : it would be high up
amid the tree tops and overlook the distant
| sea. AS / neared the home | could see the
last rays Of the sun reflected on its glass
roof. How was to reach it, A mass of
clinging ivy covered the walls of the house,
and after moments hesitation / resolved
to climb this. Ny resolution was soon
carried into effect. The ivy was strong,
and. being tangled, afforded me good foot
| hold. | cautiously raised myself hand over
hand, above the broad veranda, till ! could
see through the glass walls Of the studio into
| its interior. And then saw the statue
had come to destroy, end Immediately l re-
| membered the words Of the Queen OF Sheba,
and l said; "The half was not told unto
| mep'
How can describe to you that wondroGs
work Of art 1t stood in the full red light
| of the settling sun, with its love ely arms up
raised above its head, its lorg golden tresses
! falling thick upon its snowy SHOULDERS, its
swelling bosoms half revealed, and a flush
| IN It's smooth cheeks that seemed, in the
failing light, TO fade aud glow as l had
often seen it fade and glow in the old davs
And standing before it, WITT Ehis back to-
ward me, was my whilom friend. l knew
1t was he. | could recall the old poise of
the head, the slope OF the shoulders, the
stalwart, manly figure. He had in his
working. The old bitterness surged
up in my heart afresh as l gazed
at him, and l wonder now that l did
not rush i'll and seize him by the throat and
kill him. Instead, crept away like beaten
| hound, for | was taken with sudden trem-
bling irresolution that could not control
! and which quite unnamed me. Soon
recovered myself, however and upbraided
myself for my cowsrdice. l meditsted
deeply for awhile, and then walked swiftly
in the direction of the adjacent town, and
entered little, old-fashioned gunner's shop
i and bought a pistol and some cartridges
With the weapon loaded in my pocket, |
| hurried back to put the scheme Of ven
! geance had now evolved into execution.
! Once more l crept across the lawn and be-
! gan the ascent of the ivy. 1t was night
now, and the harvest moon was flooding the
| country side with silver glory. 1t sbone
into his studio and feel upon the statue, and
| if that statue had seemed beautiful In the
| light of day, it seemed more beautiful still
in the light of the night. | could scarce be-
lieve it did not breathe. Its beauty mad
dened ME. l raised the pistol and leveled it
at its radiant face and fred
| And then-O, God! And then the statue
| became living woman. saw the glori-
GUS face change into CORY, hideous mask
| like thing that was like the face of demon.
| l saw the warm, red blood squirt out and
| stain the cleaning, golden hair, and fall
upon the heaving bosom and come creeping
creeping toward me across the floor in
| the white moonlight. saw the
| beautiful form fall prone upon its
! face. ana then | knew that l had
slain the woman loved above all else this
world holdsl could not move l hung
there among the whispering leaves-they
were whispering that | was a murderer,
| petrified with horror. l saw the door of
the studio burst open and the waiter rush
in. heard a crash and saw for one brief
moment the statue that | had come TO de-
| stroy fall from hitherto unseen pedestal
! and break to fragments in the blood OF It's
once living, but now alas dead, prototype
/ saw other faces and heard other voices,
| and still / hung there 10 toe darkness and
listened 10 the accusing voices of the sense
| less leaves.
"Winifred, my Winifred" cried Walter,
"Sdeak to me, my Lowell look at mel" He
kissed the bloody face and pressed the dead
| form to his heart. ''She often said in jest
| that she was jealous of her stone likeness
| and declared / could not tell her from the
statue if she stood in it's place. / laughed
at her. She said: we will see.' My God
and this is the end of a light hearted jest"
| Suddenly be rose. "Who has done this
! thingg h cried; 81 want to kill hmr'
| Than ha Turned and NV far oil