The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-04-26
| ].

'OAy DtOhoc, Will pplllIe-DluS
eyes and that delicate, doll-like beauty
SO attractive in some women, she lay
hack in chaise lounge in an attitude
OF absolute repose, musing. ,
As the silver tones of the clock chin
ed the hour-3 o'clock -Signora Ga
5rini turned her head slowly. She
fetched sigh and her eyes sparkled.
Only a few minutes to wait now. and
somebody she wanted to see would
arrive-her last admirer She had
had many, but in the various hirta-
tions she had carried on from time to
time no man had ever attracted her
as did this One-no not even at that
periOd-before he became insane and
was confined in a madhouse-when.
her husband, too much absorbed in
scientific researches to pay much at
tentlon to her. she had sought diver
sion IN this pastime, had she cared
for any of the knights who danced at
tendance on her. True. in those days
her ardor'might have been quelled a
little by the fear, always. of rousing
the latent jealousies in her husbands
nature. 1t was not easy to judge
what observations the engineer might
be making outside his work. appar-
emily SO absorbing
Unconscious how deep her liking
was for this latest flame. and how dan
gerOus it might become in view of
her present lonely state, she found
herself actually counting the minutes
until he should be there.
Suddenly she trembled-she heard
foot steps in the adjoining room. At
last! Twas he.
The door opened and Signora Ga
b1nl sprang to her feet, livid with
terror. She gave a scream: The
madmanw
But Gabrini, very calm, almost
smiling, said:
You did not expect me, did you,
madam? y Pray calm your
SELF however, [ am no longer mad"
He drew a long breath, then went
on: I'VE have great deal to say to
each other, SO be seated. No one can
disturb us. [ have locked the door,
Appalled,, knowing herself to be
perfectly helpless, however, she obey
ed. He continued:
Il shall be brief. You know what
difficulties I.had to contend with in
the beginning, what hand to hand
struggles [ had with poverty, and
what an immense amount of labor |
had to accomplish before | succeeded
IN working my way out of the obscur-
lty IN which | was negotiating. Not
withstanding the absorbing nature of
my occupations and studies, manag-
ed to steal as much time as possible
from them to devote to you I am
convinced that l did my duty in this
regard. But We're you appreciative
OF my efforts, grateful for the atten
ton? No. Within two years after
our marriage, not finding my devotion
sufficient, you We're encouraging ad-
mlratlon from another source. were
carrying on a Irritation"
She protested with a gesture. but
he simply went on:
30, it's useless for you to deny any
thing. | can prove the truth of nv
assertions. | have found letters. bv
chance, of course, and, anyway, it is
not necessary to go into details: suf-
flee it to say that [ know exactly what
your course has been. Harmless
limitations? Oh, no. You are natur-
ally surprised that, knowing all this, |
have maintained such an impossible
demeanor, have kept silence so long.
But what could [ do? | did not wish
my name, already growing famous, to
become a byword for the public to
scott at. as must assuredly have been
the case if my conjugal troubles were
nolsed abroad; much less did I pro
pose to furnish gossip for the news
papers. And again, | really hoped
that you might stop all this nonsense
you see what fool l was, | was
ready to forgive you, to take you back
to my heart, at the first word of re-
gret. | wanted to believe in YOU.
but twas no use. You were frivolous.
| had almost said corrupt, to the core.
Well, L had not strength of mind
enough to rise above this daily tor
ment, to shut my eyes to your con
tinuous tiirtations, | decided to put
an end to the situation once for all,
and it seemed to me that there was
but one way to accomplish this, and
that, to kill you"
Clara started from her chair with a
cry Of terror, but, seizing her by the
wrists, he forced her back to. her seat.
and with a strange light in his eyes
and his voice dry and hard he added:
Kill you. Yes, this is the idea which
has been formulating itself in my
mind for long time, but | wish to
kill you without compromising my
self IN any way. L began feigning in
anlty. Oh, concocted some kind of