The Portland daily press., 1894-04-23

it came. She was brought In nfeiesS.
She had fallen dead while walking in the
garden. Physicians came In haste, but
nothing could be done She was gone.
For two days and two nights l watched
beside her myself, and with my own hands
placed her in her coffin, which followed
to the cemetery and saw placed in the fam
lily vault This was in the country, in the
province of Lorraine.
ut had been my wish, too, that she
should be buried in her jewels, bracelets,
necklace and rings-al1 presents that had
given her-and in her first ball dress You
can imagine, SIR the state Of my heart in
returning home. She was all that had
left. NY wife had been dead for many
years. I returned, in truth, half mad,
shut myself alone in my room and fell in
to nv chair dazed, unable to move-mere-
" a miserable, breathing wreck.
"Soon my old valet, Prosper, who had
helped me place Juliette in her coffin and
lay her away for her last sleep, came in
noiselessly to see if he could not induce me
to eat. Ishook my head, answering moth
ing. He persisted:
. Monsieur is wrong. This will make
him i'll. Will monsieur allow me, then,
to put him to bed?'
"'No, no. answered. Let me alone
"He yielded and withdrew.
ssHow many hours passed I do not know.
What a night What night 1t was very
cold. My fire of logs had long since burned
out in the great fireplace, and the wind
a wintry blast, charged with an icy frost
-howled and screamed about the house
and strained at my windows witk Curl
ously sinister sound
Long hours, say, rolled by. sat still
where had fallen, Frustrated, overwhelm.
ed; my eyes wide open, but my body
rengthless-dead; my soul drowned in
despair. Suddenly the great bell gave
loud peal
II gave such leap that my chain
cracked under me- The slow, solemn
sound rang through the empty house.
looked at the clock. 1t was in the morn
ing. Who could be coming at such an hourf
ssTwice again the bell pulled sharply.
The servants would never answer-per-
haps never heard it. I took up candle
and made my way to the door. was
about to demand:
"sWho is there9' but, ashamed of the
weakness, nerved myself and drew back
the bolts. My heart throbbed, my pulse
beat threw back the panel brusquely
and there in the darkness saw a shape
like phantom, dressed in white
1T recoiled, speechless with anguish,
stammering:
tWho-who are your
ga voice answered.
1T is l. father.
tsIt was my child-Juliette.
ssTruly 1 thought myself mad. shud.
dered. shrinking backward before the spec
ter as it advanced, gesticulating with my
hand to ward off the apparition. 1t is thai
gesture which has never left me.
''Again the phantom spoke:
FEATHER, father! See, T am not dead.
Some one came to rob me of my jewels
they cut off my finger-the-the flowing
blood revived me.
"And saw then that she was covered
with blood. I fell to my knees, painting,
sobbing, laughing, all in one. AS soon as
I regained my senses, but still so bewil-
dered l scarcely comprehended the happl-
ness that had come to me, took her IL
my arms, carried her to my room and rang
frantically for Prosper to rekindle the fire,
bring a warm drink for her and go for the
doctor.
HE came running, entered, gazed a
moment at my daughter in the chair, gave
a gasp of fright and horror and fell back
dead
sit was he who had opened the vault,
who had wounded and robbed my child
and then abandoned her, for he could not
efface all trace of his deed, and he had not
even taken the trouble to return the coffin
to it's niche, sure, besides, of not being
suspected by me, who trusted him Sc fully.
We are truly very unfortunate people,
monsieur.
He was silent.
Meanwhile night had come on, envelop.
ing in the gloom the still and solitary lit
tie valley. A sort of mysterious dread
seemed to fall upon me in presence of these
strange beings-this corpse come to Life
and this father with his painful gestures.
"Let us return, said I; "the night has
grown chill.
And still in silence we retraced our
steps back to the hotel, and shortly after
ward returned to the city. I lost all fur
ther knowledge Of the two peculiar visit
ors to my favorite summer resort.-Guy
de Maupassant.