The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-01-16

a "a glngs sons inning thirst that would
make one drink blood itself III naught
else were at hand. BY evening I was
drunk, drunk with carnage and also
with wine. calOed with a red mud on
face. hands and uniform. and rabid
and brutal az a maddened beast
''It was then that I came upon your
house. / recognized it instantly, this
hall which I traversed then in a
moonliphted shadow, and hear still ia
my ears the cries Of fri ghtened
women fleeing before me white as
phantoms- One of the them fell.
seized her. clasped her ia my armss 4
bore her away into another apart
ment
Drunk, drunk and maddeneds re-
peat, like a beastl
You know all my crime now mon
sieur; dispose of me as you viii. When
I read that paper. the paper that told
me every thing, i asked and obtained
a congo. j ana here All that you
command shall be done-I swear itg'
AS the German officer stammered
ont these last words, a young girl en-
tered the room hurriedly, like a child
that has been running, and stopped
short, blushing and dismayed by this
unexpected presence. Comte Mont
rozay approached her smiling al ways,
that slight. impertur ba BILE smile.
MY sister" said he, allow me to
present = your name monsieur,
plaase2'
Ch0 zimmerman" returned the
officer, turning his head abashed and
trembling.
Then, Brigitte, allow me, 7 repeat,
TO present to you 3D. Ohio zimmerman,
who has the honor to demand your
hand in marriage which have ac-
corded him -
Three days later Ohio was stin un-
able to believe IA his happiness The
comte, with the smiling courtesy of a
good humOred host had offered
hospitality.
Consider yourself ia your own
house, uy guest said he adding
genia1y. before two weeks have
gone you viii be my brother, as well,
and this chateau, I should tell you.
forms part of my sisters dot Not
word, however. not "a word to her Of
what is past. I command it. "
As for Brigitte, she smiled. too. and
when the comte had shut himself ia
his library custom every evening
she had remained alone with Otho at
the window ia the soft half-light Of
the fading day, listening, responding,
element and almost tender
A b, but she was pretty and charm
ingi Ohio began to love her deeply.
BE had forgotten everything. No it
was not true that be had forced those
doors and windows and entered one
night. all bloody and besotted, into
that peaceful dwelling and carried
away in his arms that syvooning grill
1t was a lie, a hideous tdreaml
He was betrothed as other young
men were betrothed. and he
loved her, this beautiful French
girl who was soon to be his wife and
the lghtest touch of whose little
finger filled him with tremulous &C.
stacy
He talked to her and told her all
about his own country and of the soft
myOsotis blooms that they called
ssverg Observation-Disclosures, and of the
young girls that met their lovers Tia
cemeteries in order to gather from the
tom bs the eternal flowers OF death to
guard against human forgetfulness
He read and sung to her from the
poets OF his country, and She listened
dreamily and sadly and tne hours tuat
brought nearer and nearer the longed-
for wedding day passed for both Of
them. apparently in mutual bios
soming OF tenderness.
At last it came, that wedding night,
and the marriage at the Marie was
over. also the brief ceremony that fol-
lowed It at the church. and Brigitte de
Montrozay had become Nine. Inner
man.
Ohio, his heart throbbing with joy,
was hurrying to the nuPtial chamb Der,
when suddenly on the staircase above
him a lamp flashed out a figure
stepped from the shadow and q har d
voice cried harshly:
Where are you going sir?"
1t was the comte de Montrozay.
Ohio looked at him smilingly
s'Where2" he repeated, ''to the
cham Der Of my WIFE, Of course, mon
sienr."
mo, sir, not yet" comte de Mont
rozay returned coldly, you have first
to settle with me debt postponed,
my friend, is not debt paid
And he struck Ohio a blow full ia
the face.
Alt daybreak there was duel behind
the chateau and Ohio fell, a bali in his
brain.
There was none to ask questions
and no one to find fault. The mar
riage and the quarrel had been equally
quiet An alleged quarrel over the
wine cups was certainly reason
enough for the disappearance of
single German officer in the enemy's
country. Now the peasants who / a.
Dor on the Montrozay grounds and
the vagabonds of the roads often SEQ
through the bars Of the gate Nine.
Ohio zimmerman, a young widow
whose mourning garments are still
new smiling and dancing fla the sum
light white and rosy babe whose
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