Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1894-10-26

thought it only natural he shouid De
pained at so sudden catastrophe ana
that his conscience should be di>tufbedj
but they were astonished when this i'm
preston prolonged itself from day to
dav, until it took the appearance Oh
lasting sentiment.
They began to believe that there had
arisen between Cora aud himself, proba-
blv occasioned 10y the Senator's death
some quarrel which had weakened the tie
between them.
trip TO New York, which he made
some two weeks after his arrival, WAS 10
them a confrmat on of the ruth they be-
fore suspected, but his prompt return,
his new tastes, which kept him at koX-
bury for some time, seemed TO them
favorable impressions.
He was singularly d and pensive. lie
took long walks alone. Sometimes he
carried his littlo son with him, as tEongh
by chance. He sometime attempted
little timid tenderness With his wife; and
this awkwardness on his part was qul'e
touching.
Flo" he said 10 her one dly, you are
O. fairy; wave your wand over this place
and make of it an island in mid-ocean.
You say that because you know how to
swim, she rojoined, laughing and shak-
ing her head; but the heat Of the young
woman was joyful.
You embrace me now every moment,
nv de ar child" said her mother to her.
is this re lly all intended for me?"
"Mv beloved mother embracing
her acain-"I assure you he is really
counting me acain. Why | am ignorant;
but he is counting me and you also, my
mother. Notice it..
Mrs. Leland did notice it. In his CON
versation with her, Eugene seemed TO
wish to link all that was good in the raSt
with his new life: TO forget the rest, an
pray of them TO forget 1t also.
1t was not without fear that these two
charming women abandoned themselves
to their hopes. They rememb red that
they were in the presence OF an uncertain
person; they little trusted change so
sudden, the reason of which they could
rot comprehend. They feared IL was
some passing caprice, which would re-
turn TO them, if they were its dupe', all
the I misfortunes, without the dignity
which had hitherto attende them.
They were not the only ones struck by
this transformation. Mr. Norton ana all
his friends noticed it. Even the mani
mate thinos-the woods. the trees, the
heavens-should have borne the same
testimony, for he looked at and studied
them with q benevolent cuIlos ty with
which he had never before honored item
Tn truth. a profound trouble had in
vadel him and would not leave him.
More than once, before this epoch, his
sonI his philosophy, his pride, had re-
ceiyed rude shock, but he had no less
pursued his path, rising after every blow,
like lion wounded, but uucOnquered.
In tramplng under his feet all moral
belief which binds the vulgar, he had re-
served honor like an inviolahle limit.
Then, under the empire of his passion,
he said 10 himself that, after all, honor,
like all the rest, was conventional. Then
he cn~ouutt red crime-he touche 1t
with his hand--hOrTor seized him, and he
recOiled.
He repulsei with disgust the principle
which had conducted him there-asNed
himself what would become OF human
society if it hadno other.
The simple truths which he had misun-
derstood now appeared to him in their
| tranmil splendor. lie did not yet dis
tinguish them clearly; he did not try to
! give them a name, but he pIung with
secret delight into their shadows and
their peace. He asked fer them IN the
pure heart of his child, in the pure love
! Of his Young wife, in the daily miracles
of nature, in the harmonies Of the heay-
ems, aud probably already-ln the depths
/ of his thoughts-of God.
In the midst of this approach toward
new life he hest ated.
Cora EllistOn was there.
He loved her yet vaguely. Above all.
he could not abandon Ter without KIND
of baseness.
Terrible struggles egitated him.
After having done SO much evil, Woulo
it be permitted him TO do good and grace
fully partake ofthe JOYS he forosaw?
These tbs with the past, his fortune
acquired through his uncle, his fatal mis-
tress- the specter Of that old man-would
they permit 1t?
And we may add, woull Providence
suffer it? Not that We would wish lightly
10 use. as is often done, this word Profi
dence. and to suspend over Eu enc Clc'e'
land this menace Of supernatural chas-
tisement.
Providence does not intervene Ill hui
man events except through the logic o.
her eternal laws. She has only the sane
tion of these laws, aud it is for this rel-
son she is feared
At the end Of the month Eugene re
turned 10 New York and TO his counting
/ room.
Business over Tor the day, before re-
turning home, he paid visit to Cora
He had neglected her little OF late; IL
fact. had only visited her at long inter
walls, as politeness compelled him.
Cora wished to keep him for dinner' Of
she had no guests with her. She presses
him so warmly that, blaming himself al
the time, he consented. lie never sa"
her without pain.
She ALWAYS brought back to him those
terrible memories, but also that terrible
intoXication.
She was never more beautiful. He
deep mourning embellished yet more ne
languisbing and regal grace; 1t maze 1el
pale complexion yet more far, ana
frightened the brilliancy of her look.
She had the air Of tragic queen, or o
an allegory Of night.
In the evening an hour arrived wheI
the reserve, which for some time haE
marked their relations, was forgotten
Eugene found himself as In oiden times
at the foot of Cora-his eyes in hers, am
I covering WIN hlbb6S bCl lO' ~ A-"A'N''
She was strange that evening.
She looked at him with wild tender
ness, instiling. at pleasure, into his veins
the poison of burning passion; then e'
Gaping him. the tears gathered IN hel
eyes.
All at once, by one of those magica
movements of hers, she enveloped will
her hands the head Of her lover, and SPOKE
! L. Ln,,onth the Eh dow O