Orange County observer., 1894-11-10

which | Tel. towarl Looanos
Behold, you people Of inasiaa-
ton, crlei the prince. ''toa we're
charmed for an Instant. by this wo-E
mans voice, ani voI feel d postha-
nous love for her, aud Retrospective
jealousy OF my poor tr.enl. | own 10
you that | have always thought Basil
more sensual than sensible man,
more passionate THAI tender; but |
have seen hin since poor Ila's death.
and he Is prey, | assure yon, to the
most horrible aud sincere despair.
When | expressed my sympathy TO
him. he cast himself IN my arms, AMI
repeated to me, rs he wcpt on my
shoulder, that he ccs,lt liv, no longer
And it was not pretence He goes at
once to Senegal. to join the JACK on
mlssloD, party Of explorers, who
will Ibnry themselves, psoaabi: for.
ever, IN frightful Africa That Is not
common. you viii own. 1t Is 10 be
feared that fever or cholera, or shot
rom the gna Of a savage. Will end the
poor boys life aud sorrows. ake
back, | beg you, Your rash and pre-
mature judgment upon him. Besides,
be hal before his departure an idea
which shonli certainly seem affecting
to you. That pavilion, where he has
been So happy and SO unhappy, be-
longs u II. Well, be has closed it
forever. Basil wishes that no living
being shonll ever again penetrate
that abode Of love and sorrow. You
can pass there now, and ses the
house fall into ruin, and on the day
when they put a notice upon it, on
that day You can say, Basil Lobanof
is dead :"
left the prince, and the next dav.
rsproachlng myself for my injustice,
! | went to see the deserted house. The
shutters were closed; tho dead leaves
Of the great plane tree, half-bare lit
was the end of autnmn), covered the
grass Of the lawn Weeds forced their
way through the gravelled walk. the
work Of destruction had begun.
Months passed year then anoth-
er; then the dnily papers were full of
the great anxiety felt over the fate of
Jackson and his companions, from
whom no news had come You know
that even to-day the world is ignorant
Of the fate Of those brave explorers.
living always in the same vicinity
and passns every day before the
abandoned pavilion, I say it decay,
little by little. The rain Of two win
tiers had lashed constantly the plaster
Of the facade and covered it with d
damp mould. Then the=slate roof was
damaged by wind md rain storms.
Dampness attacked everything. Liz
ards summed themselves on the wall i;
the balcony was loosened: the roof
bent.g The appearance OF the poor
house became !ameatable. As for
the gsrien, it mad returned
! quickly to its savage state. The
| flowers were not cultivated; the rose
bushes were untrinmed, and had only
| lenvcs and branches; the seraplums
| were dead. The grass had long since
disappeared under the dead hay, and
the high stalks Of the weeds were dis.
dainel even by the butterflies. Moth.
ing grew there but thistles and the
1
Year rolled on. It was now i'm
| possible to hope for the return Of the
jackson party. Evidently those in.
trepll pioneers hal succumbed te
hunger AMI thirst in some horribl,
desert or been massacred by the say
ages, and Count Basil Lobanof wa
dead with them, faithful to his Stol
berg. The deserted house had fallel
absolutely into ruins. The great tre,
which was near the house. and who's
foliage was no longer kept in chcc;. j.
trimming, haa thrust Que os Its In
mense branches through the window
The shutters had fallen off, and th
tree hal pushed its way into the III
terror Of the disembowelled house
There might be mushrooms with
ar. even grass growing on the ftoo
OF the salon Each time / passed be
fore the old ruin which hal come I
to the last stages OF decay. | Thought
abandoning myself to romantic rex
ery,-Itlls is better that It should Il
so. II the y had heard Of tho conn
death, the heirs no doubt would hlr
caused steps to be taken at once for i
restoration. Ther would have broke
it open brutallv, and let IN the garis
light of dav, to desecrate those ha
lowed associations OF love AID sorroT
Basil Lobanos has t:oue we'll 10 dissl
pear, AMI nature lovingly desire,
slowly his old love nest. AMI keeps
from prefanatlon.