Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-05-01

ma ngurcd. disiEcH unc nus,nsna a.
first sight-A great coarse brute, who talk.
cd 10 her ns II sho were "a disobcdiont dog
and whom ! put down as bcing bully
and drnnkard.
We were not chcery party that night.
She talked the talk Of TINT world Of society
that two years Of misery had put back ints
an infinite past, but 1 noticed TINT her
eyes took In every detail Of curtains aud
furniture and ornaments. lie helped him.
self most literally 10 the whisky bottle
and talked little but that little generally
took the form of some insult 10 his wife
Later on she asked me about A1z Kahn,
who waited on us with grim statclincss
and / told her his story; how by n lucky
shot saved him when bo was In bears
embrace, with the bruto's breath hot In
his face, and how since then he had re.
nounced everything, his loved hills and
clanship and relations to follow me through
good and evil fortune M my servant
Finding she was Interested, talked on
and told them some OF the border tales of
revenge and blood that the Afrldi had told
me over the fire on our Shikah expeditions;
how ready border mans hand Is TO strike
when his chief orders; how little they val
ue n life whether IL bc theirs or another's
and TO all this she listened eagerly.
The morose husband thawcd under the
great doses Of whisky, and he told me how
the doctors had forbidden him to 90 home
TO England and how hc was wandering
over the unbeaten tracks in the noun
tains, taking his wife with him "just TO
show her what roughing means" until the
weather became passably cool In ,he plains.
She went to their room immct .tcly aft
er dinner, but he sat up for anot pr couple
of hours Dragging about most things in
this world and furnishing tho whisky bot
tie to such extent that when Mt midnight
he rose to go ne staggered about, and
had to help him to his door.
1t was glorious night. The moon, half
way up the sky flooded the broad veranda
there with golden light; the oak and rho.
dodcndrons, the great hill across the river
were picked oukin vivid light and shade,
and the village doors made points Of bril-
liancy in the darkness OF the gorge. i
stood against the post Of the veranda, my
brain in whirl with present surprise and
burning memories / tried to think of
what this fresh turn Of the wheel that
brought her under my roof might mean
to me. Munda Devi the great sacred
mountain, showed it's mass of snow hang
ing as 1t seemed in the sky, and in my
feverish helplessness In the battle against
fate felt q longing to pray to 1t for some
of its everlasting strength and endurance.
"Gcorgep' whispered soft voice behind
me, and / turned to find her standing at
my elbow.
She had put OH n dressing gown sort OF
thing, all silk and lace, and the moonlight
caught the ivory smoothness Of her arms
and bosom.
"Gcorgev' she said again and held out
her two hands to me.
Then the fire in my brain leaped to a
sudden blaze, and all that knew was that
was holding her again once more, tight
clasped in the hollow Of my arms.
II never loved any one but you'll" she
said she looked up into my eyes, aud
then she told me how her husband ill
treated her, cursed her and when drunk
beat her, and on the delicate arms that
were round my neck could see the purple
welts where his heavy stick had struck
her.
"Do you love me In spite Of all?' she
asked, and i, being fool told her that /
was ready to die for her.
Then for time she kept silent, only
nestling closer and closer to my breast.
At last she spoke in a whisper, which
l.
from him, i could marry you. shall be
q rich woman"
Her brain worked quicker than mine
and didn't understand what she was
asking of me.
1T would be so easy" she whispered,
"and we should be so happy'-and then
what she meant began to dawn on me,
and loosened my clasp, though she only
twincd her arms more closely. If an acci-
dent were to happen to him now, while he
is drunk, no one would be any the wiser,
and you can arust your man"
Then the fire in my brain died out.
/ shook her free and stepped back q
dozen PAGES from her, for knew that she
was asking me to murder or have murder
ed the drunken man, my guest, her hus-
band, who lay helpless in the next room.
"You daren't'' she said, with sudden
rage, and as j spoke to her she stood like
a statue, but with the glow Of desperate
anger in her eyes.
What l said don't exactly know, but
sho understood me, and with q whispered
"cowardly fooP' she slipped back into the
darkness Of the room.
walked all that night and the early
morning about tho estate, and they had
left before / came back to the house. They
went down by the other road, and never
saw either of them again.
Was there a sequelp
Yes
received tho next summer through the
mail newspaper cutting telling how the
two were riding along n hillpath in Cash
mere in front of all their servants; how
his pony must have SHE'D, and how he and
the pony were found pounded to n jelly
thousand feet down the klud and the par
Rgraph finished by saying how the widow,
who had viewed the tragedy, was to be
piticd.
In tho envelope besides the cutting was:
A tiny white feather.
She died two years ago after having
made ducks and brakes with the mans