Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1895-09-27

gr1eI. linen L thought that 1 would
make her last hours happy. Her family,
which she loved SO much, of which she
was SO proud, would bring to her bed
side. Without saying anything to her,
I wrote first to her sister at st. Ger
main and went myself to the grand
rabbi, her uncle. When I arrived at
his house, I was ushered into an ante
chamber, and soon the grand rabbi came
to receive me.
"There are moments, SIR" began,
"when hatred ought to be forgotten.
He looked at me in establishment. l
went on:
"Your niece is dying''
''My niece! have no niece! You
are mistaken. -
81 beg of you, sir, to forget that fool
ish quarrel. I speak of Nine. Deloche,
the wife of Captain y
81 do not know Mme Deloche. You
are mistaken, my child, I assure you -
And kindly he pushed me toward the
door, taking me for lunatic or fool.
may have looked SO, indeed. What
I had heard was SO terrible, so unex-
pected. She had lied, then But why?
Suddenly an idea struck me. I would
go to the address of one of her pupils,
Of whom she was always talking, the
daughter of we'll known banker.
"Mme Deloche,' - began to the serv-
ant.
"She does not live here
eyes; I know that. She is the lady
who gives piano lessons to the young
ladies. -
"There are no young ladies in the
house-not even a piano. do not know
what you mean,' and she closed the
door in my face.
went no farther. I was sure of re-
ceiving the same answer everywhere
Returning to our poor little home, a let
ter was handed me, postmarked st.
German. I opened it, knowing already
what its contents were. The general did
not know Mime. Deloche He had, more
over, neither wife nor child.
This was the last blow. So for five
years every wcrd she had uttered had
been lie. A thousand jealous thoughts
seized ME, and foolishly, not knowing
what did, I ran to the room where she
lay dying. All the questions which tor
mented me poured from my lips in
torrent Of words. "What did you go to
st. German every Sunday for? At
whose house have you passed your days?
Where did you stay that night? Come,
answer me!' And caught hold of her,
searching through her eyes into the
depths of her soul But she remained
mute-passive.
was trembling with rage. "You
never gave lessons! I have been every
where. No one knows you. Come,
where did you get the money, those
laces, those jewels?''
She gave me one long, sad look, and
that was all. IshouId have spared her,
I should have allowed her to die in
peace. But I loved her too much.
jealousy was stronger than pity.
"You have deceived me for five
years, I went on. "You have lied to
me every day, every hour. You know
all my life, and I know absolutely
nothing Of yours. Nothing-not even
your name! Because it is not yours,
this name that you bear. Oh, liar,
liar!''
She was dying, and I not to know
what name to call her! "Come, now,
who are you? Where did you come
from? Why did you come into my life?
Speak! Tell me something's
Instead of replying she turned her
face to the wall, as if she feared that
her last look would give up her secret
And thus she died-died without
divulging her secret, liar to the end
Translated For Argonaut From the
French of Alphonse Daudet.