Evening star., 1895-04-27

Found Her There When L Entered.
my head to see who 1t was. I supposed.
however. that it was Capt. Charles Mar
shall, an officer of the United States army,
and the accepted suitor of my uncles
daughter
My feeling for Marshall was not cordial.
I would have much preferred to see Mar
garet engaged to Horace Preble, whom
liked exceedingly. Two years before had
believed that they would make a match;
but my uncles influence had turned the
scale in favor of Marshall. l say this on
my own authority, and as an expression of
my belief al the time. The accepted theory,
however, was that Preble's loss of his small
fortune. through the dishonesty of trus-
tee, had caused him to withdraw from the
contest. / had seen comparatively little of
him since. though recently had begun to
meet him in society, where. being of good
family and remarkably attractive appear
ance, he was favorite, despite his utter
lack of interest in the gayeties Of that
world.
cal soldier. The idea of Margaret's mar
riage to hir1 suggested an Incarceration in
q military prison.
A few minutes after the steps which I
took to be Marshal's passed me l sudden
ly remembered that the general had asked
me to confer with him upon matter Of
business that afternoon knew that
should find him at that hour in the Long
Room" as it was called, an apartment ex-
tending the full length of one side Of the
house. This somewhat unusual feature
had been added to the house, considerably
to the detriment of its external appear
ance, by the generals orders. He made
1t his parade ground in bad weather. and
there he used to march up and down, at
tended by many a soldiers wrath, sum-
moned by his old commander from grave
in the south. The furnishings of the room
were as peculiar as its dimensions. AT one
end was the generals desk, where he wrote
his letters. There was also an easy chair
for reading. and some small, revolving
the appearance of a conservatory; and mid
way was couch with cushions. work
basket, with colored woods. and other indl-
cations that Margaret often kept her father
company in the Long Room.
l found her there. She lay on the couch
fast asleep. 1 stood by her side, looking
down upon her beautiful face and she did
not know. The general, at his desk, had
not moved at the sound of my coming. Inc
somnolency of the summers day seemed to
hold them both.
and walked her. She did not start. but only
opered her brown eyes and looked up at
me with instant recognition. Before either
of us spoke, Mrs. Holiday appeared IN q
doorway, and said:
Capt. Marshall is here"
1 was looking straight into Margaret's
face when the mans name was mentioned
and somehow I got an impression that
there might be hope for Preble yet.
The girl followed her mother to another
part of the house, and walked to the gen.
erals side. He was bent over ms desk. ano
his head rested upon his hands. 1 spoke
and he did not move. 1 laid my hand upon
his shoulder. My touch disturbed the equi.
poise of his body. 1t slowly, heavily slid
from the chair and fell to the floor. where
1t lay face upward.
A single glance at that face showed mt
that Gen. Holiday was dead.
am not one of those who tremble in the
presence OF death. The dominant senti
ment of my heart, as l knelt beside this
lifeless form, was poignant grief for tht
loss of one whom 1 had loved and rever
enced many years.
But when, after a moment, I saw blood
uron him and upon the floor where he hae
fallen and mitch more beneath the desk.
was alarmed and cried out for help. Ste
phen Hanley, my uncle's butler, ran int
the room by the door close to where
stood beside the corpse. He was the only