Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1896-10-10
THE
PICTURE OF DORIAN CRAY.
br q WILDE.

When the sound of their footsteps had
died away, Dorian locked the door, and put
the key In his pocket. He felt safe now.
No one would ever look on the horrible
thing. No eye but his would ever see his
shame.
On reaching the library he found that II
was Just after Ave o'clock, and that the tea
had been already brought up. On q little
table of dark, perfumed wood thickly in
crusted with nacre, D present from his
guardians wife, Lady Radley, who had
spent the preceding winter In Cairo, was
lying a note from Lord Henry. and beside
II was a book bound IA yellow paper. the
cover slightly torn and the edges soiled. 4
copy Of the third edition OF the -. .Jnmes's
Gazette had been placed on tho tea-tray. IL
was evident that Victor had returned. tie
wondered IL he had met the mon in the hall
as the" were leaving the house and had
wormcd out Of them what thcy had been do
Ing. He would hc sure to miss tho picture
had no doubt missed it already. while he
had been laying tho ,ca-thiEgs. The screen
had not boon replaced. and tho blank space
On the wall was visible. Perhaps some
night he might find him creeping upstairs
aud trying to forco,thc door Of the room. IL
was a horrible thing 10 have a spy in ones
house. He had heard OF rich mon who had
been blackmailcd all their lives by some
servant who had read a letter. or overheard
q conversation, or picked up a card with an
address, or found beneath a pillow "A
withered flower on u bit Of ~crumpled lace.
He sighed, and, having poured himself
out some tea, oFcned Lord Hcnr;'s note.
II was simply to say that he sent him round
| the ayppiuU YtpIats aud "A boolf that migEf
interest him, and that he would be at the club
ut eight fifteen. He opened tho st. James's'
ianguidly. aud looked languidly through IL,
A red p~oncil-mark on the fifth page caught
his eye. He read the following paragraph:
INQUEST on ~ ACTRESS An Inquest war
held this morning AT the IIeil Tavern. HOxtou
Road. hy Mr.. Dainty, the district coroner, on
the body If Sibyl Vanc. IA yanug actress re-
Gently CnRuECc ut the Royal Thcater. HOlborn.
A verdict OF death by misadycnturc WAS re-.
turned. Considerable sympathy was expressed
for the mother OF the deceased, who was great.
~ affected during the giving OF her own cvi-
deDce. and that OK DR.. Birrel. who hid made
pust-mOrtem examination OF the deceased"
He frowned slightly, and tearing the
paper in two, went across the room
and flung the pieces into a gilt basket. How
ugly it was And how horribly roai ugliness
made things. He felt a little annoyed with
Lord Henry for having sent him the account.
And IL was certainly stupid Of him to have
marked it with "a red pencil. Victor might
have read 1t. The man knew more than
enough English for that.
Perhaps he had read il. and had begun TO
suspect something. And, yet, what did il
matterl What had Dorian Gray TO do with
Sibyl Vane's death There was nothing to
fear. Dorian Gray had not killed her.
His eye fell on the yellow book that Lord
Henry had sent him. What was it, he won.
dered. He went toward the little pearl
colored octagonal stand, that had always
looked 10 him like the work of some strange
Egyptian bees who wrought IN silver and
took the volume up. He flung himself into
an armchair, and began TO turn over the
leaves. After a few minutes, he became
absorbed II was the strangest book he had
ever read. IL seemed to him that in ex-
quisite raimcnt, and TO the delicate sound Of
flutes, the sins Of the world were passing in
dumb show before him. Things that be had
dimly dreamed Of were suddenly made real
10 him. Things Of which he had never
dreamed were gradually revealed.
IL was a novel without "A plot, and with
only one character, being. indeed. simply a
psychological study of a certain young
Partisan, who spent his life trying To realize
In the nineteenth century all the passions
and modes Of thought that belonged 10 every
century except his own. and TO sum up, as
IL We're, In himself the various moods
through which the world-spirit had evel
passed, loving for their mere artiiiciality
those renunciations that men have unwisely
called virtue, as much as those natural re-
~eyr0 "n
curious ieweled style, vivid and obscure at
once, full Of drpOt and of archaisms, OF
technical expressions and OF elaborate para
phrases, that characterizes the work of some
OF the finest artists of the French school OF
Deeddents. There were in IL metaphors as
monstrous as orchids, and as evil in color.
The life Of the senses was described In the
terms Of mystical philosophy. One hardly
knew at times whether one was reading the
spiritual ecstasies Of some mediaval saint
or the morbid confessions OF "A modern sin
ner. II was a poisonous book. The heavy
odor Of incense seemed TO cling about its
pages and TO trouble the brain. The mere
cadence Of the sentences, the subtle monot-
ony Of their music, so full as II was of COM
pick ~refrains and movements deliberately re-
peated, produced in the mind of the lad, as
he passed from chapter TO chapter, a form
of ~reverie, a malady Of dreaming that made
him unconscious of the falling day and the
creeping shadows.
Cloudless and pierced by one solitary star,
q copper-green sky cleaned through the
windows. He read ON by its wan light
till he could read no more. Then after his
valet had reminded him several times Of the
l~ateness Of the hour. he got up, and, going
into the next room. placed the book on the
little Florentine table that always stood at
his bedside, and began to dress for dinner.
1t was lmost nine O'Clock before he
reached the club, where he found Lord
Henry sitting alone, In the ~morning-room,
looking very bored.
~ am SO sorry. Harry" he cried, ''but
really it is entirely your fault. That book
you sent me so fascinated me tina l forgot
what the time was"
~ thought you would like it." replied his
host, rising from his chair.
II didn'ts say / liked it, Harry. l said it
fascinated me. There is a great difference"
"Ah, If you have discovered that, you have
discovered a great deal" murmured Lord
Henry, with his curious smile. Come, let
US go In to dinner. II is ~dreadfully late,
and 1 am afraid the champagne will be too
much iced"