The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1896-12-24
ace to face with Veda, the intended

ouc only pduaeu HfuLneHb 10 press u
kiss upon my hand; then she slipped
through gap in the wall andwas gone,
Thatwas the last had seen of her,
To my inquiries regarding herwhere-
abouts | received no information, cX-
eepting a bit of her past history which
told me that she had belonged to a
wealthy and influential family, and
that she had received finished educa-
tion. But reverses had come; her ia
ther had fallen a victim to q dreadful
vendetta, and she had finally been left
a penniless orphan,
l was deeply interested in her, but
no one could give me the slightest clew
as to whittier she haa,hed.
Still i had fingered about the places
| used to see her. Was / in love with
the little Corsican beauty?
Her face would come before my men
tai vision asleep or waking, bringing
sweet sensation l had never before
experienced; and yet tried to dismiss
her from my mind.
/ sat smoking for some hours upon
the deck of the Penguin, watching the
yellow lights dancing in the romantic
little city, and drinking in the fresh,
sweet air of the night that stole up
from the Mediterranean.
It was about Ii o'clock when
stretched myself upon the cot which
Muggins had placed upon the deck. l
fell asleep soon after, and dreamed of
Muggins' ghost
1t seemed that some strange pres
ence came to me--a woman, beautiful
beyond any dream; and just as |
reached out to touch her she vanished,
leaving only faint odor of some
strange sweet perfume. awoke sud-
denly with that inexplicable sensation
that sometimes tells US of the unseen
presence of another,
sat up and looked about me in
vague bewilderment. The moon had
risen out Of the sea and was flooding
the deck with its mellow radiance.
AS my mind grew more composed ]
detected subtle perfume on the night
air, the same that had come to me in
my dream.
Was it only the effect of my imagina-
ton? No; there could be no mistake
as to it's reality. Something white lay
at my feet; picked it up; it was del
icate piece Of lace embroidered linen,
and exhaled the breath of perfume that
had before greeted my senses.
While / stood bewildered at the amaz-
ing circumstance, ! pere. ived white
form emerge from the hatchway and
move forward, with slow, gliding
movement.
stood immovable, watching the fig
ure as it came toward me. AS it drew
near, / perceived that it was a girl, and
as the moonbeams fell on the pale face
I recognized it as belonging to Ved2
Dorlos, the little fruit seller.
Her eyes were wide open, and staring
vacantly ahead in way peculiar to
the somnambulist. She was a sleep
walker! The thought came to me like
flash. Yet, whatco account forhe
presence aboard the PenguinP
Without attempting to answer the
ruzzling question, started toward the
figure, but as | dill so, the sound of
something lilSethe dropping OF an oar
i'll a boat came from over the port Then
a moment later the dark figure Of
woman-the same Ihad seenmakingthe
assault on uit-seller-slipped
noiselessly over the rail. She paused for
a moment to glance about the ship,
then, with cry of rage that might
have proceeded from some wild ami
NAL in deadly combat, she leaped upon
the unconscious girl, the blade of a
long knife glinting in the rays of the
moon. Reused to action by the sight of
tile murderous intruder, l leaped
quickly forward, and, before the knife
descended to do its deadly work, l
caught the hand that held it.
But if reckoned on an easy victory
in subduing my adversary, ! soon dis
covered my mistake, for the woman,
though aged to all appearances, seemed
to possess the strength of the strongest !
man, and, finding herself foiled in her
murderous attempt she turned upon
me with the fierceness of panther
Coming Unexpectedly as the attack did,
it caught nc off my guard, and before
/ realized my peril, the hand that held
the knife was wrenchetl from my grasp;
then there was swift blow, keen
pain in my shoulder as the blade en-
tered; then a mist gathered before my
eyes, and / sank unconscious upon the
deck.
When my senses returned it was
broad daylight, and | was lying on a
cot in Muggins' cabin, the beautiful but
troubled face Of Veda bending over me.
1t was about a week before / was
able to get ashore, and, though I had a
trained nurse from Bastia, Veda re-
fused to leave me entirely in the hands
of another,
Well, in that week | had learned to
love the little Corsican beauty with
such an intense devotion that could
not bear the thought of separation.