Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1896-09-03

| AAC lives, UuL HIS uOuTS uTdW 10 CIOSce
Had you not come now you would not
have found him alive
/ LET me see him at once"
Come. His mother is with him.
| He followed the Cure into a room
sparsely furnished, and of unpublished
pine wood; room on which there was no
carpet and but little furniture; and there
he saw the dying form of Philip Smer-
| don.
! kneeling by the bedside, and praying
while she sobbed bitterly, was a lady
whom Lor-~@~enlyn knew to be Smerdon's
mother
She rose at his entrance, and brushed
the tears from her eyes
'Your friend has come, Philip" she
said
A light came into his eyes as he saw
Penlyn standing before him, and then in
hollow voice he asked her to leave them
alone.
II have something to say to him." he
said, land the time is Short
Yes he said when she was gone, and
| speaking family in answer to Penlyn,
who said he had come as quickly as pos
sible, "yes, l know it. I expected you.
And now that you are here can you bring
| JOuASSiA " say tudt you lOISlFe Iue =!
For one moment the other hesitated,
then he said: II forgive you. May heav-
en- do so likewise"
"Ah! that is tit is that that makes
death terrible! But listen! I must speak
at once. have but short time more.
This is my last hour, feel it, know it!'
do not distress yourself with speak
ing. Do not think of it now"
| S1NOt think Of ~ Whom hovo r ovor
forgotten it! Come closer, listen!
thought he had come between you and
Miss Raughton forever. I never dreamed
of the magnanimity he showed in that let
ter. Then l determined to kill him-I
thought / could do it without it being
known. I did not go to the Chase on
that morning, but, instead, tracked him
from one place to another, disguised in
suit Of workman's clothes that had
| bought some time ago for fancy dress
| ball. [ thought he would never leave mis-
club that night; but at last he came out,
and then-then! 1 grow weaker!-I did
| it,
Penlyn buried his head in his hands as
he listened to this recital, and once he
made sign as though begging Smerdon
to stop, but he did not heed him.
| Alu WILL iAC u uuSScI UOuSHC dL
Tunis, long, sharp knife of the kind used
by the Arabs, and I loosened it from it's
sheath as we entered the park, he walk
ing few steps ahead Of me, and, evil
IDENTIFY, thinking deeply. Between the
lamps l quickened my pace and passed
him, and then, turning round suddenly,
1 seized him by the coat and stabbed him
to the heart. 1t was but the work of
moment and he fell instantly, exclaiming
only as he did so, Murderer! Then to
give it the appearance Of a murder COM
mitted for theft, stopped over him and
wrenched his watch away, and as took
! it / saw that he was dead. The watch
is at Occleve Chase, in the lowest drawer
of my writing desk"
'"Tell me no MORE" Penlyn said, "tell
me no more"
''There is no more-only this, that l
am glad to die. My life has been a curse
since that day, am thankful it is at an
end. Had Guffanta not hurled me on to
the glacier below, I think I must have
taken it with my own hands,"
'Guffantaw Penlyn exclaimed, "is it he
then who has done this!"
sit is he! He followed me from Eng
land herein some strange way he was
witness to the murder-we met upon
the pass and fought, he taxing me with
being a murderer and thief, and-and-
ah; this is the end!
His eyes closed, and Penlyn saw that
his last moment was at hand.
He called gently to Mrs. Smerdon, and
she came in and, throwing herself by the
side of the bed, took his hand and kissed
it as she wept.
The Cure entered at the same time and
bent over him, and taking the crucihx
from his side, held it up before his eyes.
Once they were fixed upon Penlyn with
an imploring glance, and once they rest
ed on his mother, and then they closed
| forever.
HE is deadv' the priest said, ''let us
pray for the repose Of his SOUL
1t was few days afterward that Ida
Raughton, when walking up and down
the paths at Belmont, heard the sound Of
carriage wheels in the road outside, and
knew that her lover was coming back to
her.
He had written from Switzerland say
ing that Smerdon was dead, and that he
should wait to see him buried in the
churchyard of st. hristoph-where many
other English lay who had persisted In
the mountains-and he had that morning
telegraphed from Paris to tell her that he
was coming by the mail, and should be
with her in the evening.
She walked swiftly to the house to
meet him, but before she could reach it
he had come through the French windows
of the morning room, and advanced to-
wards her.
'You have heard that he is dead Ida 2"
he said, when he had kissed her. "It only
remains for me to tell you that he died
penitent and regretting his crime. 1t had
weighed heavily upon him, and he was
glad to go"
'And you forgave him, Gervase" she
asked.
Eyes. I forgave him. I could not but
| remember-as saw him stretched there
crushed and dying-that, though he had
robbed me of brother whom must have
come to love, he had sinned for me. Yes
if forgiveness belonged to me, 1 forgaye
him."
Until we meet that brother in another
world. Gervase, we have nothing but his
memory to cherish. We must never for
get his noble character
1T shall be my constant thought" Pen
! .hcx