The herald., 1897-04-04
THE BELLS
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Irving was playing Matthias.


The house was crowded and that sub
tie magnetism that fills all great build
ings packed with human beings was
heavy in the atmosphere. The scent
of flowers and the odor of perfumes
pervaded the place.
A man and woman were seated In the
center of the dress circle, he fine of build,
noble of proportion, splendid of carriage,
with a strong, secretive face. She slcn-
der, yet rounded, firm of throat and
bearing herself proudly; a woman beau
tiful and fit mate for the man beside
her.
The master artist of the play, who
knows the potentialities and possihili-
ties of stage-craft better than any other
man, had thrown the auditorium into
total darkness, and in dim, wierd light
was living out upon the stage that last
slumber of Matthias life, when Con-
science Incarnate calls the soul of the
murderer to its fatal reckoning.
The woman's hands were tightly
clasped in her lap, the mans face, If one
could have seen it. was set and tense.
The player was making the confession
of Matthias, and the sleighbells were
softly ringing their undertone of accom-
paniment.
The woman shuddered and the man
softly laid his arm across the back Of
her chair and drew her near his side. 1t
was lovers action, yet their faces
were whittier than lovers faces often are;
in the faint reflection from the stage
they were ghastly.
At last the dreadful vision of remorse
was ended; the curtain fell; the lights
were turned on. The audience. relieved
of its tension, talked rapidly and ner-
vously; talked about anything, every
thing, only to be talking, only to hear
speech that savored of every day, and
to shut out the memory of the haunt
ing bells. One man talked to another
of Tillman's speech, another OF the light
at Ell Paso; women chatted of euchre
parties and gossiped about trivialities.
One man and woman alone were silent.
Silently they moved out of the build
ing and silently stepped into the car
riage. Then the man spoke, holding her
hands closely in his.
1--WE should not have gone" he said.
"I shall always hear the bells" she
answered.
"A curse on plays" he said, unless
they make one forget"
And then he slipped his arm about her
waist and drew her lips to his. Cheer
up, girl" he exhorted, sit was his fault
and it was fair fight. He might have
killed me and then where would our hap
piness have been?'
"Where is it now?" she sobbed, her
wet cheek against his face. He moved
spoke as a man speaks when he means
a finality and that is almost brutally.
Let us have an end of this. Make the
facts bare and hideous as you please.
Say we loved each other and he stood
In our way; that made the trouble and
forced the challenge from him-what of
Fit? That I killed him? What of that?
Were we not both willing to sin to win
each other? Why should you salt your
cake of happiness with the tears of re-
morse. You did not kill him."
The carriage stopped at their door and
the two went in the house together.
The woman took some sleeping drops
and went to bed, but the man did not
sleep. He heard her breathing al last.
but he lay staring into the dark with
wide-open remorseful eyes. He saw the
dead face of a man whom he had once
called friend staring back at him
through the blackness Of night.
1t seemed ages since they had retired
and he struck a match and looked at
his watch; it was only 2 o'clock.
The woman turned restlessly in her
sleep and moaned: II shall always hear
the BELLS"
Course It," the man cried. springing to
his feet and cropping his way toward
the chandelier; ''after all, what is there
left? /, too, shall always hear the bells"
And he closed the windows and turned
the poison gas into the room and then
he crept back to her side and drew her
into his arms with her head upon his
shoulder and her cheek against his own.
And so they were found.-F. r. S. in ST.
Louis Mirror.