Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-03-10
Continued.

This last was an exclamation OF
pleasure; she had found some toy that
charmed her-it was the old mirror
set in its frame Of pearls. The pos
session of this object seemed to fill
her with extraordinary joy, and she
evidently retained no consciousness OF
where she was, for she sat down on
the uptuned coffin, which had held
my living body, with absolute in
difference. Still singing softly to
herself, she gazed lovingly at her own
reflection, and fingered the jewels she
wore, arranging and rearranging them
in various patterns with one hand,
while in the other she raised the look
ing-glass in the flare Of the candles
which lighted up its quaint setting. \
strange and awful picture she made
there gazing with such lingering
tenderness on the portrait of her own
beauty while surrounded by the
moldering collins that silently an
nounced how little such beauty was
worth playing with jewels, the foolish
! trnkets of life in the abode of skele-
! tons, where the password Is death!
| Thinking thus, | gazed at her, as one
might gaze at a dead body-not loath-
Iingly any more, but only mournfully.
/ My vengeance was satisfied | could
not wage war against this yacantly
smiling mad creature, out of whom the
spirit of a deyilish intelligence and
Z hn1
/ therefore was no longer the same Wo-
imam. Her loss of wit should compen-
safe for my loss OF love | determined
/ to try and attract her attention again,
! | opened my lips to speak-but be-
fore the words could form themselves,
that odd Rubbing noise again broke
on my ears-this time with loud
reverberation that rolled overhead
! like the thunder Of artillery. Before
| could imagine the reason of it-be-
fore | could advance one step toward
my wife, who still sat on the upturned
coffin. smiling at herself in the mirror
before | could utter a word or move
an inch, a tremendous crash resounded
through the vault, followed by sting1
ing shower of stones, dust, and pull
verified mortar! | stepped backward
amazed, bewildered- speechless
stinctiyely shutting my eyes when i
opened them again all was darkness
all was silence! Only the wind howled
outside mo-. frantically than ever
a sweeping gust whirled through the
vault. blowing some dead leaves
against my face, and | heard the
boughs of trees creaking noisily in
the fury of the storm. Hush!- was
that a faint moan? Quiyering in every
limb, and sick with nameless dread,
/ sought in my pocket for matches -
/ found them. Then with an effort,
mastering the shuddering reyulsion of
my nerves, / struck light The
/ could see nothing. | called loudly:
"Nina," There was no answer.
One of the extingushed candles was
near me- | lighted it with trembling
hands and held IL aloIt-then | uttered
wild shrek of horror! Oh. God OF
memorable justice, surely Thy ven
geance was greater than minel An
enormous block of stone. dislodged by
the violence OF the storm, had fallen
from the roof of the vault; fallen
sheer down over the very place where
he had sat a minute or two before
Enthusiastically smiling! Crushed under
the huge mass-crushed into the very
splinters of my empty coffin, she lay
and yet-and yeti could see no.
thing, save one white hand protrudtng
the hand on which the marriage
ring glittered mocknglyi Even as i
looked, that hand quivered violently
beat the ground and then was still.
IL was horrible. In dreams | see that
.quyering white hand now, the Jewels
on it sparkling with derisive luster
lt appeals, it calls. it threatens. it
.Ways and when my time comes TO
die, it will heckon me 10 my grave! 4
portion OF her costly dress was visible
my eyes lighted on this-and I saw
a slow stream of blood oozing thickly
from beneath the stoue-the ponder0us
stone that no man could have moved
IAN inch-the stone that sealed her
awful sepulcher, Great Heayen' how
fast the crimson stream Of life trickled,
staining the snowy lace of her gar
meut with a dark and dreadful hue,
1 Staggering feebly like a drunken man
half delirious with anguish APP
preached ana touched that small
} white hand that lay stitny on the
ground bent my head almost
kissed 1t. but some strange revulsion
lrose In my soul and forbade the act,
In a stupor Of dun agony / sought
. and found the cyuclax Of the monk
ICipriano that had fallen to the floor
, III closed the yet warm fiug5~ tips
, around Il and left thus; m unnatural
terrible ealmness froze the excitement
.of my strained nerves,