The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1899-02-22
THE PURPLE EGG.

BY ANAToLE FRANCE.

Der OF friends, / heard story of n
woman who had been driven to
strange suicide by terror and remorse.
She was highly bred and cultured.
Suspected of completely in a crime of
which she had been mute witness,
in despair at her irreparable coward
ice, tormented by perpetual night
mare that showed her her husband
pointing her ont with his rotting fin
ger to the magistrates, she became
the helpless prey of her overwrought
nerves. A triAing circumstance de-
termined her fate. Her little nephew
was living with her. One morning, ns
usual, he was learning his lesson in
the dining room; she was sitting near
by. The child began to translate,
word for word, some verses from
Sophocles. He said over the Greek
and French terms as he wrote them
out: Kara teton, the divine head;
Iokastes, of Yocasta; letneked, is dead
Sposa konnen, tearing her
hair; kalei, she calls; Laion nekron,
dead Lais. Eisedomen, we
saw; ten gunaika kremasten, the
woman hanged" He wound up with
flourish of his pen, stuck out his
tongue violet with ink and sang:
''Hsngedl hangedl hanged" The
wretched woman, her will-power ut
terly destroyed, obeyed the sugges-
ton of the thrice-heard word. She
rose without word, without a glance,
and fastened to her room. A few
hours later the commissary of police,
called in to investigate her violent
end, made this reflection: II have
seen many woman who has COM
mitted suicide This Is the first one
I've known to hang herself.
This case recalled q similar one to
my mind, that of my unfortunate COM
rade and friend, Alexandra Mansel
In the foregoing story the heroine
was killed by verse of Sophocles;
my friends life was brought to an end
by sentence of Lamprides.
Mansel, who was schoolmate of
mine at the Lycee of Avranches, was
different from all other boys. He
seemed both older and younger than he
really was. Small and slight, at fifteen
he was afraid of all the bugaboos that
terrify children of five. He had hor-
ror of the dark. We were not fond of
him; he would have become our butt
if he had not impressed us by cer-
tain fierce pride and his record as n
clever scholar. Though he worked
spasmodically, he often stood at the
head of his class. They used to say
that he talked at night in the dormi-
tory and walked in his sleep. None
of us could swear to l., for we never
woke after our heads once touched the
pillow.
For long time was more curious
about him than fond of him. We sud-
denly grew great friends on nm excur-
sion that we all took together to the
abbey of Mont st. Michel. We had
walked barefooted along the shingle,
carrying our shoes and our luncheon
on the end of our sticks, all singing
at the top of our voices. We crossed
the drawbridge and sat down side by
side ON one of the old cannon, rusted
by five centuries of rain and spray.
Looking with his dim eyes from the
old stones 70 the skv swir-: MIA
bare feet, Alexandra abruptly spoke IKE
to me: ..--.-
u LIQUID like to have been n knight
in the old wars. / would have taken
a hundred cannon. I would have
fought single handed on the ramparts,
and the Archangel st. Michael would
have stood over my head like white
| cloud"
From that day on ! understood
far better than before my schoolmate's &
character. 1 discovered that it was
founded on an immense pride that
had not suspected. l need not tell
you that at fifteen / was not pro.
found psychologist, and Mansers
1 pride was too subtle TO be at first evi
dent. 1t extended itself to vague
chimeras and had no tangible form
Yet it inspired all my friends senti
ments and gave a sort of unity to his
whimsical, incoherent ideas.
During the vacation following on
excursion to Mont st. Michel, Manse
invited me to spend day at hi'
parents home at st. Julien. Secur
ing my mothers rather unwilling con
sent, l started of, in white vest ant
blue tie, early one Sunday morning.
Alexandra, smiling like happy
child, was waiting for me on the thresh
old He led me by the hand into tn
"best room" Though the house
half rustic, half bourgeoise - wa
neither poor nor disordeily, was op
pressed on entering it, so silent an,
sad it was. Near the window, who's
slightly parted curtains denoted Ger
tain curiosity, was seated woman t
all appearances old--perhaps not s
old as she looked. She was thin an
sallow; her eyes glittered in their dar
sockets under their reddened lids.
spite OF the warm summer day sh
was swathed, head and all. in blac
: garments. But the strangest thin
, about her was the metal circlet tha
clasped her brow like diadem.
Here is my mother; she has hs
neuralgia.
, Nine. Mansel made me welcome
faint voica and ohaarvino n,v nm,