The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-07-24
GUILTY
BY WINIFRED.

Z wroDgfully Accused, She Bore 4
q Her burden MeekIy. and Her J.
i Vindioation Came Too Late.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1--WE find the prisoner at the bar gull
ty"
The deathiike silence which had per-
vaded the courtroom was broken by the
sobs of women, and strong men made no
effort to conceal their emotion. Guilty
this girl whom all had known and loved
since her babyh0od, whose father had
died before her birth and whose young
mother had lived just. long enough to
look into her baby's blue eyes and to
whisper family, Call her Violet"
The prisoner, woman scarcely more
than a girl, who had stood through it all
like a craven image, gazing with wide,
horror stricken eyes over that sea Of
faces, turned and slowly raising her eyes
looked up into the face of young man
standing beside her. What does she see?
Anguish unutterable, contrition and i'm
measurable pity. A faint flush rises to
her cheek and receding leaves it more
ashen than before. She sways and falls
unconscious into his outstretched frms.
She had told her story simply when
they came to her, reckless that each word
she uttered was an added link in the
chain Of evidence they were forging about
her.
"You think me guilty of this fearful
deed" she said, you who have known
me from my childhood. l would not harm
the tiniest of Gods Creatures much less
hurl soul unprepared into the presence
of its maker. 1t is true, l have said
hated her and wished that she were dead,
but oh, not this. She boosted of her pow
err to win from me my lover, and when in
my happy security laughed her to scorn
she turned her flashing eyes upon me and
vowed to prove her words"
They shuddered remembering how up
on that fatal evening, as they sat UNDER
meath the wide spreading branches of
the grand old trees watching the great
moon rise in the east, Rose Darlington,
springing to her feet, had said, II claim
your promise, Mr. Caren, to show me the
view from the cliff by moonlight"
As Ralph Caren arose to comply with
her request tiny bunch of violets which
his affianced had fastened in his button
holeabecame detached and dropped to the
ground. As he stopped to restore them
to their resting place Rose had said, look
ing up at him with eyes soft and melting
and with a strange tremulousness in her
voice, why should you stoop to pluck
violet when you may wear a rose" and
from her bosom took blood red rose and
fastened it upon his breast.
Violet grew deadly pale, and as they
slowly walked away she quietly with
drew and sought the privacy of her own
apartment, where in very abandonment
of grief and wounded love she sobbed:
"Oh, why should she come here to spoil
my life? | have never harmed her, and
yet she steals from me my dearest treas
ure. l hate her, and l wish that she were
dead"
And in the dewy freshness of a sum-
mer morning they had found her lying
cold and still, her great, black eyes star
ing up into the azure depths Of the sky,
look of unutterable horror frozen upon
her face, while plunged into her heart
was a tiny dagger upon Whose quantity
carved hilt could be dimly traced the let
tiers V. r.
Ralph Caren and Violet Reid had been
lovers always.
Ralph was the only son and heir Of the
proprietor of the extensive wooden mills
of which the little town of Lenox boast
ed, and Violet, who was the petted darl-
ing of a widowed, childless aunt, had
never missed mothers love and care.
Each smiled approval, and life was a
veritable Eden until the serpent found
entrance there.
Ralph had no thought of disloyalty to
ME, bot tbnl hut bo DO
evident preference of this beautiful wo-
man, who had undoubtedly never been
compelled to seek for lovers and who
claimed as if it were her right the admit
ration and devotion Of all men with whom
she came in contact. To onlookers it was
evident that she was deeply in earnest
and determined to win the love of Ralph
Caren at whatever cost to Violet.
From whence Rose Darlington had
come no one knew. Beautiful, with I'M
limited wealth at her command, why she
had not sought some popular resort and
reigned an undisputed queen of beauty
and fashion was an enigma too deep for
solution.
Her maid has said "Miss Darlington
was weary of society and wished to pass
the summer in restful quiet"
OF that last walk to the cliff Ralph |
spoke reluctantly. "An incident had oc- |
cured" he said, (which, although star
Ting, could have no possible bearing up
on the case. AS we started on our home
ward way and were entering the belt Of |
timber which skirts the base of the cliff |
dark, sinister looking man stepped sud-
denly out from the shadows and placed
hpnself directly in our path. Fixing his
eyes insolently upon the face of Rose, he
laughed sneeringly and muttered some
thing in foreign tongue. | sprang for
ward to avenge the insult but too late,
the man had disappeared in the darkness.
My first thought was of pursuit, but
strange cry from Miss Darlington
brought me to her side. She stood with
one arm appraised as if to ward off
blow. A deadly terror was in her eyes,
gasping, choking cry escaped her, and
she tottered toward me and fell into my
arms in n deathlike swoon. l carried her
to little stream nearby and bathed her
forehead in it's cooling waters After a
time she slowly opened her eyes and gaz-
ed about her in 'bewiidered manner.
Then she caught her breath in nervous
gasp and, rising to her feet, said: at was
the fright. Please take me home'
Violet, raying in delirium upon her
prison cot, was blissfully unconscious Of
either joy or sorrow. Now she was a
merry child, innocent and happy, now a
loving maiden with woman's hopes and
longings, but never Stunned and guilty
thing, crouching in her prison cell, torn
by remorse, despairing and desoate. The
good old doctor gravely shook his head
as each day found her more pale and
wan and ptifully murmured ut is bet
ter so. Poor child, If she could but de-
At last the fever subsidized, and she lay
white and frail like broken lily, her
mind blank. No memories Of the past
disturbed her. Life was to her only the
present, with no past, no future. and SO
justice staid her hand and forbore to
pass the righteous sentence Of the law
upon this helpless one standing upon the
borderland of eternity.
And thus matters stood when fearful