The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-07-13
EGIRARD'S
+ WIFE. +.
She Returned From the
~ Dead to Comfort H6r
- Living Husband.


those who do know him as person to be
avoided after dark. Girard is not his
name, but 1t is so much like his name
that those who care to do 80 may identify
the gentleman and establish to their own
satisfaction whether or not he Is JUSTIFIED
in his extraordinary beliefs One man in
this town, bon viyant Of the clubland
cult, felt himself attracted to Gfrard be-
cause he found out that Girard believed
things no man dared credit II he valued
his own peace Of mind and, moreover,
that he was ready to demonstrate the
. correctness of his theories to any one
sufficiently interested. The man about
town interested himself in Girard be-
cause the taiky fellows Of his own set
told Queer street stories that sayored of
Boccaccio but lacked in that raconteur's
artistic merits.
Girard. on the other hand, seldom talk
ed at all unless directly addressed, but
when he did tell story one evening it
made everybody creepy and uncomforta-
BILE, because Girards mode of expression
is horribly convincing. His diction is de-
liberate-almost ponderous, in fact. He
makes no effort whatever to convert 9th
ers to his convictions. Indeed, he ap-
pears utterly Indifferent to skepticism.
Open SOOTHING is impossible where Girard
is concerned. because he never permits
himself to be engaged in conversation I'M
less by those with whose characteristics
he is somewhat familiar. There are va
rious ways of avoiding persons who wear
diamond studs and frock coats at III
o'clock in the morning and Girard man
ages his social affiliations with infinite
skill
The story Girard told at the club was
about his wife, who died four years ago,
but who still lives with Girard in the big
house he built when he came here from
Chicago Girard and his wife were COM
panions in the sense that few married
people are. She was frail and he was
strong, yet until the very day of her
death he had not contemplated the horror
of a separation. He failed Of proper
regard for the carefully worded prepara-
tory phrases of his medical adviser and
understood only when conventional eu-
phemism was abandoned and the plain
truth stared him in the face that the
woman whose future he had built and
planned in common with his own would
be dead in an hour. Then he went and
sat beside the bed and stared at the little
white face, at the darkly circled eyes
closed in ftful sleep. He realized then
that the deep lines between. the brows
were fenrfuly deep; that the gaspng,
shortened breathing might cease at any
instant; that nothing on earth could stay
the inevitable loss Of her, his idol.
He stroked her hair, and the tired eyes
Hal en;p III
ed his pet name He bent over her and
wept-such great, heaying sobs as come
from the breast of strong man in NOR
tai trouble, but the dying woman smiled
through her tears and babe him grieve nc
more.
II shall be with you always" she said
always in the evenings we will sit to-
gether you and |. We shall be comrades
ever
When Grard raised his head from the
pillow, he realized with calmness that
surprised him that his wife was dead
| He closed the weary eyes, crossed the
| thin hands, kissed the bloodlcss forehead
and went out. Three days later they
buried her. and people remarked that Gil
| rard didn't seem much affected He even
| INDUCED in one or two sedatc jokes on
| the very day of the funeral. That even
| ing also Girard dined as usual at the lit
| tie table whcreat he and his wife had
| dned tete-atete every evening during
their two years Of married life.
you will understand" he said to the
servants that Mrs. Girhrd is still here
| that dinner will be served every evening
for both of us as usual; also that Mrs
Girard's apartments will be maintained
| in their usual order" From that time tC
this Girarl has referred to his wife moi
as one dead, but as the constant Ncompan
ion of his daily life. For those who
doubt his assertions he has merely a
shrug Of his big shoulders. One or tive
| men have dined with Girard since his be
reavcmcnt, however. and these gentle
men do not care to talk about their expe
riences. Only one man has had the cour
age to 20 twice and thrice to the GirarC
table. That man is the bon vivant. Hi
has found something that interests him
and men with whom he was formerly t
hail fellow well met, for want of better
diversion, say he isn't half the deem
sort he used to be. Last night l asked
the bon vivant to tell me the story he hac
told to one of his friends about having
spent the evening with Mrs. Girard. Tn,
friend repeated the story, and those t
whom he told it said that the bon vivian
had wheels.
Look here" he said, "what do 70,
want with this story? If You propose tt
make one Of your feeble jokcrts out of it
you will merely write yourself down al
ass. If you will print the bare truth as
tell it, both you and | may be accused o
lunacy by cotere of lunatics. But wha
does that matter? As for Girard, he il
totally indifferent to public opinion con
corning either himself or his beliefs. Nov
here are the facts:
II am 3S years old, in sound healtl
physically and mentally. My father ant
mother both died when | was child.
had no brothers or sisters. have ncve
experienced anything which could posi-
bly, be characterized as great grief.
have been known from my boyhood as al
individual OF impcrturba bic temperament
I have never loved n woman well enough
to marry. have no shattered ideals
There is mighty little superstition in N.
nature My friends say | am cold blood
ed and cynical. They are wrong. an
merely analytic. So far SO good. Nov
for the rest Of it.
you remember the snowstorm las
Saturday. Girard asked me- to spend tn
afternoon anl evening with him. He's
most interesting fcllow-has magnlt
cent collection of old books and mnnr
scripts. | always was taken with tina
sort of thing reached the house at