Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1900-06-07

o o O o
Or Under a Spell.
o . y e
CHAPTER xxs-cepanaea

He had gEIf too Soon 100 SFSah
There m.gnf hare been some trace %
S.hli discovered IL he bad waited
longer. HIS father would take no in
terest ln lle search. how thar be haa
gene. IEdead, had ha not said mat
the matter mgSt be dropped enTtreiA ?
lie lad buried away. at a mpLlenI :
bidding ike a th0ughthss. u~nrsasoA-
Ing ekild and left his love. his daring
lying Ia 4 nar1cI S. bloody grave, IN
noticed. uEayfaEa1.
OIL De had been mad-wpak as well
as mad-to Get his father stern preJa'
aices ~ taste Influence him az such a
time. Sybil. Ills beautiful gentle. sor
rowfnl Sybll-ah lii had been surely q
profghetic xhadow that haf warned her
from his side. a preseHEimaBr nf evA
That made her shrink from visiting MS
h0me-that home within whose fatal
borders she ha1 found a cruel death
Everything spoke 81 her 90 his tot
tured memoir. The pale moonlight
seemed ~ rypify her delicate beauty;
the foamlng waves recalled the hrsl
night ct Their meeting. when they had
stood together on the steamers deck
fhGt was carTTIUg her forward 10 her
doom.
How strange had been her smile
when sae spike Of the stern Fate
guiding eur life harqaes. How signif-
icant her words seemed now. Truly,
truly. the spell rhat had led him 10
her side had been a fatal one-traly.
love lad been her doom,
He lit his cigar and began 10 pace
The deck restlesslr. III was deserted
now. save hy Sin officer ever and anon
ia0ving silently across IL on his round
Of duty. and then as swiftly disap
Iearirg again. The ladies' cabin was
inst bpreatli him. and as he reached
the stern oT the vessel. q strain IF soft
mEsic. floating through one Of the open
windows chained him 10 the spot. So
low and swee was the strain. That II
seemed as If the hidden singer were
breathing II to herself alone:
"In bind thee with a charm, my
love.
I'll seal thee with a spell.
That thou shalt love me more than
all
Shalt love me more than wen.
Fer all my dover is magic power
A power / dare not tell"
Herbert Give listened ~ if he would
still his own heart-beats 10 hear. That
song 2ybiIs song and. oh. eaYen
surely, ii was Sybirs voice. weak and
low. as II ii struggled from unspeak-
able distance. yet still Sybifs voice!
'sThat spell shall bind thee fast, my
love.
But life shall rass in tender dreams,
And thou shalt ne'er awake;
Dream ga only for my sake,
In one brief hour | WELD a power
That Death alone can break"
The strain died away again into si-
lence. and Herbert Give lifted his face.
white with a strange. solemn awe.
III was Syhfl who sang-Sybil! This
was no dream. nnless-anless he were
going mad. 1T was Sybirs voice, SYPHILIS
song-the song that was inielibly writ
ten on his hpart-the son that had at
first charmed him.
The mystery that had Swallowed her
life and darkcned her death was
around her still What power had she
10 cross the portals Of the spirit land
that was denied all others2 Had she.
indeed. been a being Of different mould
from the mt0rtals around her? Had he
loved no mortal woman, but a yisitant
Il Sm another spiere3
And as III ia confirmation OF the wild
isea. her last words drifted back 70
him:
Think az me as sncaking from an
other world when ] say 10 you that l
might. but for the gulf that divides us,
have found esrth's sweetest happiness
at your side"
To Herbert's morbid. excited fancy
no thought seemed ito strange and inn
probable. The commonsense philoso-
nhy OF everyday life had no voice In
the turmoil of his heated, tortured
mind
A beautiful Danish tale he had read
in hoyhood REQUIRED TO him, of a mef-
maiden Who left her ocean Zone. and
lived a life Of pain and sorrow. 10 win
mortals' love and mortals hope.
Had there not aiwa.rs been some
thing strange and unreal about Sybil,
some subtle fascination that either
drew or repealed all with whom she
came III contact? Aud how unnatural
had been her sadness. her silence, her
strange. morbid reserve!
Herbert paced tho deck hour after
hour. and get no solution Of the prob,
lem was reached. 1t was Sybifs voice
and SybiTs song that had reached his
cars-he could tell no more.
But the morning light gives n differ
ent shape 10 our midnight fancies. A
few hours Of slecr, brought on by inter
WEAKNESS. refreshed Herbert in spite
OF himself. and. after his matutinal
cup Of coffee. he was prepared to look
upon his nocturnal experience by the
s0bci light Of day.
His first step fas little knowledge
could be gleaned from his fellow pas
sengerS otherwise was 10 look over
the passenger register and see what
ladies' names were entered as his oTn
pansons ON the voyage.
None in the long list were familiar to
him: but two singularly attracted his
attention. perhaps from the hand-writ-
ing. which, bold and irregular as 1t
was. he had a vague idea he had seen
somewhere before.
Scrawled upon the TOP Of the page. in
o mans careless hand. were the names
OF Miss Marie Isaponte and her attend
ant. Madame Gillette.
M