Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-01-24

over hers, pressed it little, and said:
THANK you, dear little girl; leave
me alone now, please"
And as she moved away she saw
him sink into big armchair and
cover his face with his hands.
That afternoon the papers came
bearing long account of the tragedy.
The major was in his room and sent
one of the maids down for them, so
no one saw his face while he was
reading the details, which shocked
him as if every word of the account
had been true
Did you ever imagine that Mrs.
Goddard was not quite right Inental-
ly?" asked Talley when be was able
to catch Blanche alone that after.
noon.
Yes" she answered. 81 suspected
or rather she confessed to ten
dency in that direction the night be-
fore she sailed. She said she hoped
the voyage would cure her"
"Ah. that sort of thing never en-
tered my head" said the private Sec
rotary. 81 thought she had the clear
est head of any woman alive, but
bright people do lose their balance
They saw little of the major that
day. He remained in his room.
Friends called to offer condolences
and letters and kilograms of SYM
pathy piled up on his desk in his
study, but he saw no one nor opened
any communication. 1he next day
he went to the city, and there in a
small hotel where he was unknown to
any of the inmates he took up his
abode.
He was as nearly insane as man
of sound mind can become. His exist
ence became routine of mental tor
ture. He spent each day in walking
through streets where he was not
known. At night he would lie awake
till his physical nature Would refuse
longer to bear the burden his wife
had put upon him, and then his strong
frame sank under the blessing of
sleep.
He realized fully what she was ex-
pecting of him, and he hardly knew if
he would be equal to carrying out her
plans. At the expiration of the first
WIN siiec theS lGCSPllUu vi tU6 news
letter arrived in his private letter
box on Sixth avenue. He was almost
afraid to open it. 1t seemed like a
communication from the dead-or
worse, command from hell And
when he had finally devoured it, and
found that Jeanne and Mrs. Nolan
were comfortably domiciled in a lit
tie furnished villa near Kensington
Gardens and really enjoying life in
perfect security from detection--eyen
then, I say, he had no more hopeful
horizon. &.
II was the sin of it all that ground
mis- finer nature down into despair,
and he was wise enough to know it.
However, there was even in Jeanne's
letter much of the potent charm which
had been since his marriage his di-
recting influence, and he read and re-
read the graphic account of her adj
ventures till the awful picture was
stamped on his brain. She wrote
often, and her epistles were always
| replete with good humor,' her old VIZ
vacity and endearing expressions.
| In that way a month passed. He
scarcely spent an hour out of each
| day at Lyndhurst. Often he went out
on an afternoon train and took the
next back to New York The man
who had charge of the private letter
| boxes stared at him curiously every
| time he came in and with quivering
fingers unlocked his box.
The major began to disregard his
| If h;
carefully tied, nor his boots polished,
nor his silk hat ironed. He no longer
/ frequented the armory of his old
regiment, nor his club. He had no
desire to meet men he knew.
1t was after he had received let-
ter from Jeanne urging him not to
4 delay any longer in the matter of
making Blanche his wife, owing to
/ the great likelihood of the girls dy-
/ ing suddenly, that he bethought HIM
/ self that he had neglected his ward
4 very much, considering her solicitude
| in his behalf He knew the girl was
| thinking of him. for every time he en-
| tered his room at Lyndhurst he saw
evidence of her thoughtfulness in
fresh flowers cut in the conservatory
by her own hands.
On this day, when he arrived at
Lyndhnrst, he went into the library.
His father, who had been in his. life.
time a distinguished surgeon, had left
q good collection of valuable medical
works. 1t was Jeannes allusion to
Blanche's critical condition that.
caused him to look up description
of her malady. "Aortic aneurism,p
he murmured, as he ran through the
index of a big book. But the finding
of the article on the subject, and the
colored illustrations of the delicate
organs on the point of bursting from
the pressure of blood sicI1ened him.
1T is indeed FATAL he said. 'tShe
can't possibly live long, and if I only
knew that she would be happier as
my wife for the remainder of her life
Jeanne might have her wish. 1t