The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-14

upon which l was launched, much as my nature, aye. my very soul. might rebel ageSnst, the hateful character was forced to assume, my evil destiny controlled me as easily and as surely | as though l were a child in the clutch or monster. At any burst of indig | nation l could feel his laugh. During moments of frenzied anger knew how he sneered. When 1 sobbed in shame | at what l had become he exulted. All the time l was being led on and on, | from debauch to debauch. helpless un- der this mysterious dominion and un- breakable tyranny.
 | years passed-years during which | sunered all the horros of the damned. tried every way to rid myself of that hell-tainted stone. I threw 1t under the wheels of passing train only to md it afterward on the rails. scintil- latins in it's bloody hues. intact, un- | scratched. as perfect as ever 1 let it fall in the poor quarters of a great city. Before I had traversed a block ragged beggar returned it to me. | implored different people to accept the | gem as a gift. One and all refused. casting side glances of suspicion at me. Then the full hopelessness of my posi- | tion burst on me afresh and in furious | despair. I cried aloud to the, demon who controlled me. He answered. In 1 that solitary rom he spoke to me. only | few broken words, but enough enough!
 As I had accepted the ruby freely | from him. so must I find one willing | to take the stone from me after he ! understood what the gift meant. In | that way, and that only, would I be 1 free. So much he told me and-was ..II ,,oII pleadings bring him back. My hope fled; an icy coldness seized ms. Who who would accept gift laden with such responsibilities?
 As if to revenge himself for my dis content, the ensuing week was filled with the widest and most soulless dis sipation I had been driven into. Early one morning as I walked along the road after protracted carousal. l passed a convent. In q garden. to the right of the building, young girl stood watching the eastern sky as It grew pink under the kiss of the rising sun.
 For the soul of me I cannot tell now what prompted the thought that came into my disordered mind. It may have been my own desperate weariness or her exquisite purity of face or her eyes that. meeting mine with an expression of pity so deep that 1t bespoke the depths of love to which they might awaken. But as I looked upon her my vision became steady, my reason no longed wandered, a warmth pervaded my whole being. All at once hope and resolve sprang stron0 into my brain.
 l did not stop to consider, the enor- mity of the deed I contemplated. nerved myself to the task I set out to accomplish and kept at it with an ardor and a determination born of my extremity.
 My idea was nothing less than to win the love of this innocent and beautiful girl. and once having won 1t, to throw myself upon her mercy. l would appeal to her from her two strongest and most vulnerable points; her love of humanity and her religion. U would ask her to prove both by &C., cepting the ruby and thus save my soul.
 How far my plan succeeded is briefly told. Our meeting was easily ar- ranged. Nor had I been in the pres ence of Marcel" many moments be- fore I discove' Tt of all women 1 had ever seen vas the most per feet, the most ...~ntly beautiful. Her mind was as beautiful as her coun- tenance. She reminded me continual ly of some divine light sent from Heaven to guide the way of those who grope in darkness.
 In her presence I was continually forgetting the purpose for which lin gered by her side. Any thought of evil was. so manifestly impossible in connection with her. When I suddenly remembered, the world crashed about my ears. stood aghast with terror at the terrible temptation to which l had yielded myself.
 Sacrifice Marcelle! Rather death by torture. Rather torment manifoldly greater than any I had yet endured.
 At bound the truth stood revealed to me. And in that knowledge had room for no other had forgotten myself in Marcelle, seeing no one but her; thinking of no one but her. bowed down without. a struggle, giving my heart over to an abject worship of this young girl.
 Bewildered, intoxicated with the strength of this new feeling that had entered into my life, i hastened to Marcelle. The ruby lying on my breast where I carried it, suspended about my neck by tiny gold chain. burned into my flesh with the sting ing heat of rife. With too unscrupu- lous confidence in the power of my
 
 scoffed the spirit that dominated me. How soon was humbled, Before I could reach the convent garden the tiend seized me. I was frantic with his interference; frenzied with wrath. I fought. struggled, cursed, prayed. l yelled at him for release until my voice broke. Shouting like d mad creature I was dragged away, down into the lowest dives of d rotten hu- manity!
 days. On the morning of the ninth l was free. Crushed to the earth with misery I stumbled along the road to Marcelle. My mind was made up. would tell her of my wretched plight Of my hopelessness. Then I would bid her farewell and flee from the temptation of my own desire before d confession of my love could blight her happiness.
 She was in the garden standing silent and pale watching the east, all gorgeous in crimson and gold. Her beauty fitted So perfectly Into the love illness of the morning that one could nave sworn she vas the very spirit of the day.
 Miserable with the deadly burden carried, and weak al the thought that for all my adorat!on, thls beloved girl could mover be mine, I groaned aloud
 Marcelle heard. She turned. Tn the surprise at finding me SD near. the truth. all unbdden and unchecked, sDrang into her eyes so that I read as I looked. She loved me. My God, she loved rne I threw myself ct her