The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1901-04-13

crime blacker than he had intended
since death followed in its. wake
Justice demands that I should convict
| him Of 1t. Beatrice, one woman alone
can dissuade me from this duty. That
woman Is my wife. Let that tie bind
us, and you shall ask Of; my hands
what you WILL" 49,.
A low moan burst from the girls
white lips. Reason seemed desertine
her. Her senses Teeled. Suppose that
h were wrong In her estimate Of this
man who pleaded his aus ~ elo-
quently? Had not father. mother-all
deceived her? Why might not her low
err have deceived her, too? Then Ran
dolph Chester, the man she had SO dis
trusted and disliked. was, after all, the
only one true-the only prop ON which
she might lean?
No, no-a thousand times: no.: OR II
yes, then death would be less bitter
than that she might thus make her
escape.
Leave mel" she murmured, family.
Tomorrow you will understand"
Half-prescient of her fatal meaning.
he reluctantly turned away.
For a little time she sat m%otionless;
then she raised her head and looked
about the pretty room, which had been
hers from babyhood.
She was very pale, but the unrest
had vanished from her face and the
anguish from her eyes. She drew a
table toward her, and took from Its
drawer a tiny package Of letters.
They were five in number, and bore
dates far apart; but all were signed
by n name-Bertie!
Slowly she read them through, and q
faint color kindled her cheeks.
IT cannot leave these for other eyes,
my darling!" she murmured; and, one
by one, she held them In the candies
flame. "Ashes to ashes!" The whis-
pered to herself. "Ah, will it be as
easy for me to follow? Will the end
be for me like this?"
And nee more h leaned back her
head against the cushions of her chair.
and YEARLY closed her eyes.
Night fell, but she stirred not. They
brought her food, but h sent it away
untouched, and gave orders not again
to be disturbed. The little French
clock licked on the mantle, its sound
alone breaking the intense stiffness OF
the room.
ouAuCIlly ~ SCdoCos oS0A SANNS CAV
opened her eyes,. Then h remem-
The hands pointed to half-past 10.
ut is an omen!" she whispered.
This is the appointed hour!"
She rose as she spoke and. crossing
the room, opened a small medicine
chest, containing many remedies for
sudden illness, and took from it a bot
l = 0,N-1 ..fxI l--I- Nl~,,lI n~1 To-
beled Poison"
Then, taking a small glass, h half
filled it with the bottles contents, a
bitter, pungent odor stealing through
the room as she did SO; but her hand
did not tremble nor her cheeks grow
pale.
When this was done she knelt down
an instant, and buried her face in her
hands.
"God forgive mel" she prayed. "All
| that T trusted has been taken from me.
Nothing is left but this. Mother-dear.
| angel mother, whom they tell me was
| false to her first marriage-if true, thy
| child forgives thee. All, h wilt
| plead for me with thy God and mine"!'
A sob was in her throat as h spoke,
but her purpose had not wavered.
She caught up the glass and held It
to her lips: Another moment, and the
last drop would have been drained; but
God, looking down ON that young. un-
tried soul, had sent His messenger to
save her.
Even as the liquid touched her lips,
a shadow darkened the open window.
A man concealed in the branches Of a
tree outside swung himself within the
room, and, dashing the glass from her
now nerveless hand, 1t fell a mass (
broken fragments at her feet. q