The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1903-12-24
/ The COntrabandist; .Hssz #5$:z
OF
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One LifG'S Secret! ,ss:s. ,Ss5s :;



,~-~-~~~-...~~.-~~..~c~.-
! ''Be quiet, my child" he said. He viii
come--Louis will come"
Mono! he will not--he will not
Gomez she cried, with feeble grief. Il
have not seen him this long time.
thought we were to be married. 1t was
a dream, was it not?" And again that
heart-breaking, sorrowful glance was
fixed on him. II don't know why | am
lying here" she murmured, sadly, look
ing about her. Il ought to be ready to
meet him when he comes. But / am so
weakso tired! believe | have been
| journeying somewhere. But such a
strange journey! l don't think 1t ever
win end; and | am wandering all alone.
And so weary weary, weary All, Louis,
why don't you come and help me? You
said you loved poor Rose"
Mournful and plaintive grew those rest
less, feTerish tones; fearful and troubled
the brilliant eyes; but still, though ex-
hausted by her constant rawlings, and
though her cheeks burned more hotly, and
her heart throbbed with terrible violence,
and her breathing was short and painful,
there was no rest for her. Still she raved
Of Louis, and begged him to see how her
feet were torn and bleeding with the long
and weary way she came, aud then she
would moan that he never would come
never, never, never"
And that wild, mournfu wall might
have drawn tears from q stone; but Helen
Montauban was more than a stone.
The doctor went out, leaving Helen
Montauban there to battle the heated
forehead of the sick girl, and offer water
to those parched lips. And she said,
looking down upon the stricken form be-
fore her, "She is in my poworW
Alas! only too completely SO! Made
mosele Montauban had gathered
that NJ. Merry had but slight hope of
Roses recovery. 1t must be. No turn
ing back, or Ainching, or hestating, for
that desperate nature now! That hope
must never become a stronger onel 1t
was hers to see to it. Pouring out the
water for which the sufferer prayed, ever
and anon, her hand involuntarily clutch
ed the tiny vial concealed in her bosom.
Yet-no! A little delay; the disease
might terminate fatally in few days,
and spare her the work for which she
was prepared. But in case 1t were not
so, then 1t was a poison, subtle and
sure as death itself. Few were there
who knew of such; few-almost no tests
that could detect its presence To Helen
Montauban had been given a knowledge
Of this poison in by-gone years, and she |
had guarded that knowledge like gold.
The secret, so long preserved, was likely
to become useful to her now.
1t was midnight. All over the chateau, |
there was deep and heartfelt rejoicing:
but it was subdued in its manifestations,
for the life that had so lately been pro-
nounced safe was only slowly and family |
huttering up from the edge of the grave; |
and every voice spoke in whispers, every
footstep was mufied, All day she had
slept, and the exhaustion produced by
her violent and protracted delirium was
so great that that slumber had hardly |
seemed like the rest of living form. For
scarce the faintest breath could be per- |
ceived, or the slightest motion of that
feebly beating heart. Yet had the phy-
sician filled the breasts of those about
him with a too delicious hope that hung
for certainty upon her awakening.
Then had the evil desire OF Helen Mon
tauban grown to an intensity that was
fiendish. Watching, with her hagrard
face and cleaning eyes, beside that
couch, she had fixed her serpent gaze ND
on the almost lifeless being who lay there,
looking with cruel and terrible eagerness
for the sign of death to set itself upon
that young sufferers brow Yet 1t came
not and her eagerness grew almost into
madness. The one way remained She
would make that sleep a lasting one!
But there was another watcher there.
The aged physician had taken up his post
also by the couch. He, too, was waiting;
but it was for the angel of life-not that
Of death; and he stirred not from that
place. Not morsel of food had passed
his lips that day. Since dawn he had
been there. Aud Helen Montauban. in
her fierce desperation at her own inabil-
ity to accomplish the work so long medi-
tated upon, was almost insane Still he
watched there; never for an instant was
his vigilance relaxed. And the hours
passed on and Rose awoke-safe!