The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1903-06-09
THE WOMAN IN WHITE
BY WILLIAM w. COLLINS.
fcontinued.)

June Goth. Eight oclock.-The sun IS
shining I'm a clear sky. ] have not been
near my bed-I have not once closed my
weary. wakeful eyes. From the same
window az which / looked out into the
darkness OF last night, look out now
at the bright stiffness OF the morning.
count the hours that have passed
since escaped to the shelter. of this
room by my own sensations-and those
hours seem like weeks.
How short time. and yet how long to
me, since sunk down in the darkness
here. on the floor, drenched 10 the skin,
cramped in every limb. cold TO the bones
a useless. helpless, panic-strieken Great
ure.
/ hardly know when ] reused myself. i
hardly know when ! CROPPED my way
back TO the bedroom, and lighted the
candle and searched with strange ig-
norance. as first OF where 10 look for
them) for dry clothes TO warm me. The
doing OF these things is in my mind. but
not the time when they were done.
Can / even remember when the chilled
cramped feeling left me, and the throp-
bing heat came in its place?
Surely IL was before the sun rose? Yes;
i heard the clock strike three. ! remem-
Der the time by the sudden brightness
and clearness, the feverish strain ana
excitement OF all my faculties which
came with IL. remember my resolution
10 control myself, TO walt patiently
hour after hour. till the chance offered
OF removing Laura from this horrible
place. without the danger OF Immediate
discovery and pursuit ! remember the
persuasion settling itself in my mind
that the words those two men had SAID
10 each other would furnish us, not only
with our justification for leaving the
house. but with our weapons or defense
against them as well. recall the I'M
pulse that awakened I'm me 10 preserve
those words in writing, exactly as they
were spoken, while the time was my
own and while my memory vividly re-
tained them All this / remember plain
iy; there is no confusion In my head yet
The coming I'm here from the bedroom.
with my pen and ink and paper. before
sunrise-the sitting down at the widely
opened window. 10 get all the air could
TO cool me-the ceaseless writing. faster
and faster, hotter and hotter. driving on
more and more wakefully. all through
the dreadful interval before the house
was astir again-how clearly recall IL.
from the beginning by candle-light. TO
the end on the page before this. In the
sunshine OF the new day!
Why do ] sit here still? Why do
weary my hot eyes and my burning head
by writing more? Why not lie down and
rest myself. and try TO quench the fever
that consumes me In sleep?
dare not attempt IL. A fear beyond all
other fears has got possession OF me.
am afraid of this heat that parches my
skin. am afraid OF the creeping and
throbbing that feel in my head. II | lie
down now, how do i know that l may
have the sense and the strength TO rise
again?
oh, the rain. the nin-the cruel rain
that chilled me last night.
Nine oclock.-Was II nine struck, OF
eight? Nine. surely! i am shvering
again--shivering from head 10 foot. in
the summer air. Have / been sitting here
asleep? i don't know what l have been
doing.
Oh. my God, am I going 10 be III?
Ill, at such a time as this
My head-I am sadly afraid Of my
head. can write but the lines all run
together. see the words. Laura can
write Laura, and see / write II. Eight or
nine-which was IL?
So cold, so cold-oh. that rain last
highland the strokes OF the clock. the
strokes can't count, keep striking In
my head
NOTE.
Cat this place the entry in the Diary
ceases TO be legible. The two or three
lines which follow contain fragments Of
words only. mingled with blots and
scratches OF the pen. The last marks on
the paper bear some resemblance to the
first two letters Q. and A) OF the name
OF Lady Clyde.
On the next page OF the diary another
entry appears. 1t is in a mans hand
writing large, bold. and firmly regular
and the date is June the 21st." 1t con-
tains these lines)
POSTSCRIPT BY A SINCERE
FRIEND.
The Illness OF our excellent Miss Hal