The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-03-18

OF the opposite wall. All day she had
sat there, the splendor Of life about her.
the desolation Of death within her soul.
Prom time to time a sOft-fOOted servant
came noislessly to the door, but there
was that about the tragic figure that
forbade speech and he crept silently
away
And SO the hours passed and the wo-
man stan sat at the window. the one
dread fact beating In on her numbe0
heart ana BRAIN He was dead-hef
husband. the man she loved. the man
she had married in spite of friend and
Zoe. She had defied her world when she
had chosen him He was poor and OBJ
scure and there We're ugly tales about
nina deserted wife. a divorce, ana
people had not scruDled to hint TO her
that he was marrying her for her
She had laughed at their warning
His beauty enthralled her every sense
His magnetism thrilled her For ths
rest. she had rejOiced that she had had
so much to give and that she could
make his life soft and beautiful
Wealth and position and love-she hao
lavished them all upon him with an un~
stinted hand, and now the bitterness
was that he had gone where her ten
cerness could not follow him.
~ and by the eyes that had been
Staring unseeingly into the street be
gan to mechanically take note of fh..
passing throng and she saw one figure
with something in its attitude that
made 4 stand out distinct and clear
amidst the crowd 1t was that Of a
tail woman, plainly dressed with a face
brand
The woman by the window knew the
oLheE woman we'll She was her hus-
DauQ divorced wife and in the long
days os his illness she had grown az
custOneQ to watching for that TAN
dark phantom to steal stealthilv nv
Wltn us haunting eyes turned toward
me house as if they would question the
very stones of how 81
sick man within.
The woman at the window had never
speAen to her but now She touched
You see that tail woman passing2,,
riE saiq 10 a servant when she re-
Turns Did her come in and bring her to
me, A rev minutes later the tall wo-
man entered the room
You have sent for me2" She asked.
Aes replied the woman at the Win
dow. --he is dead %
ss.5 5e a., died for me many years ago"
Hall the tail woman All the fears
zoo gave me shed when I lost him and
snait never weep again. Your heart
Is ofea king over him now as mine broke
He was mine" cried the woman at
t4e window with sudden jealous FURY
~ mar right have you to love him? He
was nothing TO you. I tell YOU he was
~ mine. held him in my arms my
neart against his heart, my lips against
MS lips TO the very end"
ca had his last kiss. I had his
ltsl sand the tan woman. a dull red
naming into her salloW cheeks
lie loved youth and beauty and
grace ana the ease and luxury Of life A."
went ON the woman by the window
slowly and cruelty II wonder v,hv he
ever married yOu?'
4nere are many rungs i'm the ladder
Of q selfish mans life" replied the tam
woman, and I was one of them He
YES an ignorant and unsophistcated
youth fresh from the county. when 1
IifsE knew him, and simple and poor 2
was was higher UP IN the social
scale than he was and could helm him
= the things he desired and open doors
lnat were closed to him. Your world.
win hlLter smile, had not then
dazzled him with its splendors. and so
ne loved and married me. oh" she went
On. throwing out her hand with a ges-
iure OF depreciation, "'I know all that
you are going to say-that il was a
boy love that he had not come to
himself and did not know his own pow
sI7 or needs Even so. I grant it. but
lg was the springtime of his life and ali
tnat was best and purest and sweetest
ana truest i'm his nature he gave to me
~ were very happy for a time and
lnen he outgreW me. He Wearied of
me ana of the dun and narrow lines in
wnleh our lives were cut and-I let
and you, can that love?" sneered the
fort % keep Your own? If he aad been
mine ] would have held him ss9fnst The
world. 7 would have fought for him while
mere was drop of blood left i'm my
II would not have the casket when Inc
Jewel was zone. replied the tall Womrn
the soul Of love2"
Ihe woman by the window arose.
lone she said leading the way into The
qarkened death chamber Upon a couch
lne dead may lay. as if sweetlv sleeping.
ons nand re@ted tightly upon his breast
and clssped within it, as if it had been The
ast liAHs BE remembered and chung to- in
l-e was golden loc1et. The Two women
saw u at the same instant and instructive
p they faced each other across the bicr
men eyes challenging to a duel to the
tIt holds my face" cried the one with
l5ltef triumph j was his wife 7 made
things he oraved in life. He loved ne ne for
'1 you sAai see that 1t was my pOs
trait that he wore above his heart
ti1i...ss. SsiQ the tan woman. des-
leIaleis' the old love comes back as .he
SlA9le =Ilns embers that you think are dead
~ liit2 c9llasfaNon that nothing can
turned back TO the passion of his youth
treasured most Of AN the world ana would
have carried with him into the grave"
III a magnifcentIy furnished apartment
woman. superbly beautiful. stretched
iuNhflQusly among the silken cushions of
noon paper. An about were masses of
crimson roses and rare hangings and brfc-
a-nfac from the orient The air was sweet
WIN the pungent fragrance of sandal wood
ana heavy with the odor of Egyption ciga-
rettes, and the woman herself looked like
some gorgeous tropical butterfly. as beau
utul Is s0uiless.
suddenly a notice in the obituary column
OF the paper attracted her attention and
as she read it "a look half weary half con-
tempt1ous swept across her face
and so he is dead. she murrnured
Two women loved him and sacrificed
lhe mselNes for him and he betrayed them
1e.a. ana ne only woman that in az his
selfish life he eyer really loved was
she paused. stretched out a white hand
Eilttering with jewels lit a cigarette and
as she watched its heavy smoke wreath
ing lazly upward her eyes narrowed until
they had a look that was almost ugersh
lu them
I hey VIII find my picture" she said
slowly. i'm the locket above his heart and
although the two women who loved him