Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1903-05-04

L
| his due. But in death, as in life, his
heart was with his beautiful Leah,
whom he had meant TO succeed him.
The dull, leaden hours passed on.
| He had no strength; for many hours
I he had taken no nourishment. He
called Hettie to him.
Does a righteous mans blessing
ever do any good?" he asked, in a
thick, hoarse whisper.
EYES," she answered.
There was no time to stop and
think, with those dying eyes fixed
on her face.
Then a bad mans curse must do
harm!" he moaned; and Hettie had
no answer for him.
The evening deepened, silence crepI
over the land, and the shadow OF
death grew darker over the cottage.
The grim king had drawn one step
nearer, and Martin Ray had gathered
all his energies together 10 do battle
with him. He spoke TO himself, not
to Hettie.
Il will not die until l have seen
Leah. What is it l have laid upon
her? Something heavy, AMI black,
and bitter. / must take it of. l will
not die until she comes"
In this the hour of her distress,
friends and neighbors were good TO
Hettie. She was never left alone.
But Martin Ray would have no
strange women in his room-no
nurses, no friendly helpers for him;
and he gave no thought to the terror
that his lonely child must feel.
AS this world fell from him and
the light of another grew clearer to
him, he saw more distinctly the face
of his lost daughter.
Leah" he cried, necessarily.
Leah, l want you! Leah, come to
me! Leah, l cannot die! o,
Heaven, l cannot die!"
Hettie had borne so much that she
did not even cry out when he turned
his angry. despairing, dying face TO
hers, and said,-
why did you not go? Since one
must leave me, why did you not go
and leave her with me?"
They were cruel words that her
tender heart did not resent even
then. She excused him even 10 her
self, saying that he did not know
what he was uttering, he did not
understand. The cold hand of death
pressed him more closely. There was
something of dignity in the way in
which Martin Ray threw out his arms
in despair.
81 will not die until I have seen
Leah" he cried. Il know have
heard-what the curse of a father
brings to a child She did not merit
it. 1 must take it away. If do not,
her life will be spoiled. Hettie, give
me something that l may live until
she comes. / can hear horses gallop-
in up the HILL hear carriage
wheels! | hear the rush of the wind,
the roar of the sea; l can hear-oh,
Leah, make haste!"
But Hettie knew that no carriage
could drive up to their cottage, and
she tried her best TO tranquillize him.
His cries grew feebler; the incessanl
beating of his hand on the pillow
stopped; there was a curious look on
his face, gray, livid, and startled.
She knelt down by his side ana
took one of the numbed hands in
hers, and laid it upon her head.
81 have loved you and served you
faithfully, father" she said; have
you no blessing for me?"
The hand lay there like lead; the
dying eyes looked into hers, and in
them she read a terrible craving.
Il want Leah" he muttered.
Suddenly the gray shades changed
into darkness; and Hettie, seeing a
new and terribly strange expression
on the worn face, rose from her knees
with a startled cry. The women
waiting below came running up; and
as they did so the sound of some un-
usual stir below told that Sir Arthur
and Leah had arrived. At the same
moment something like a shudder
passed over the dying man. The
next instant a soul had gone forth TO
meet it's Judge, and the angel of
death sheathed his sword. Martin
Ray was dead.
It was little wonder that Hettie,
dazed and stunned, fell forward upon
the quiet heart that was TO love and
to hate no more.
When she opened her eyes again, IL
was Leah who held her in her arms.
One minute had passed, yet 70 Hettie
| il seemed many hours.
"Too late." she heard some one
say. Then Leah placed her gently in
the chair, and went over TO her
father, she knelt down by his side,
and bitter cry came from her lips.
81 am too late" she said-"too
late! Oh, Hettie, he has never taken
that cruel curse from me! l am too
latei"
She took the cold, motionless hand
in hers, and the silence in the room
was broken only by her sobs. All the
past, with its great dread, and her
oraot horror of In DaSSpd over her as