Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1903-04-25

| pillow. He gazed long and mournfully,
seeming to take in every hneament Ct
that beloved face; then, as he turned re-
luctantly away, stopped carefully Gown
and touched his rough lips tenderly and
lightly on the cold, white hand that lay
outside of the coverlid.
"'Twas a hand that never struck me,
and was always kind to me-" he murmur-
| cd mournfully, as he went out follow
ed by the injunction from Mrs. Glen
demon to report that Mr.. Conway was
still in the same ondition-sleeping Qui-
city.
| Lulu looked down at the hand lying so
still and ifeless on the Counterpart. A
tear-drop that had fallen from the eyes
Of the poor black boy lay on it, shining
| purely as q pearl in the subdued light.
| Lulu would not wipe it away. 1t was
precious drop distilled from the fountain
of unselfish love and sorrow; it seemed to
| plead mutely to the girl for the man who
! lay there SO still and pale, unable to
speak for himself.
There must have been much good in
the poor young man." she thought, i'm
! pulsively, cor his servants would not
have loved him like that"
| Once more comes a low, muffied door
| bell. Lulu drops into an armchair, shiv-
ering, though the night is warm. Will
| lard goes to the door. Presently he
comes back, ushering in a stranger. She
rises up, thinking as a matter of course
this is the surgeon.
MY sister, Lulu. Senator Winans,
said her brothers. quiet tones
Lulu nearly dropped to the floor in
| establishment and terror. She was very
nervous to-night--so nervous that she
actually trembled when he lightly touch
cd her hand, and she almost pushed his
away, thinking, angrily, that that firm
white hand had done Bruce Conway to
| death.
II feel that this is an unwelcome intru-
| sion, Captain Clendenon," he said, slow
| ly. and in soft, sad tones, that thrilled
the girls heart, in spite of the anger she
felt for him, "but l cannot help it, though
you may not believe me when l tell you
that it was so impossible for me to endure
the suspense and horror of tonight that
| have come here to beg you for news of
the man whom l have almost murdered"
Black eyes and gray ones met each 9TH
err without wavering. Soul met soul, sand
read each other by the fine touchstone
VI IL IellOW 1SclluS. Even III Ills uuSeT
for his friend, William Clendenon could
not withhold a merited kindly answer.
Il do believe you," he answered quiet
ly, "and am glad you came. though | can
tell you nothing satisfactory. The patient
has slept all day--stll sleeps--he will
awaken to life or death. We are only
waiting"
Waiting! That word chilled the fiery,
impulsive soul of Paul Wnans into a
dumb horror. Waiting!-for what! To
see his work completed. What had he
done? Taken in cold blood human life
that at this moment, in his swift rcmorse
and self-accusation, he would have freely
given his own to save; in the height of
his jealous madness committed a deed
from which his calmer retrospection re-
volted in hrror. He looked from one to
the other in pale, impotent despair. He
had gone his length--the length of hui
man power and passion-now Gods hand
held the balance.
"Then, at least, you will let me waltz"
he said. IF he dies, shall surrender
myself up to justice. If he lives, / shall
all the sooner know that am not a MUIR
derer"
You shall stay, certainly, and well
come" Willard said, cordially. touched
by the evident suffering of the other.
Lulu stole from the room, leaving them
alone together, and resumed her place up
stairs. The patient slept calmly on, her
mother placidly watching him. Once or
twice her brother looked quietly in, and
as quietly withdrew. There was some
thing on his mind that must be spoken.
He turned once and looked ut his com
panon as he sat upright in his chair, still
and pale almost as his victim lay up
stairs.
"Winans," he said. slowly. Eve have
known each other for a long time, and
knew your wife long before you ever
met her, and knew her but to reverence
her rs a pearl among women. Will you
pardon me if l confess to an interest in
her that leads me to inquire frankly if
YOU think you are doing her justice?'
"Clendenon, / know that l am not.
know that l am unworthy of her-pure,
injured angel that she is-but what can I
do? l dare not ccmain near her. | should
hut make her miserable. 1t maddens me,
in my jealous bitterness, when | remem-
her that young, fair and sweet as she
was when | first met her, the pure page
of her heart had already been inscribed
Her first love lost to me, her second only
given to me. l cannot bear! When | can
overcome this fiery passion, and if Bruce
Conway lives, l viii return to her-not
till then"
"You are wrong, my friend-bitterly
wrong. Think of what she suffers, of the
scandal, the conjecture that your course
will create. You should be her defender,
not leave her defenseless to meet the
barbed arrows of caviling society. Return
to your injured wife, Winans. Take the
candid advice of one who esteems you
both.'
"Clendenon, hush! You madden me,
and cannot shake my firm resolve-would
that l had never met her.
Slowly, slowly the hours wore on until
midnight. Mrs. Clendenon fell into
light doze in the sick room, but Lulu W as
still watching that still form. Presently
she bent forward and looked into Con-