Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1903-06-19

friends. How can they hope for any
L thing betterF
This is surely the rational view, and
/ il was extraordinary that Il had not
sprung M before Winthrop's mind i'm
uls.diately. IL had not. and In response
Ia my suggestion he said repeatedly:
lit viii alarm her. The thought that
she herself planned these changes viii
torture her mind"
'You are mistaken" I insisted. IF
you do not tell her you can never go
from home without raising in her mind
the fear that you have gone straight TO
that closing scene Of your life which
has been so strangely revealed 10 you"
The upshot OF II was that he was
overperSuaded and agreed 10 take Mar
ion into his confidence, the more espe-
cially because he had been confronted
by the necessity of leaving home for a
few days upon a matter of business.
The result of this disclosure. however,
was precisely what Winthrop had fore
seen. Ii was To Marion MS II she had
built a gallows for her brother upon
which he must die the sooner because
of the work OF her hands.
She concealed this feeling from Stan
ley, but 10 me she was explicit. II was
at this time that she ana began TO re
aliZc the nature Of the tie that was
binding us more closely TO each other.
We had miSnamed ii friendship for
more than a year.
This monstrous notion. that the room
and her own affectionate efforts To
make it more comfortable for her
brother had somehow accelerated the
approach of mis- doom. would not leave
her mind. .ier brother dwelt in the
apartment with a certain placid impa,
thence, but Marion viewed his contin.
ued use of it with an ever present ter
ror which seemed to me utterly unrea-
s0nable.
The situG ton was the worse because
no one dared try TO mend it. To per-
suade Stanley to give up the room for
ever or to consent to change of its
furnishings was the same as asking
him TO set date for his own exit from
the world. since he believed that. he
was TO die in that scene as 1t then
stood. Absurd as this belief must seem
to Il normal mind, it had surely taken
possession of the brother and sister.
and the effect was disastrous upon
each, though in a different way. To
Stanley it meant an increasing concen-
tration of his thought upon a morbid
theme, TO Marion constant, tortur-
ing apprehension, dread of night and
morning.
1t speedily became necessary to take
decisive action. | took advice of Stan
ley's physician, man more intolerant
of all morbid and mystic nonsense than
any one else whom ever knew, and
consulted certain members of the Win
throp household. The result was a de-
to overthrow this super
stitfon by direct proof of its falsity.
1t seemed likely that in this attempt
| might lose Stanley's friendship, but
| had reached pitch of desperation
where l was willing to risk anything,
and, moreover, the doctor, who was !
a bluff old fellow, agreed to assume
all responsibility and to make all the
One evening at the Winthrops' dinner
hour DIR. Evans and l gained access to |
room from the veranda. We |
were accompanied by some of the serv-
ants, and we had the means of effect.
Ing very considerable change in the
appearance of that apartment
1t was an evening prematurely dark.
The western sky almost to the zenith
was dead black, so that the earth
seemed to be rolling into the mouth of
pit. | was the first to enter the
room, and CROPPED my way at once TO
table upon which | knew that there
was. a lamp. A match cracked under
my fingers and went out. | was find
ng another when heard low, hoarse
Try. Immediately there was a noise at
he door. Some one outside turned the
knob and then knocked with IA hurried
md unsteady hand.
Stanley" called Marion from with.
'ut. Stanley, unlock the door,
l ran to let her in, but hand in the
darkness clutched my shoulder, and
he doctors voice whispered:
ut isn't locked. l have my foot
against it, She must not come in"
why notF' l demanded.
He put his lips close to my ear.
Because her brother is dead here on
his couch by the window"
That is the whole story as know it.
stanley had died of heart failure. He
ay there upon the cushions, with his
light hand across his breast and little
'icture of his wife clasped tightly in
he stiffened fingers.