The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-07-15

1alr, the only one ne cOulu get III lHtl W
scure little town where we We're married.
lied when you asked me If 1t was a
family jewel; lied but did not take 1t OH,
perhaps because 1t chung so tightly, as II
in remembrance of the VOWS 1t symbolized
But now the very sight of 1t gave me a
fright. With his ring on my finger could
not defy him and swear his claim to be
false-the dream of a man n,addened by
his experience in the Klondike. 1t must
come off. Then, perhaps. I should feel my
self a free woman. But 1t would not come
off. l struggled with it and tugged In
vain; then I bethought me Of using a
nail file to sever it. This did, grinding
and grinding at 1t till the ring finally
broke, and could wrench it off and cast
it away out. Of sight and. as hoped, out
of my memory also. l breathed easier
when rid of this token, yet choked with
terror whenever a step approached the
door. was clad in my bridal DRESS but
not in my bridal Veil or ornaments, and
naturally Cora, and then my maid. came
to assist me- But would not let them
in. / was set upon testing the secret OF
the flligree ball and SO preparing myself
for what my conscience told me lay be-
tween me and the ceremony arranged for
high noon.
II did not guess that the studying out
of that picture would take so long. The
! contents Of the ball turned out to be
| small magnifying glass; and the picture
maze of written words. ! did not dec1pher
| 1t all; I did not decipher the half | did
not need to. spirit of divination was
given me in that awful hour which enabled
me to grasp its FULL meaning from the few
sentences did pick out. And that mean
| ing. 1t was horrible, inconceiVable. Muir
der was taught; but murder from dis
lance, and by act too simple to awake
revulsion Were the wraiths of my two
ancestors who had played with the spring
hidden in the depths of this old closet,
drawn up in nockery beside me during the
hour when I stood spellbound in the mid
die of the floor, thinking of what had just
read, and misunderstanding for some
! thing less loud than the sound of carriages
now beginning to roll up in front or the
stray notes of the band tuning up be]ow?-
less loud, but meaning what? A step into
the empty closet yawning so near; an effort
with a drawer-a---a-. DO not ask me
to recall it, did not shudder when the
moment came and stood there. Then I
was cold as marble. But I shudder now in
thinking Of it till soul and body seem
separating, and the horror which envelops
me gives me such a foretaste of hell that
wonder I can contemplate the deed
which, if it releases me from this earthly
anguish, will only plunge me into a pos
sibly worse hereafter. Yet T shall surely
take my life before you see me again, and
in that old house. If it Is despair l feel,
then despair will take me there. If 1t IS
5 repentance, then repentance will suffice
l to me-to perish where l caused an inno-
r cent man to perish, and relieve you
of a wife who was never worthy of you
! and whom it would be your duty to de-
r nounce if she let another rise upon
2 her guilt.
IT did not stand there long between the
I wraiths Of my murderous ancestors A
t message was shouted thru the door-the
9 message for which my ears had been
h strained in dreadful anticipation for the
\ last two hours A man named Pfeiffer
> wanted to see me before went down to
! be married. A man named Pfe1fer!
& IT looked closely at the boy who deliv-
i cred this message. He showed no ex-
n element, nor any feeling greater than i'm
i lspatience at being kept waiting a minute or
II so at the door. Then / glanced beyond
g him, at the people chatting in the hall.
s No alarm there; nothing but very
q natural surprise that the bride should keep
: so big a crowd waiting. I felt that this
IS fixed the event. He who had sent me this
message was true to himself and to ou1
r. old compact. He had not published below
- what would have set the house In an up.
~ roar in moment. He had left his secret
~ to be breathed into my ear alone. coulc
- recall the moment he passed me his word
and his firm look as he said, with his hant
~ lifted to heaven-'You have been good tt
- me and given me your precious self while
- I was poor and a nobody. In return,
.. great success shows me to be worthy o
~ you or till you with your own lips expires
3 forgiveness Of my failure and grant m
Ia leave to speak. Nothing but death o
at your permission shall ever unseal my lips
d. When heard that he was dead, feare
L lest he might have spoken, but now tina
ne had seen him alive, / knew that in n
Id other breast, save his, my own and tina
Of the unknown minister in an almost I'm
e known town, dwelt any knowledge of tn
Id fact which stood between me and the mar
I riage which all these people had come her
er to see. My confidence in his rec
s. tttude determined me. Without con
tn scious emotion withou fear ever
or the ending Of suspense ha
be ended all that told the boy to seat tt
lot gentleman in the library. Then
nd IT am haunted now, I am haunte
IT always, by one vision, horrible but PEI
ch sistent. It will not leave me; it rises b.
l. tween us now; 1t has stood between ,
TO- ever since I left that house with the Sc
Ire Of your affection on my lips. Last nigl
me it terrified me into unconscious speec
IN dreamed that I saw again, and plainl
len what I caught but a shadowy glimpse
lys in that murderous hour: a mans for
lot seated at the end Of the old settle, wi
My his head leaning back, in silent conter
yer plation. His face was turned the 9th
leo way-I thanked God for that-no, d
yet not thank God; never thought Of God
as that moment of my blind feeling abo
ted for chink and spring in the wall.
the thought only of your Impotence, and t
vas people waiting, and the pleasure Of t
to days to come when. free from this int,
cradle bond, could keep my place
not I,o,,r side and hear .vo,,r name unrenroy
ven go +.s+a +o tho fujl the awe and delia
ook of a passion such as few women ever fe
:, ovS because few women were ever loved by
iia nay man like you. Had my thoughts be
al elsewhere, my fingers might have K
. gotten to tumble along that wall, and
had been simply wretched to-day-and
nocent Innocent! O, where in Go
universe can I be made innocent ags
and fit to look in your face and to low,
+. 40 -hraalxiner thoY1rhf-eyen n 1--we y