The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-08-04

particular, and, above all else. there
was the unceasing pleading of the man
himself
Wearied and half dazed from des-
peration, she had yielded And now
she was here-here, whirling away
from the old life whirling into one
new and unried, the portal of which
suddenly filled her soul with horror.
! How she hated that smooth white
hand resting on the arm of the chair
in front! How she loathed the sight
of r:.e hair that waved above the girl
like ear! The very shade and texture
of his coat became hateful to her Ali
how sitting the. air was-this air
that he breathed! She raised a shak-
, ing hand to her throat and tugged at
the high collar of her gown. She must
have other air-fFesh affair of which
he had no part!
The romantic little matron four seats
down the aisle saw the bride rise from
her chair and pass hurriedly down the
car. The sympathetic little lady was
almost on the point of following her,
so white and strange did she look.
The porter was nodding in the last
seat. Mrs. Knowlton sped swiftly
through the corridor and opened thd
outer door. The car was not Vestibuled
and the cool wind, unhindered, swept
across her hot cheeks and brought
something like a sparkle to her eyes.
She shut the door, stepped out on the
narrow platform and advanced to the
top of the steps.
How good it was to be alone againi
How beautiful to be out in the soft
darkness with the rhythmic whiz and
whir of the wheels under ones feet,
and the mysterious shadowy some
things flying past ones eyes.
Was Jack way up among those
stars that twinkled so brightly over
head? Was he looking down at heI
now? What did he think of that
miserable, baby faced man in the car
back there?
She stepped down one, two, three
of the steps; her horizon was wider
nowhere were some stars up in
the sky. The car gave sudden
lurch around curve and the woman
swung violently to one side, clutch
ing at the iron railing with her deli
cate jeweled fingers. In moment
she had regained her balance and
was looking down into that yaWning
| blackness at her feet.
What if she had not caught her
self? There would be motionless,
| horrible something lying way back
there i'm the dark, and the place where
she now stood would be vacant!
She shuddered involuntarily, then
caught her breath with a little gasp
| Yes-what if she had not-what,
| indeed? There would be no more go
Ing back to the side of that hated
man, no dreary length of years pass
ed in the thraldom of his will and
wishes; instead there would be peace
and a swift fight to the stars and
to Jack.
oh, if only her fingers had been less
strong, her natural instinct of self
! preservation less keen! But there
would be more curves, more sudden
lurches to one side-she moved
steaIthily down to the lowest step
and swayed there dizzily in the sting
ing, swift-fying air. The tightly
clenched fingers on the railing began
to loosen. Why wait for the sudden
curve? One little step down, and
then
No, all, no-she was not so wicked.
so cowardlyi Had she indeed sunk so
low as that? With a stifled sob she
turned and stumbled and crawled up
the steps She had reached the plat.
form when there was a series of
sharp blasts from the whistle, deaf
| ening crash-then oblivion.
Two days later a New York paper
bore this item:
"A particularly sad feature of the
railroad accident near Cobb's Cross
ing Wednesday evening was the
death of Mrs. Chandler Knowlton.
She was a bride of but a dozen
hours. and was quite dead when tax
en- from the wreck. Her husband was
unhurt. and had she been at his side
there is every reason to think she
would have been living woman to-
day But from the position in which
| the body was found it is thought that
she must have gone to the door of the
car-possibly for breath of fresh
air CO naricho6 IT Will he
membered that the lady was well
known as Mrs. Jack Wilmington,
! very wealthy young widow of Al
| bangs most exclusive social set Her
| wiH-made some years ago-had not
been changed. and most of her prop
erty goes to distant relatives