The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1904-04-22

Hurriedly drawing down tho curtain
and taking the child in my arms, l
laid her On the sofa, covered her with
my travelling wrap and seated myself
at her side, without taking my eyes
from her face. She was as white a.
wax, and her staring, CLASSY eyes
filed me with alarm.
They gradually closed, and she fell
asleep; but her breathing was heavy
and her slumber disturbed. After a
while she awoke and, rubbing her eyes
as If trying to overcome nightmare
sat up, looked around and said to me:
you cannot imagine the fright that
the bonfire gave me-"
1.-THE bonfire!" I replied. what was
there frightful about that"
And who were the people that WERE
moving around it,"
1.-THE people? Only the poor work.
men, who in spite of the cold weather,
are hurrying to clear the track SO that
We may go on. They are suffering
with cold and perhaps with hunger.
while we, after -sumptuous dinner,
can keep ourselves comfortable by
these heaters. What compassion and
even gratitude you should feel for
these disinherited ones Of fortune!"
THAT is true! They do indeed move
me to compassion and awaken my
sympathy; but seeing them in the fire.
light confused me and disturbed my
mind. All, you little know the scene.
the terrible scene that they evoked in
my memory"
IA terrible scene? have known you
since your birth; your life has glided
quietly and pleasantly along in the
companionship of loving parents. No
sad or tragic event has disturbed your
happy existence
IF you only knew! But no, do not
wish to tell you; I have revealed it to
10 one; l do not know why, but I am
ashamed"
ASHAMED? OF what have you to
accuse yourself?"
''Of nothing: the fault is not mine,
but that Of my destiny"
"Your destiny! 1t is with this word
that we pretend to justify all our
faults
Il mean that have committed
none"
"Of what, then, do you accuse your
destiny?"
Every we'll, I will tell you. am go
ing to make confession to you-to
YOU alone. I have always loved you
as il YOU were my brother, and know
that you will appreciate the sincerity
OF my words without making them the
subject Of jest"
GO on
"You must know that suspect-why
do l say 'suspect? l believe firmly
that have existed before in this world
and that my soul once belonged to an
other woman"
What madness"
madness? No, it is profound con-
viction."
but to believe this is SIM"
III 1t be a sin. cannot help conf
hitting it, for, in spite of me, and
against my will, preserve indelibly
the remembrance of my previous ex-
istence."
"Wild delusion!"
Not at ali! On arriving at Orleans
the remembrance of my former life
came wildly back to my mind. l re-
membered my good parents, sad, alone
and abandoned in their miserable
home; while I. weak woman, guided
by divine inspiration and encountering
dangers without number, cOmbated the
enemies of my country.
"And later, when in sight of the bon
fire, my imagination recalled the trag-
edy OF Rouen, the memory of which
freezes my blood and sets my hair on
end.
Bound to the dreadful stake, the
butt of the jeering, scofing multitude
that filled the place of execution, saw
at my feet the sinister light of the fire;
I heard the swapping and cracking of
tho wood as it mounted the pile; I saw
the increasing flames stirred up with
fendish eagerness by my cruel execu-
TONERS; they reached me, they envel-
oped me. and felt the supreme agony
of the moment, when, my torture hav-
ing been completed, my soul was freed
from my suffering body.
Never can I forget the frightful
memory of my former life! There is
no doubt of it was Joan Of Arc"
We arrived at Paris at one o'clock
the following morning, four hours late.
Our aunt, Sonora dc Alvarez, who had
not seen Dolores since she left that city
at the age Of five years, was anxiously
waiting for us at the station.
She offered us the hospitality Of her
house, which I gladly accepted, as,
since the scene on the train, the con-
dition of the child had caused me the
greatest alarm and required the care of
some member of the family.
In spite of the natural WEAKNESS
by "a hours of railway travel,
I arose early and gave my aunt an ac-
count of the strange mental disturb
ance from which Dolores was suffer-
ing, and at which the good woman was
in no small degree surprised. l remem'