Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1904-12-23

aroused ~ last and clamorin- to he
heard when it was too late: tn the
corner of y street the carriage sudden
ly stopped. y man had crossed i'll
front of it. caught one glimpse of
this man and instantly the terrors OF
lifetime We're concentrated into one in
slant of agoniZing fear. 1t was William
Hfciffer. knew the look; knew the
gait. He was gone i'll n moment and
tie carriage rolled on. But l knew my
doom as well that minute as | did an
hour later. My husband was alive and
he WAS here.
You were waiting at the curb when
| arrived. and | remember how my
heart stood still when you laid your
hand on the carriage door and CON
frontch me with that light on your
face | had never seen disturbed since
We first pledged ourselves to marry. In
terror | seized the hand which seemed
my one refuge in this hour of mortal
trouble. and hastened into the house
which for all its doleful history had
never received within its doors heart
more bur!encd or rcbcllious. pressed
your hand with mine and smiled. Oh,
God. If you could have seen what lay
beneath that smile. For with my
entrance beneath those fatal doors a
thought had come / remembered my
heritage. remembered how had been
told by my father when l was very
little girl presume when he first
felt the hand Of death upon him-that
II ever l was in great trouble-vcry
great trouble. he had said, where no
deliverance seemed possibe-I was to
open a little golden ball. which he
showed me. y nd take out what should
find inside and hold 1t close up before
n picture which had hung from time
immemorial in the southwest corner Of
this old house.
''IIe could not tell me what should
encounter there-t this l remember his
| saying something that would as
sist me, something which had passed
with good effect from father down to
child for many generations. Only, II l
would be blessed in my undertakings.
must not open the golden ball nor en-
| deavor to find out its mystery unless
my trouble threatened death or some
great disaster Such a trouble had IN
deed come to me, and, startling coinc1-
dence, I was at this moment In the
very house where this picture hung.
and. more startling fact yet. the golden
ball needed to interpret It's meaning
i %, 4, t.,rI
ousy was this family trinket always
guarded by its owner. Why. then, not
test their combined effect? l certainly
needed help from some quarter. New
er would William allow me to be mar
ried to another while he lived. He
would yet appear, and l should need
this great assistance-great enough to
be transmitted from father to son-as
none Of the Moores had needed 1t yet,
though what it was did not know and
did not even try to guess.
"Yet when got to the room did not
drag out the flligree ball at once nor
even take more than one fearful side
long look at the picture. In drawing
of my glove had seen his ring-the
ring you had once asked about. It
was such a cheap affair. the only one
he could get in that obscure little town
where We were married. lied when
you asked me II 1t was a family jewel,
lied but did not tal0e 1t of. perhaps be-
cause 1t chung so tightly. rs II In re-
membrance Of the vows 1t symbolized.
But now the very sight Of 1t gave me a
fright. With his ring on my finger l
could not defy him and swear his claim
to be false-the dream Of a man mad
dened by his experiences in the Klon-
dixie. 1t must come of. Then perhaps
I should feel myself a free woman.
But 1t would not come Off. struggled
with it and tugged in vain; then be-
thought me Of using nail file to sever
1t. This I did, grinding and grinding
at 1t till the ring finally broke. and
could wrench 1t of and cast it away
out Of sight and. as hoped. out Of
my memory also. I breathed easier
when rid of this token. yet choked with
terror whenever step approached the
door. I 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 I would not
let them In. I was set upon testing the
secret Of the filigree ball.
1.-The contents of the ball turned out
to be small magnifying glass and the
picture a maze Of written words.
did not decipher it all; 1 did not de-
cipher the half. did not need to. A
spirit Of divination was given me in
that awful hour which enabled me to
grasp its full meaning from the few
sentences I did pick out. And that
meaning! It was horrible, inconceiv-
able. Murder was taught, but murder
from distance. and by an act too SIM
pie to awake revulsion. A step into the
empty closet yawning 80 near, an effort
with drawer, a-a- Do not ask me
to recall 1t. I did not shudder when
the moment came and I stood there.
Then I was cold as marble. Yet I
shall surely take my life before you
see me again, and in that old house.
II 1t Is despair feel. then despair will
take me there. If it is repentance, then
repentance will suffice to drive me to
the one, expiation possible to me-tO
perish where caused an innocent man
to perish and SO relieve you of q wife
who was never worthy of you and
whom 1t would be your duty to de-
nounce II she let another sun rise upon
her guilt.
"A message was shouted through the
doOr-the message for which my ears
had been strained In dreadful anticipa-
ton for the last two hours. A man
named Pfeiffer wanted to see me be-
fore l went down to be married-a
man named Pfeifferi
II looked closely at the boy who de-
livered this message. He showed no
! excitement nor any feeling greater
than impotence at being kept waiting
a minute or so at the door. Then I
glanced beyond him at the people chat
ting In the hall. No alarm there; moth
Ing but very natural surprise that
the bride should keep so big a crowd
waiting. I felt that this fixed the
event. He who had sent me this quiet