The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1904-06-24

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s5' Months before Twas taken ~ ously.
III. For long / lay between life md.
death: ~ could not divulg to- any one
who ] was. that they might write to
him for. me, and so he never knew.
When was better, and wrote, got no
reply Then went 10 the prison my.
self, to learn that he had been set
free. I learned later he had been max
ing inquiries for me, but, though have
searched, have never been able to find
him. For some time was forced to
go abroad with family. " 7, =, "a - g@~z,>
"And you do not know If he is dead
or alive?" he asked, in a dry voice.
She shook her head sadly.
IF you knew-but no, must not ask
you that" he said. III
II love him STILL" she said, land /
pray God every night that He will send
him back to me-" st..> j., - ="
DR.. Scott walked slowly back to the
hospital. What he had learned that
night had surprised him beyond words.
It had brought him, too, the deepest
pain, for he clearly saw that, as Miss
Graham had told him, his love was
hopeless. y. IL ~
UNLESS" he said to himself unless
Fenton was dead" H.. 4 ;ifs..t
He shuddered as the thought rushed
into his mind. Fenton was at his
mercy completely; the matter of the
mans life or death rested entirely in
his hands. A twist of the scalpel an
eighth of an inch from its proper
course, and George Fenton could not
recover. And his death would only
mean that the operation had been un-
successful. No one would ever know
that DR.. Roland Scott was a murderer.
Discovery was impossible. -l.,.
And how he loved this woman! He
must possess her, for without her the
world would be black desolation, life
unbearable to think of her ever as
the wife of another. He cursed aloud
the fates that juggled so with the hui
man toys; he cast from him the idea
of not doing his duty as it should be
done; he gave up the woman. Thus
he condemned himself to lifelong
misery. That was one moment. The
next the scalpel slipped, Fenton died,
the woman he loved was his, and the
world happiness.
It, was horrible temptation. A
hundred times he threw it from him.
hut it came rushing back again. He
paced the room through the hours Of
the night, and the way the devil point
ed out was the easiest. He could not
would not-give the woman up. His
head was splitting; his eyes burned as
though sand irritated them; his mouth
and throat were parched. But the time
slipped swiftly and found him unde-
cided. He sank into a chair and held
his throbbing brain between his hands.
The scalpel had slipped. That was
nine months ago. DR.. Scott had ex-
planned it all to Mrs. Fenton, though
he never said that his was the hand
that guided the keen edged knife. He
only found out an hour after the man's
death that George Fenton might be
her husband, for it was not case In
which he had taken a great interest.
He lied admirably, and his sympathy
with the young widow was most sin
cere.
1t was at the end of nine months
that he repeated his offer Of marriage
to her. She accepted this time Three
months passed and they were married.
It was then that George Fenton came
back! He was as dead and buried as
man could be, but he came back the
moment that Roland Scott put the
wedding ring on Mrs. Fenton's finger.
The doctor staggered, swept his hand
before his eyes, and turned CHASTITY
white.
He had been seized with sudden
faintness, he said. And when he
looked it was, of course, his wife who
| stood where Fenton had been, and II
was her sweet face on which he gazed.
1t was only Authorization, the awaken
ing Of murderer's conscience.
T. George Fenton came every day. As
sure as the doctor sat before his wife
at breakfast or dinner she faded away,
and he dined and talked with the mar
he had killed. II he took her hand and
gazed upon it for a minute it became
the bloodless hand of Fenton. Later
it was Fenton's voice that spoke to
him when Millicent. opened her lips.
Scott knew full well it was his
mind; he knew full well that others
were ignorant of Fenton's presence;
that his wife never suspected it.
He tried to fight it down, afraid hi
might give away his secret. But it was
impossible. Others saw a terrible
change in the doctor as the days ami
weeks went; he grew pale, and thin,
and nervous; he could not eat, nor
drink, nor sleep. He, too, saw the
change, and understood fully the pen
atty Of, his crime. He must leave his
wife-there was nothing for it-but
he loved her so!
The end came Unexpectedly, and,
luckily, it came. in the presence OF
others. or It mfght have gone hard with