Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1905-05-15

noble. loving mother is dead. His father
has returned to The Willows; but not
alone. Two OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES ac-
companied him from Switzerland-Mad-
anne Berne and her daughter. 1t was
at the house of the former that his
mother resided during her last illness.
She is rigid. austere fanatic acting
up in all things to the letter of her pro-
LESSONS. but denying the existence Of
any good beyond them: all virtue and
all holiness are confined within the limits
of her creed-beyond it. all is sin and
DEATH She has acquired a powerful
ascendancy over Mr.. MOrants mind.
weakened as it is by the affection OF his
beloved wife's death. He has brought
her home to fill the position Of house
keeper. and in a short time she reigns
absolute and undlsputed mistress over
him and the household.
From the moment she is first introduc
ell to Edward Morant she conceives a
hatred for him. The gay, light. mischev-
Gus bearing. even subdued as it is now
by the sorrow Of his mothers death, js
repulsive to her gloomy soul. There is
soon open war between them. But Ed
ward is no match for his powerful ad-
versary. His father under the prose-
lytism of Madame Berne has become
as gloomy n fanatic as herself; all gaiety
of heart. all amusements. are sins in his
belief. The Willows soou become an
uncomfortable home for the young man.
and were it not for one all-powerful at
traction, he would have quilted it long
ago
That attraction is Frances, Madame
Berne's daughter. beautiful. melan-
choly girl of sixteen. He loves her pas
sionately, possibly because she is SO en-
tirely opposite to himself; and she loves
him. possibly for the same reason. In
the course of time Edward prevails on
Frances to consent TO clandestine mar
riage. They are quietly married Mt a
suburban church. and return to The Will
lows the same night
A fortnight afterwards, yielding to the
prayers of his young wife, Edward de-
clares his marriage to his father. The
old man is willing to forgive the act, but
Madame Berne is furious. Her daugh-
ter shall not be delivered over to the
satanic influences of this vicious man.
A terrible scene ensues. Edwards
fiery temper is thoroughly aroused. and
all the bitterness and hatred that have
There is not an insult, an epithet OF
loathing. that he spares his enemy. The
end of all is a fathers curse, and his
expulsion from the home. the doors Of
which he will never darken again. He
would claim his wife by force of law. but
he has no home to take her to-he is
| penniless and an OutcaSt. She is kent
! IL close prisoner--he will never SEQ her
| face again.
Very soon he falls into vageh1ndage.
and. gnawed by the burning sense Of the
wrong that has been done him--savage-
| ~ reckless. from vagabondage he sinks
into crime. becomes implicated, through
his associates. in a robbery, and is con-
demned to three years penal servitude
In the meantime. a child has been
born to him. of whose existence, or prob
able existence. he is ignorant. A sad
life Is that Of the mother. Mr.. Morant
would have been kind and good to her.
but Madame Berne cannot pardon her.
, In the eyes OF that fanatic, she il a
lost soul-she has strayed from the paths
of righteousness. and to show mercy to
her would he to participate in her guilt
In this daughter she had hoped to Gre
ate a second self-a perpetuatiOn Of her
own austere bigotry-a mirror in whose
| reflection she could worship her own i'm
| age.
Frances only consolation was her in
FAINT son; Madame Berne would have de-
prived her even of this had not Mr.. Mo-
rant interfered. and for once carried his
point. At the end of three years the
poor girl died of lingering decline.
| When. at the end Of his term OF i'm
prisonment. the unfortunate husband,
now thoroughly vicious and hardened.
came back to The Willows to claim his
wife, funeral procession stopped the
way. An awful scene ensued; not even
the sacred presence of the dead could
81 eek the wild tempest of passion that
burst from the wretchpd mans lips. He
knelt down and cursed the woman the
cause Of all his suferinGs. From that
lime he was utterly lost-remorsc, con
science. every better feeling, were crush
cd out of his nature.
After the mothers death, the child
against whom Madame Rerne felt Il vir-
ulent hatred. onl ~ exceeded by that
which she felt for the fathpr-Spite OF n
wehk opposition on the part Of Mr. Mo-
rant. WAS banished to the care or q
nurse. Two years afterwards the poor
little unfortunate was consigned to the
guardianship of the Rev. Mr.. Porter
Madame Berne determined that Ed
| ward Morant should never know OF it's
existence. neither should the child be
made acquanted with its parentage Be
fore it left the care OF the nurse n friend
OF the lovers, aud who frequently paid
n secret visit to the child. sewed up in
its frock a lockct containing its moth =
portrait and lock of her hair. adding
thereto the scrap of writing which Mont
gomery had now so strangely discov-
cred. The locket had been given her by
poor Frances on her deathbed 1t was
all she could do-dared do. Slight ms
was the link, it might one day prove Use
full to the boy in establishing his iden-
tity.
When. after his death, Mr.. Morant's
will was opened, Madame Berne was dis
covered to have inherited his estate and
fortune; but attached was a codicil OF a
very recent date making chargeable up
on the same an annuity of $500 year
to Sias Morant, known as Silas Cars
ton.
The unlocking and opening Of the door
aroused the dreamer. calling him back
from ghosts of the past to the horrors
| Of the future in the person of Mr. John