The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-06-06


ful business wa have ner woros Ia
show words which she spent tho
last miserable day OF ber nfe in writ
ing The few lines which l. showed
the captain and which have been pub
hshed TO the world was an inclosure
meant for the public eye. The real let
ter telling Che whole terrible truth. I
kept for myself and for the sister who
already knew her sin Oh we did ev.
erything we couldm And be- again
moaned. "But It was in vain: quite In
vain"
There were no signs Of subterfure ia
/ him now, aud we all. unless / except Dur.
bin. began to yield him credeuce Dur.
bin never gives credeuce 70 anybody
whose name he has once heard asso.
ciated with crime
And this Pfeiner was contracted to
herr A man she had secretly married
while schoolgirl and who ut this
very critical instant had found his way
to the house
"You sho. read her letter. II was
] Att't tAAtA IVA AANt ANA ANt WlsaN -WNN AON
shall see IT, I cannot talk OF him or
of her crime. 1t is enough that I have
/ been unable TO think OF anything else
since FIRST those dreadful words fell
/ from her lips ia sleep. thirty six hours
] before she died" Then with the in
consistency Of great anguish he sud
/ denly broke forth into the details he
shrank from and cried:
"She muttered lying there. that she
was no bigamist. That she had killed
one husband before she married the
| other Killed him in the old house
ana by the method her ancestors had
/ taught her. And /, risen on my elbow
/ listened, with the sweat oozing from
/ my forehead, but not believing her. Oh.
not believing her any more than any
one OF you would believe such words
uttered In a dream by the darling OF
/ your heart But when. with a long
/ drawn sigh, she murmured, Murderer
and raised her fists-tlny hsts, hnnds
which | had kissed a thousand times
/ and shook them in the air. an awful
/ terror seized me. and sought TO grasp
/ them ana hold them down. but was
/ hindered by some namcless inner recoil
under which / could not speak or
| gasp or move. or course, IL was some
/ dream horror she was lnborlng under.
a nightmare OF unimuginable acts aud
thoughts. but II was one to hold me
back; and when she lay quiet again
and her face resumed its old sweetness
in the moonlight, l found myself star
ing at her almost as II it were true
what she had said-that word-that
awful word which no woman could
use with regard 10 herself. even in
dreams, unless-something, an echo
from the dlscordant chord in our two
weeks married life, rose like the con.
iirmation Of doubt in my shocked and
rebellious breast
From that hour tin dawn nothing IN
that slowly Frightening room seemed
real, not her face lying buried in its
youthful locks upon the pillow, not the
objects well known and wen prized by
which we were surrounded not my
self-mOst of all, not myself, unless the
Icy dew oozing from the roots OF my
lifted hair was real. unless that shape.
fearsome, vague, but persistent, which
lowered I'm the shadows above us.
drawing line Of eternal separation
between me ana my wife, was thing
which could be caught and strangled
and Oh. l ravel chatter like a
madman, but did not rave that night
Nor did / rave when. I'm the bright
broad sunlight, her eyes slowly unclos
ed ana she started 10 see me bending
so near her, but not with my usual kiss
or glad good morning l could not
question her then; dared not. The
smile which slowly rose 10 her lips
was too piteous-it ohowed confidence
/ waited tin after breakfast. Then
while she was seated where she could
not see my face I whispered the ques-
tion. DO you know that you have had
a horrible dreamT She shrieked and
turned. ! saw her face and knew that
what she had uttered in her sleep was
true.
Il have no remembrance OF what
said 10 her, She tried 10 tell me how
She had been tempted and how she had
not realized her own act tin the mo.
ment / bent down 10 kiss her lips as
her husband But | did not stop TO
listen-I could not dew Immediately
TO Miss 1'uttle with the violent demand
as to whether she knew that her sister
was already q wife when she married
me, aud when she cried out 'Non ana
showed great dismay I broke forth
with the dreadful tale and covered in
unmanly anguish at her feet and went
mad and lost myself for q little while.
Then / went back 10 my wretchod wife
and asked her how the awful deed had
been done. she told me. and again
did not believe her and began 10 look
upon IL al as some wild dream Of the
distempered fancles Of "a disordered
brain This thought calmed me. and 1
spoke gently TO her ana even tried TO
take her hand But she herself was
raying now and chung about my knees
murmurIng words Of such anguish and
contritiOn that my worst fears return
ed and only stopping 10 take the key
Of the Moore house from my bureau.
left the house and wandered madly-
/ know not where
~ ala not go back that day. I could
not face her again till / knew how
much OF her confession was fancy ana
how much was fact / roamed the
streets, carrying that key from one end
Of tho city to the other and az night
I used n 10 open the house which size