The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-08

happy home--and to her. And ne
would see her In an hour!
"At the end Of year. you Will come
ami Sit with me for an hour--and every
4 year that follows" she had said. while
her dying breath came in quick. painful
i easps. II shall be lonely out there
without you, and Jealous OF the world
4 which still claims you. All, you would
never love again AZ you have loved me.
would you, Harold? Promise me. oh.
nromise mo that you will never forget.
land that you will come to me once. Q
year. You will And me just the same.
she continued, In q failing voice, as she
Iaid a weak hand on his bowed head. In
broken words he promised. and littls.
i later she died. -
Harold was thinking Of all this now.
as the clock licked slowly toward the
hour OF midnight. At quarter to
twelve he arose. and. lighting small
| lantern, went out in the night; the
chill October wind blew around him
as he walked down the desolate ave-
nue.. Presently. as he reached an an
gle in the walk. sombre building, with
| big, square towers. rose before him In
the pale moonlight. On reaching 1t,
he stopped before d heavy door. and
with a ponderous key opened 1t. and.
o moment later. stood alone in the tomb
| Of his ancestors.
| with the aid of the lantern he soon
| found the place where his wife slept
l her last sleep, Raised on plain bier
4 rested the casket that contained the
earthly remains of his beloved Zalome.
| He sat the lantern on stone shelf
| and slowly, with trembling fingers, be-
1 gan to unscrew the upper lid Of the cas-
ket; this being done he removed 1t with
out difficulty and sat It against the
wall, Then he turned again to the
| casket where he was once more to see
| the face of her whom he had so dear
~ loved. In another moment he was
looking through the glass at the face of
the dead.
! She lay. calm and beautiful. just as
| he had seen her last: She said she would
be the same. AMI she was.
| With passionate sob he pressed his
| lips to the glass that divided them, and
/ kissed the cold surface over and over
again, whispering words Of endearment
The air was damp and foul, but he took
| no heed of this--continuing to drink
In the beauty of the dead woman be-
fore him.
Tho morning sun was shining when
Harold returned to the library and laid
himself down on q couch in such a po-
sition that he could see the first beams
OF sunlight falling on the pictured face
on the wall. Finally he slept, and
dreamed OF her he had lost.
II XVIII return In year." he said to
Thomas. the steward. as he left the
| "o~oS s"es uotHthks.
It was night in October, one year
later, ana Harold again sat before the
library table. This night there was
a strange expression in his gray
eyes and his actions were mechanical.
1t lacked but Ave minutes OF twelve
| when he opened the door of the vault.
The stiffness fell upon him like pail
as he sought the corner where Zalome
lay. In the glimmering light he lean
ed over the casket and looked once more
at the beautiful form of the woman
| who had loved him so madly that even
| In death sne would not release him.
The lips of the man moved Ia
lone! Zalomew he whispered, and his
/ words were full Of strange longing.
II love youi love you'll" he continued.
How could you ever doubt that
would be true? Darling! Darling"
Again he laid his face on the cold
glass and his frame shook with intense
emotion. After a time he raised his
head and looked at the dead face for
long time.
How beautiful you are! oh. how
beautiful he said. more than once,
| ore he closed the lid and left the
vault His face was pale and full of
pain when he entered the library and
threw himself YEARLY upon the couch.
and when he slept he was troubled
with strange dreams-dreams in which
the faces of two women floated before
| him in a confused panorama; one was
that of his dead wife. lying cold and
still in the damp vault, and the other
was that of a radiant woman he had
met at Geneva three months ago--a
beautiful woman with sea-blue eyes
and red-gold hair.
Another year has come, and Thomas
was waiting for his master; he had ex-
| pectsd him early in tho evening, but
| nine. ten and eleven strokes had sound
| ed from the tall clock and still he came
not. Thomas was uneasy. 1t had been
n long time since he had heard from
his master. yet the old man did not be-
lieve that Gilbraith would fail to come
tonight, as had been his custom. How
ever, when the hour of midnight ap-
preached and he did not appear, the
old servant began to make preparations
for retiring. AS he entered the libra
ry to put out the light. he was star
tledled by the sound of loud knock
Ing at the hall door. On opening it
his master stood before him. His mas
ter, surely, but how changed! He look |
ed haggard and i'll and his voice was
husky as he spoke to the steward.
Tho key to the tomb" he said and |
hurried into the library. When Thorn
as had brought the key, he stood a lone
time gazing at the face on the canvas, |
then sat down by the table and buried |
his face in his hand.
''Zalome! Zalome!" he cried in an
guished tones. Forgive me, forgive |
me-"
He sat thus for some time. his |
mind busy with thoughts of the dead
and of the living-the dead wife and the |
living wife. Four months ago he had |
married the woman with the red gold |
hair.
Ho had not intended to come here to-
night, but. as the hour drew near, he
felt himself drawn by an invisible force
to her whom he had promised to visit
every year on the anniversary of her |
death; so he had left his bride, taken
a late train and come down. He stood
now, as 1t were, between the two wo-
men who had entered his life-the liv-
Ing wife and the dead one.
There had been times when he rebell-
ed at the promise he had made to Ia
ONE; she had no right to expect such
devotion, he told himself. He knew too
we'll why she had asked this: she loved
him so well, ana hers was a strong and
Jealous nature. one that could brook no
rival, even after death She had
thought to keep him near her by this
tryst with her beautiful body. for even
death had not destroyed its fairness
The chill October wind blew in upon
him through the half open window. as
it had blown in upon the dying woman
this night three years ago. In a lux
urious house In the city the one with
red-gold hair smiled in her sleep as
she dreamed of the man she loved |
should he go back to the living one mr.
should he keep his tryst with the dead9
The loud. musical tones of>the clock
reverberating through the house arous-
ed him with start The strolyos |