Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1905-06-09

wish for it."
Even in the midst of her wild distress
and remorse there was one phrase in
this speech that had the effect of silenc-
ing the mother altogether. She drew
back, aghast, her face white, her eyes
staring with horror.
''You and I?' she repeated. "You and
| 1? You, to become like-like-"
"Yess" said Yolande. what is right
for you is right for me; that is what I
mean to do-always. Now, dear moth
err" she added, in a more languid way,
Il will lie down; am giddy-"
She sat down on the edge of the bed,
putting her hand to her forehead, and
rested so awhile; then insensibly after a
time she dropped down on to the pillow
although the frightened and frantic
mother tried to get an arm around her
waist; and very soon the girl had relaps-
ed into perfect insensbility.
And then a cry rang through the house
like the cry of the Egyptian mothers
over the death of their frst-born. The
poison seemed to act in directly oppo-
site ways in the brains of these two
women-the one it plunged into pro-
found stupor; the other it drove into
frenzy. She threw herself on the sense
less form and wound her arms round the
girl, and shrieked aloud that she had
murdered her child-her beautiful daugh-
| ter-she was dying-dead, and no one
to save her-murdered by her own moth
er! The little household was reused
at once Jane came rushing in, terri
fed. The landlady was the first to re-
cover her wits, and instantly she sent a
housemaid for doctor. Jane, being a
strang-armed woman, dragged the hys-
terical mother back from the bed, and
bathed her young mistress forehead with
eau-de-cologne-it was all the poor kind
creature could think of. Then they tried
to calm the mother somewhat; for she
was begging them to give her a knife,
that she might kill herself and die with
her child.
The doctors arrival quoted matters
somewhat; and he had scarcely been a
minute in the room when his eyes fell
on the small blue bottle on the mantel-
piece. That he instantly got hold Of;
the label told him what were the con-
tents; and when he went back to the bed
side of the girl-who was lying insens-
BILE, in a heavy breathing sleep, her chest
laboring as if against some weight-he
mother to get her to show him precisely
the quantity of the fluid that had been
taken. The poor woman seemed beside
herself She dropped on her knees be-
fore him, in a passion of tears, and
clasped her hands.
''Save her, save her!-save my child
to me!-if you can give her back to me
l will die hundred times before harm
ie,l, 70 c,,1 al;
that came to me like an angel, with kind
ness and open hands-and this is what
Eve -dOnev
he took her by the hand and gently rails
ed her. Nov you must be quiet. l am
not going to wake your daughter. If
that is what she took, she will sleep it
off; she is young, and l should say
healthy. | am going to let nature work
the cure; though l fear the young lady
will have a bad headache in the morn
ing 1t is a most mischievous thing to
have such drugs in toe house. You are
her maid, l understands he said, turn
ing to Jane.
Yes, SIR
"Ah. Well, l think for tonight you
hal better occupy that other bed there
anu TIC yUullS luuy NS
a bed elsewhere. l don't think you need
fear anything-e a headache in the
morning Let her sleep as long as she
may. In the morning let her go for a
drive in the fresh air, if she is too Ian
guild to walk
But the mother cried so bitterly on
hearing of this arrangement that they
had to consent to her retaining her place
IL L 1
make herselI comfortable enough in an
armchair. AS for the poor mother, she
did not go back to her own bed at all !;
she sat at the side of Yoande's bed
at the foot of it, lest the sound of her
sobbing should disturb the sleeper; and
sometimes she put her hand ever 50 light
Iy on the bedclothes with a kind of pat.
as it were, while the tears were running
down her face.
Yolande passed from one vision of
terror to another all through the long
night; until in the gray of the morning
she slowly awoke to a sort of half-stupe-
fed consciousness. She had a headache
so frightful that at first she could
scarcely open her eyes. But she did not
mind that she was overjoyed that she
could convince herself of her escape from
those hideous phantoms, and of her be-
ing in the actual living world. Then
she began to recollect. She thought of
what she had done-perhaps with lit
tie touch of pride, as of something that
he might approve, if ever he should come
to know. Then, though her head was
throbbing so dreadfully, she cautiously
opened her eyes to look around.
No sooner had she done so than Jane,
who was awake, stole noiselessly to her
young mistress bedside. Yolande made
a gesture to insure silence-for she saw
that her mother was lying asleep; then
she rose, wrapped a shawl round her,
and slipped out of the room, followed by
her maid.