The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-12-15

| man in a circle of astonished friends
You drew me aside and said word.
which / hardly waited for you to finish
for at last / was free to love you. free
to love and free to say SO. The morn
ing paper had brought news. A tele
graphic dispatch from Seattle told how
man had struggled into Nome. frozen
bleeding and without accouterments oil
companion. 1t was with difficulty he
had kept his feet and turned in at the
first tent he came to. Indeed he had
only time to speak his name before he
fell dead. This mann was what made
this dispatch important to me- 1t was
William Pfeiffer. For me there was
but one William Pfeiffer in the KIon
dike-my husband-and he was dead
That was why you found me laughing
But not in mirth. / am not so bad as
that. But because l could brea the
again without feeling a clutch about
my throat. l did not know till then
how nearly I had been stified.
THE week of our marriage came i
was mad with gayety and ecstatic with
hope. Nothing had occurred to mar
my prospects But God had his eye
ness and the hurry of our final prepa-
rations his bolt fell. 1t struck me while
] was at the-don't laugh; rather shud-
der-at the dressmaker's shop in Four
tecnth street. / was leaning over a Ia
bic, chattering like magpie over the
way l wanted a gown trimmed. when
my eve fell on scrap of newspaper
in which something had come rolled to
madame. 1t was torn at the edge. but
on the bit lying under my eyes I saw
MY husbands name, William Pfeiffer,
and that the paper was Denver one.
There was but one William Pfeiffer in
Denver-and he was my husband. And
1 read-feeling nothing. Then I read
again, and the world, my world, went
from under my feet. for the man who
had fallen dead in the camp at Nome
was Wallace, Williams brother, and
not William himself. William had
been left behind on the road by his
more energetic brother, who had push
ed on for succor through the worst
storm and under the worst conditions
possible even in that God forsaken re-
gion. With the lost one in mind, the
one word that Wallace uttered in sight
Of rescue was William. 1t was Wallace
who had fallen dead. and while William
might have persisted also, and doubtless
had, I had no certainty of it. And my
wedding day was set for Thursday.
"why didn't tell Cora? Why didn't
! tell you? Pride held my tongue; be-
sides, 1 had had time to think before
saw either of you, and to reason a bit
and feel sure that if Wallace had been
spent enough to fall dead on reaching
the camp, William could never have
survived on the open road; for Wal
lace was the stronger of the two and
the most hardy every way. Free 1
certainly was. Some later paper would
assure me of this. But for three nights
did not sleep.
1.-THE caprice which had led me to
chosse the old Moore house to be mar
ried in led me to plan dressing there
ON my wedding morning. 1t was early
when we started, Cora and /, for
avenue, but not too early
for the approaches to that dreadful
house to be crowded with people, eager
to see the daring bride. Why / should
have shrunk so from that crowd can
not say. l tremblsd at sight of their
faces and at the sound of their voices,
and if by chance a head was thrust
forward farther than the rest I cow
cred back instinctively and nearly
screamed. Did l dread to recognize a
100 familiar face? The paper l had
seen bore a date six months back. A
nan could arrive here from Alaska in
that time. Or was my conscience
aroused at last and clamoring to be
heard when it was too late? On the
,orner Of N street the carriage sudden
Y stopped. A man had crossed in
'ront of it. l caught one glimpse of
his man and instantly the terrors of a
lifetime were Concentrated into one in
tant Of agonizing fear. 1t was William |
'feiffer. I knew the look; knew the |
gait. He was gone in moment and |
he carriage rolled on. But / knew my |
loom as well that minute as l did an |
lour later. My husband was alive and |
le was here.
You were waiting at the curb when |
arrived, and. remember how my |
leart stood still when you laid your
Iand on the carriage door and con-
ronted me with that light on your
ace l had never seen disturbed since |
We first pledged ourselves to marry. In |
error l seized the hand which seemed |
ny one refuge in this hour of mortal |
rouble, and FASTENED into the house
which for all it's doleful history had
ever received within its doors a heart
nore burdened or reUellious. ! pressed
our hand with mine and smiled. Oh,
iod. If you could have seen what lay
eneath that smile. For with my
ntrance beneath those fatal doors a
bought had come. 1 remembered my
eritage remembered,how 1 had been
Did by my father when l was a very
title girl presume when he hrst
cit the hand of death upon him-that
ever 1 was in great tfouble-very
reat trouble, he had said, where no
eliverance seemed possible was to
pen a little golden ball. which he1
bowed me. and take out what ahoulf
nd inside and hold ii close up befoSe
picture which had hung from THE
In the southwest cornef of
MS old house.
fTo Be Contiaued)