Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-01-25

hiOOu Al oy uli nc SOulu nut uuuSf-
stand. Was the drowned girl always
TO be between them? Hayden groaned.
Tell her, say. tell her Or
In desperation Hayden caught up his
hat. IN stroll down to the church,
he muttered hastily, ,-le evening be-
fore the wedding, after hours of gloom
in which he had seen the dead girl
walking between himself and his liv,
ing bride. III see how the decora-
tons are getting on" And he left the
inn where he had been staying for the
last three weeks of his bachelorhood.
and went down to the church in which
Sybdl had been baptized and was to be
married to him tomorrow.
IL was lovely old building of gray
stone, far famed for its many windows
OF stained glass, which in a close line
told In rich puppies and crimsons the
story OF Joseph and his brethren. The
scent OF flowers was heavy on the air
as hayden stole in sunseen. and no
stood awed before the sight of tha
preparations for his bride.
one or two gardeners were busy at
the cfoir stalls; some girls talking in
subdued tones were garlanding a pil.
lar. Hayden watched t..eir dizziness
Ihen, with tender impulse. no
turned his eyes to the altar, where he
would kneel tomorrow beside
A sudden horror clutched him, the
blood surged within him and deafene
nm. Bending at the altar step was .
dark-haired figure in lilac gown with
pink band across the hem.
Hayden CROPPED with his hand, and
clutching a pew door, closed his eyes
in despairing faintness. When he
looked again the figure was gone. The
girls at the pillar had turned from
their work to speak to another. I'm.
seen in his misery, Hayden stole out
at the porch, stunned and cold in the
sunshine.
Hayden never forgot The night which
followed, as he lay, unnerved and hope,
less, waiting for his wedding day, and
facing in all their details the two years
past and the many years to come, from
the day when he had played a sum-
mer's game with the heart of a girl to
all the days when he should live close
to the girl he loved, and feel himself
a murderer.
1t was foolish, it was wrong, he
argued, to count himself so blame
worthy But he had no choice, Kate
Moon insisted.
Toward morning he began to take
more ordinary view of the matter.
This was his wedding day, sunny, hap
Ply, glorious. He had been in an ex-
cited, unnatural state of mind yester.
day. He had brooded so long that his
remorse was abnormal. He had been
in an excited, unnatural state of mind
yesterday. He had thought
and grieved so much that
the poor drowned girls form was on
the retina of his eye. 1t had been an
hallucination. He threw off his hate
full night thoughts, and prepared to
meet his bride.
The prettiest wedding the village
had ever seen," the people said after
ward. The church was a bower OF
trailing green and summer blossoms
The pews were packed, and supdued
buzz of comment played about Hay
den's ears as he waited.
He had not allowed himself much
time to kill; but, supported by his man,
he took his place about five minutes
before the bride was expected. His
heart was lighter than 1t had been for
He determined to throw off
useless self-reproaches, and do his best
in the future.
After the first moments of nervous
ness he raised his eyes and looked
down the church. The brightly colored
crowd was an indistinguisnable whole
to him; but at the end of the aisle was
a shaft of brilliant light; IL streamed
through the porch, and into and
through it walked a double line OF
beauty. They came on in the sunshine
and halted till the end of the lines was
inside the door, when they widened the
space between them and lined the low.
er half of the little aisle.
Hayden gazed at them with tenuer
pleasure and admiration. Her bride
maids" he thought, SYPHILIS bride
maids" and he smiled.
The smile on Hayden's face snapped
off as suddenly as If struck by hand
his features became stiff and ashen
colored; roar seemed to be filing the
church and hurting his brain, the build.
Ing itself heayed about him.
But the figure on which his eye had
first smilingly rested stood motionless.
She stood nearest to him, as first bride
maui, her back slight.y turned:
dropping hat almost hid her features,
but she was dark haired and splendid.
Iy poised, and her gown was OF lilac
with pink band about the hem!
Lilac, among the white gowns beside
her!
This time Hayden could not close his
eyes, some power held them wide and
staring.
The lilac color seemed to deepen I'M
der his horror, the pink band glowed
as If 1t were living fire.
My God" he uttered hoarsely. -,