The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-04-28


 them some of her own. Oh, l had charming partner I invite you all to come to my house and visit Mrs. Pooles patient-and my wifel This girl by my side knew nothing of this-never dreamed that she was being trapped into feigned union with a defrauded wretch already bound to a bad. mad, embruted partner"
 Grasping Jane by the wrist Rochester followed by the others. walked swiftly ao the Hall and proceeded to an upper room-the one supposed to be Grace Poole's He flung open the door to show them the wild. savage creature which Jane lad seen in her room the night be- fore Grace Poole was there and cried out for Rochester to beware.
 The horrible creature, looking rather beast than human, sprang at him saw agely; but he threw her off with an ex- ertion of great strength and left the room with his followers. As they decended the stairs the lawyer said to Jane Your uncle will be glad to hear that you are cleared from all blame if. indeed, he is living when MT. .dason returns to Ma dera'
 Jane had written to her uncle at Ma dera when she thought that she was about to become the bride of Rochester to acqualnt him of the fact and the law yer now informed her that MT. Mason had been visiting the uncle when the news arrived.
 MT. Eyre was overjoyed to find that his niece was still alive, and mentioned the contents of the letter to his guest Mason at once informed him that Rochester was already married and Eyre had insisted upon his going at once to England, engag- ing a lawyer and stopping the marriage with Jane.
 When the others had gone and Roehes- ter was alone with Jane he said: Now lE,,. ,a1f (Nf.. .an0i
 Yes, Jane had already forgiven him. Then he besought her to fly with him to a whitewashed villa which he owned on the shores of the Mediterranean and there be happy with him. This marriage with
 Bertha Mason he said, had been arr
 ranged by his father and brother-that
 was the great wrong he had suffered He
 did not consider that crazy woman up- , stairs as his wife. he pleaded with Jane
 and declared that he had never known what it was to love until he had met her. He attempted to embrace her. but she fled from the room.
 That night she thought the spirit of her mother spoke to her and said: My daughter flee temptation" Silently at dead of night dressed in her planest gown. Jane stole away from Thornfeld. At daylight q stageeoach overlook her on the road and she took seat in it, riding as far as the scanty sum of money she
 had with her would allow.
 Then she wandered for two days
 through the country. weary, famshed,
 begging food now and then wet with
 rain which began 10 fall until one night
 she saw a light shining from an old
 manor house and knocked at the kitchen door. She felt that she was dying and
 begged for shelter, but the servant drove
 her away.
 She fell exhausted upon the doorstep.
 sa Ying aloud: T can but die herei" A
 voice out of the darkness behind her said :: All men must dle but you must not per
 ish here of want" 1t was the voice of St. John Rivers. the curate of the parish.
 and this was the home of his two sis
 ters with whom he was staying tempora-
 rily, their father having died recently.
 Jane wastaken into the house and care
 fully tended until she was strong again.
 which was not for day or two. She told
 these kind people the story of her life,
 only expressing the name Of the place
 where she had been governess and her
 reasons for leaving it.
 It turned out to their mutual astonsh- ment that St. John Rivers and his sis ters were cousins of the pcor wanderer. children of her fathers sister. So she
 stayed on with them, and when her uncle
 in Madeira died, as he did soon after,
 Jane, knowing not only that the Riverses , were poor, but that their father had lost money by speculating on the advice of the
 dead uncle, insisted on dividing with them the fortuna which fell to her under | her uncie's will
 l For rearly year Jane tried to be hap 1 py. but there was a vacant place In her ] heart Finally st. John Rivers, being 1 about to depart as a missionary to India. l asked her to be his wife The two were alone ir the library and it was night. He urged so strongly that Jane almost yield ed. Then. suddenly, there passed through her strange feeling. It was not like au
 electric shock, but as sharp, as strange, as startling; and she heard voice cry: "Janel Janel Janei"
 It was the voice of Rochester. and the l girl flew to the door, crying out to the i moonlight which flooded everything | T am coming. Wait for me. Where are | your"
 But there was only the silence of the | empty night outside, and, turning back | into the house she passed the astonished 1 St. John, who of course, had heard l nothing, and sought her room. i The next morning Jane was on her l way to Thornfeld. That mysterious mid night voice, calling her name in the ac-
 cents of Rochester still echoed in her i heart. She felt only one tbing-that the 1 man she loved was In trouble that he
 needed her and that she must go to him. When finally she came in sight of Thorn | field Hall, what was her dismay 10 see l the site of the once stately mansion oc- cupied by blackened and tottering walls ! What was the meaning of this ruin? Some 1 answer must be had to the agonized 1 questions which made her brain reel. She hurried to the inn of the neighbor- l ing village and interrogated her host as
 to the misfortunes which had befallen | Thorn1ed.
 1 "Oh 1t was burned, miss" said the inn | keeper. MT. Rochester. the squire, had | a crazy wife living there. We discovered | 1t in q most singular manner. There was | governess-
 | Jane felt that she was about to hear l her own story. and said sharply:
 Never mind the governess. What of | the fire?"
 Well" continued the host, this crazy l wife of Mir Rochesters had for a keeper | one Grace Poole. woman who was ex- 1 eellcnt in all ways but one. Sometimes | she took urop too much and allowed 1 her patient to escape and wander about ] the house. On one of these-occasions the crazy woman set the house ahire. Il ] was at the dead of night and the flames