Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-26
CHAPTER vL.-continusd.


terror and entreaty; the eyes were
bursting from their sockets and were
riveted on hers as those of a man In
a dungeon might be fixed upon an
approaching specter of one whom he
mad murdered. His chest rose and
fell, as though trying to burst some
unseen bonds that were crushing out
his life. With every breath would
the awful groan that had first
brought me to him. Beulah Sands had
half turned her face until her eyes
gazed into Bob's with a sweet, child
ish ~perplexity. / looked at her, sur
prised that one whom / had always
seen so intelligently masterful should
be passive in the face Of such an
guish. Then, horror of horrors! l
saw that there was something missing
from her great blue eyes. 1 looked;
gasped. Could it possibly be? With
a bound 1 was at her side. l gazed
again into those eyes which that
morning had been all that was intel
ligent, all that was godlike, all that
was human. Their soul, their life
was gone. Beulah Sands was a dead
woman; not dead in body, but in
soul; the magic spark had fled. She
was but an empty shell-a woman Of
living flesh and blood; but the cita-
del Of life was empty, the mind
was gone. What had been a woman
was but a child. I passed my hand
across my now damp forehead. l
closed my eyes and opened them
again. Bob's figure, with clasped, up
lifted hands, and bursting eyes, was
still there. There still resounded
through the room the awful cultural
groans. Beulah Sands smiled, the
smile of an infant in the cradle. She
took n beautiful hand from the pa
pereand passed it over Bob's bronzed
cheek, just as the infant touches its
mothers face with its chubby fingers.
In my horror / almost expected to hear
the purling of a babe. MY eyes in their
perplexity must have wandered from
her face, for I suddenly became aware
of a great black headline spread
across the top of the paper that she
had been reading:
"FRIDAY, THE 18TH"
And beneath in one of the col.
umns:
%"TERRIBLE TRAGEDY IN VIRGINIA"
"The Most Prominent Citizen of the
State, ex-United States Senator and
Ex-Governor, Judge Lee Sands Of
Sands Landing, While Temporarily
insane from the Loss of His For
tune and Millions of the Funds for
Which He Was Trustee, Cut the
Throat of His Invalid Wife, His
Daughters, and Then His Own. All
Three Died Instantly"
In another column:
"Robert BROMLEY Creates the Most
Disastrous Panic In the History Of
Wall Street and Spreads Wreck and
Ruin Throughout the Country"
A hideous picture scared its every
light and shade on my mind, through
my heart, into all my soul. A fren-
zied-inance harvest scene with its
CORY crop; in the center one living
dead, part of the picture, yet the
ghost left to haunt the painters, one
of whom a already covering before
the black and bloody canvas.
Well did the world-artist who wrote
over the door of the madhouse: Man
can suffer only to the limit, then he
shall know peace" understand the
wondrous wisdom Of his God. Beu-
lah Sands had gone beyond her limit
and was at peace.
The awful groaning stopped, and an
ashen pallor spread over Bob Brown
ley's face. Before I could catch him
he rolled backward upon the floor as
dead. Bob Brownley, too, had gone
beyond his limit. I bent over him
and lifted his head, while the sweet
~woman-child knelt and covered his
face with kisses, calling in a voice
like that of a tiny girl speaking to her
doll: Bob. my Bob. wake up, wake
up; your Beulah wants you" AS /
placed my hand upon Bob's heart and
felt its beats grow stronger, as /
listened to Beulah Sands childish
voice, joyishly confident as it called
upon the one thing left Of her old
world, some Of my terror passed. In
its place came a great mellowing
a Of Gods marvellous wisdom. I
thought gratefully Of my moth.
er's always ready argument that the
law Of laws, of Gods and nature, is
that Of compensation. / had allowed
Bob's head to sink until it rested in
Beulah's lap, and from his calm and
steady breathing / could see that he
had safely passed a crisis, that at
least he vas not in the clutches of
death. as | had at first feared.
Bob slept. Beulah Sands ceased her
calling and with a smile raised her
fingers to her lips and softly said:
Hush, my Bob's asleep" Together
we held vigil over u sleeping lover
and friend, she with the happiness OF
q child who had no fear Of the awak.
ening, I with q silent terror Of what
would come next ! had seen one mind
waited to the unknown that day. Was
1t to have a companion to cheer and
solace 1t on Its far journey to the
great beyond? How long we waited
Bob's awakening ! could not tell. The
clocks hands said an hour; 1t seemed
to me an age. At last his magnificent
physique, his Imprisoned blood and
splendid brain pulled him through to
his new world Of mind and heart tor
ture. His eyelids lifted. He looked
at me, then at Beulah Sands, with
A~eAA l - Ms M II En- VIZ