Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-08-29

to make the attempt She had said
that the best thing which could hap
pen to such men as he was death, and
now he was dead During the after
noon she went alone into the forest,
black, slender, forlorn figure with
hunted look in her eyes, the express
sion of a dumb creature flying from 7
some pursuing terror. Consciously or
ubconsciously she traversed ground
which she had trod last with Hugo
at her side. Then it was winter, now
it was summer; the season, perhaps, /
when the forest wears its least attrac-
tive garb; an overwhelming green, al |
most exasperatingly monotonous. The
rank growth and underground of trees |
and bushes, the lush grass, the thick
cts of fern swallowed her UP. Above.
the sun shone fercely in an unclouded |
sky. His beams, piercing the leaves
and grass, fell vertically upon the fer
tile earth, which gave forth strange
odors, rich and enervating, in an intox-
icating silence The birds We're mute, |
and the only sound to De detected by
a quick ear was the faint stirring of
the dangerous grasses and the hum of
insect wings Suddenly, lowering near
a fine oak tree, she saw that rare and
| splendid butterfly purple emperor.
Time was when the desire to capture
him would have thrilled her irresist-
IDLY Now she watched his imperial
progress with Indifferent eyes, know
ing that she would never chase butter
flies again. She sank upon couch
of moss beneath beech tree. Hugo
Charteris was dead
Upon such day as this, when life
was rampant, the fact seemed incred-
ible. He had been so strong, so Wig
orous, SO free from all physical blem-
ish and infrmity, and because of this
the mans moral weakness and I'M
cleanliness had revolted her. BY some
strange psychological process, the
death of Hugo Charteris brought to
life Reginald Charteris, the kindly
comrade whom she hau buried deep,
whom she had regarded as murdered.
Now, so to speak, he rose from the
dead and sat beside her She could
see his smile and hear the pleasant in
Elections of his voice. He became the
real man, the other dwindled and
faded into an attentuated shade.
4 Her bitter sweet satisfaction in the
thought that through the death of one
the other became her inalienable pos
session cannot be set forth in words,
but such an experience is, fancy,
common enough to III of u.s. The OBJ
jective dies, the subjective remains,
ethereal, if you like, sublimated, and
in sense artificial, but on that very
account the more truly our own for
ever and ever One might go farther
and assert that what we are pleased
to call substance can never be said to
belong to us because it is essentially
: perishable, whereas the spirit which
informs even household furniture, and
hideous furniture at that, survives a
confiagration. Let us cite Edward
Charteris's satisfaction in the mon.
strous silver urn turned for him into
thing Of beauty because his mother
had always used it.
/, Joy lay for an hour in the forest
+ had she been aware of it, she was not
t SO very far from the nigh-lying moor
r where Hugo had cast himself down tC
Q pass not one, but three hours. In eaci
u case, man and maid were acutely con
n scious Of irreparable loss but to the
woman in her purity and innocence
t came the balm Of life that has lived
j 'melodious days; to Hugo, the mad
S dening, gadfy thought that memory
must for ever be curse instead of 6
blessing.
t Next day she set about her prepare
}. tons for leaving the rectory. The
aunts and Sir Giles were Informed
/. that she meant to go abroad for few
months. After her return, the ques
Z, ton Of where to settle down could b,
r determined. Miss Priscilla venturet
e to observe:
9 1--WE thought at one time that yol
, and Esme burgess
>, THAT was never possible" sail
g Joy emphatically.
e eve wondered at his not coming t.
the funeral"
n "He wrote. There was big politi
g cal meeting somewhere | quite ur
L derstood"
But here she had fibbed, being sor
J. that the young fellow should hav
st stayed away. Her father had been S
kind to him, so hospitable, in the oil
days. And if he had come as friend
he would have been so welcome.
She wondered, too, why Frank Tis
dale held aloof He had attended tn
n funeral and then had slipped ava
Immediately afterwards. Perhaps h
is saw her alone with her uncle, and di
"a not like to intrude She would b
II very sorry to say goodbye to Fran
a Tisdale.
: She was thinking of writing him
r. letter asking him to come over, whe
she heard the familiar toot of his mt
tor outside the rectory gate. A M
ment later, the parlor-maid ushere
him into the dining room, alread
n dismantled. In her plain black dres!
~ absolutely unrelieved by any touch {
le white, she looked pale and THU
At When Tisdale gaZed into her eyes sh
IS turned them aside as if afraid that h
i'd might read something in their to
=. transparent depths. Immediately sh
began to talk of her plans. speakin
f,> tall ~ -,