Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-11-10
CHAPTER XIII.

A winters moon shone clearly over
+be dark fringe Of trees which sur
rounded the Tidal Pool at Black han.
4 AGAINST the clear frosty Sky the tWlgs
~ the INNER branches showed IKE
some delicate tracery sketched OUT
Nth ink on a piece of dark blue pa
per. .at foroot-
There was no sound in that forgot
ton mace save the distant cry OF
bird in the marshes and the faint CUR
,,le Of The tide, and nothing moved
save the water which had come up
from the sea. ~ :;
,Then a faint sound broke the ST.
,ance of the night. The snap of tWls'
the rustic Of a bough, the soft 1901
stens Of someone creeping through
the trees.
And then few minutes afterwards
something moved at the fringe OF the
wood when faced the light and there
was the CLEAN of white face near
tho foot Of the trees. A figure stole
quietly into the open. and the black
Srass of a woman stood out clear and
distinct against the glittering grass
She look round hastily as tliouen
afraid that someone might be obserV
Ing her movements. l hSi s7iiN
rapidly forward to the wall anu
stared into the eddy OF the waters.
For a few minutes she was SUN as
one of the statutes on the wall ltsell.
Then she flung herself down on ner
knees and looked heavenwards at the
round disc Of the moon. Her elpo"s
were on the parapet. her hands were
claspe6 together. and her whole atti'
tude was that of prayer.
Her white face was Shastiy IN the
moonlight. and seemed whittier than
anything there save the surface OF
the moon itself. 1t stood out IKE q
cameo against the background OF
trees. as clear-cut and pale as the face
of dead woman.
"Oh God" cried Leonore. give me
strength. 1t was here he held me in
his arms and asked me to be his
wife
Nothing moved in the stiffness save
the water. Trees turf. and wall were
motionless. and even the figure OF
I,eonore might have been carved on,
!of stone. Only the water gurgleo
through the culvert
And then. far overhead, there came
a faint sound to break the silence. the
distant yelr of hounds. Nearer il
came and nearer till L.eonore thought
that some pack was III fnll CRY
across the marshland. She looked a
the trees. as though she expected tt
sec the dogs leap out from the Woo
And then she looked at the blue SIX,
snd saw nothing. and then al th'
moon. A few black specks covered
.he surface. and that was all She die
mot understand. She did not know
ithat Gahrinl's hounds were i'll purSui
of a human soul that night
The sounds died away into silence
and once more she looked into tn
swirl of the pool. The shivering SUI
face fascinated her, and she Wondere
what lay beneath that scintillatin
sheet of steel Perhaps there was tn
secret Of happiness in its depths
perhans the knowledge of things VI
seen 1t looked cold and mercilcss. We
II cU,Id moi he colder and more me-
ciless than tho world above It,
T,conore had come 10 that point i
her life when she was able to fac
tho prospect Of death without regre
and without terror For a time sll
had existed on the mere oXCitemor
of nrsise and triumph. as a ma
mieht he kent alive with stimulants {
drugs, She had apnlied herself to he
Art with that furious energy which
the outcome Of highly-strung nerve
Nature exacts full payment for evel
debt. and the hour of reckoning he
come
The collapse had taken one mig
on the STAGE itself. in the midst of
big scene which always tried h
naS TApEA 1or lnfants and nbIdran