Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1908-11-19
Through a
WOn1an'S Heart.
By Sidney Warwick.

| niicance, was the wrong this man
| had done to his beloved
The thing called moral sense reeled
in him, swept away by wave Of blind
| hatred of this unknown man, as he
looked into the face of the woman he
| lOved-pale, proud, with it's scarlet
! lips and smoldering eyes; and in
| that moment Stephen Ruthen knew
! how near to the surface in every
mans soul lies the sleeping primitive
man, with all the primitive mans saw
age passions and implses.
'"This man, Carr-if he were within
reach of my hands now" he cried,
hoarsely, 81 believe before God that
| should"
The words broke off abruptly, like
the sudden swapping of a fiddle
string.
Through the half-open door that led
into the church, standing out among
the shadows that lay thick about the
altar-shadows broken only by the
dim CLEANS of the candles burning in
the organ loft and the faint moonlight
that fell through stained glass in
splashes of crimson-the outline of
the cross that was the symbol Of his
sacred calling met Stephen Ruthen's
eyes while the wild Outburst was on
his lips, recalling him to himself, TAX
ing, as it were, 8 dumb voice, that
cried to him:
"You, one of Gods ministers, with
a threat of murder on your lips-with
murder in your hearth
He crossed and shut the door
But he was still fighting with him
self-fighting with those passions and
impulses of the hatred that scorched
his brain like flame as she spoke
again:
THAT letter came to me weeks ago.
Until then, though he had shown but
too plainly that he had wearied OF me,
| though he even struck me when we
parted last"
HE struck you, Olive?"-in a
strangled voice.
She nodded.
ooh. but that blow wasn't so cow
ardly as the blow in his letter; for
the last was struck in cold blood
premeditated Until that letter came
I believed was at least his wife. Not
his wife!-only his plaything, his dis
carded mistressi Oh, Stephen, Ste
phen. [ think my heart is frozen!" she
broke out wildly. IF only | could cry
dear heaven, if only I could cry!
But | have no tears left, only this
hate that fills me so that l can think
of nothing else but my hate, my hun
ger for vengeance"
He touched her hands with an in
finite tenderness of pity, but words
failed him. Stephen Ruthen knew
what a man who was priest OF the
church ought to have said-tO have
told her that vengeance was for God,
not for a man or woman. But he re-
allied that such words spoken by
him. with all his feelings stirred as
they were stirred now, would have
been a mockery and lie. His mouth
was rigid his hands were clenched.
"Stephen, I want you to help me to
find that man." she cried feverishly.
'T don't know his real name, but I've
found a clue; part of torn-up let
ter to him which spoke of Wildfell,
and that brought me here. And then
this afternoon, as though Fate was
fighting for me, | caught a glimpse
of him in Fellsgarth station, | saw
him from the carriage window as my
train came in. He was on far plat.
form, but his face leapt out from the
| crowd. But he had gone before
could reach the platform where | had
seen him. Only l knew then that
was on the right track. He is living
or staying near here. You will help
me to find him. Stephen"
"But-when you find him Oliver
| Something in her face frightened
him. For the first time smile flick
cred about her lips, like the light flick
ering on the horizon before a storm
it seemed to threaten a vengeance
that would know no pity, no remorse
i no fear Her breast was rising and
falling fast; with that CLEAN OF
strange resolution in her face she
looked like another Judith.
Il have my mothers Southern blood
in me-" she said. Don't question me
Stephen; don't seek to know! All
ask you is to help me to find this
man.
He looked at her with a swift-dawn
ing fear. He saw that she was al
most beside herself with broodine
over her wrongs, her reason trembling
on the razor edge that was the divid
ing line from madness; that it was
not the Olive he loved who spoke now
through olives, lips, but the passion
l. ate, vengeful spirit of some hot
blooded ancestor stirring in the
depths of her brain, possessing her
for the time absolutely-realized that
for her own sake he must save her
whom he loved from meeting this
man Carr, from the possible terrible
outcome of such a meeting; that he
must save her from herself.
Hush, Olive! This man shall be
found and brought to book, but not by
you And even if the law leaves him
scathless, though that is unlikely, his
punishment shall surely come III Gods
good time You must put away these
thoughts that fill your mind now
Olive. you must thrust them aside!'
he rr;ed, thinking of the woman
, thir King only indirectly of the man.
ne laughed mockingly.
You would have me spare him
a man too vile to live! A man who
ought to be sent to his account with
all his sins red as blood upon his