Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1909-10-12
CHAPTER XIV.

CHAPTER XIV
! By nightf&u Agatha was lying in
her darkened bedroom, in the house
| from which she had sailed in the
morning in all the bravery of her we'd
| ding garments, with a hospital nurse
| by her misunderstanding to and fro up
on her tumbled pillows in the delirium
of high fever The story of what had
| happened in the vestry soon spread
like wild-fire. and the deepest compass
sion was felt, both for her and for the
| unfortunate man who was the cause
| of the catastrophe
| 1t appeared that on first entering the
vestry, nothing unusual had taken
place. Miss Carroll was the first to
kiss her brother and his new wife, then
others followed quickly with their cool
wishes and congratulations. Then
| Agatha sat down quite gaily to write
| her maiden name for the last time
| Then it was Miss CarrolPs turn, but
| just as she was STOPPING down over
| the table to aff1x her signature below
| theirs, some one standing behind her
caught her by the arm and whispered
| to her, with agitation:
Look at your brother, Miss Carroll
for heavens sake look at him!"
| She dropped the pen and turned
| quickly. Rupert was deadly pale h.
stood motionless, clutching his head
between his hands, and staring down
blankly and wildly at the written
names in the register on the table.
1T is wrong! all wrongl" he cried.
| some dreadful mistake here. Release
mel" he cried. turning fiercely round
upon the startled Vicar. set me free:
undo this horrible mockery of mar
riage, to which 1 will never consent. 1t
cannot be too late; remember every
thing; l am engaged to be married;
the woman to whom l am engaged is
waiting for me to come to her-let me
| go-set me free. this marriage is moth
| ing but a sham and a mockery-Aga-
! tina Dale cannot be my wife,"
Then Agatha had turned away
| speeches. and pale, appalled, by the
! hideous horror of these dreadful words,
| and breaking through the many kindly
| and compa ssionate arms that would
| have held her back, she fed like a mad
woman down the church, with no con-
| seriousness of the crowd on either side
| of her, and no thought save a wild
| craving to escape and to hide herself
somewhere-anywh out of the
world, till at last she had mercifully
| fallen insensible amongst those who
surrounded her. ere she reached the
church door.
ror Isupe~t = Barrett who was
/ IL I,
out of his mind, got him away quietly
by the door of the vestry, and hur-
red him back to the Vicarage But
he was not in the least mad. only fran
tic with despair. After a while he be-
came calmer, and expressed the deep
est penitence and regret for the pain
and shock he must have given to Aga
| tina; but when Mr.. Barrett assured
him solemnly that his marriage was an
| accomplished fact, that Agatha was his
legal wife and that nothing on earth
could now annul or cancel his union
to her, he became stricken with per-
feet paroxysm of grief. both on her
account and on his own. and burst in
TO passion of tears most painful and
heartrending to witness
Then. when he grew calmer, he de-
scribed to the Vicar exactly what had
happened to him. The pains in his
head, he said. had continued to in
crease in intensity for some days past
but on the morning of the wedding
there had come a little respite. only to
be followed when the service actually
began. by a fiercer renewal of the ag
ony. He confessed that he had been
49,
on in the church. nor of the presence
of his bride by his side. He had drop
ped the ring literally because he did
not know whether he held it or no.
Wh,n he got into the vestry. he felt
convinced that some terrible thing
was about to happen to him almost i'm
mediately-he said that he believed
that he should drop dead. Suddenly he
seemed TO hear clap of thunder: 1t
might have been just before he signed
mis- name. or Immediately afterwards.
he could not tell. But the moment he
heard IT, the blackness and the pain
all rolled away. he looked at the
white ROBBED figure by his side. expect
ing to see, not the face of Agatha Dale.
but that of another woman to whom
he was engaged and whom he loved
he looked down at the book and saw
not her name. but Agatha's, Then
remembrance came fully back TO him.
and that page of his past that had
been blotted out of his memory. was
made clear and distinct TO him once
more.
Last summer 1 met her. the woman
love. and shall always love- he said.
10 the distressed but sympathetic vi
cad. Then. YOU know, had that blow
on my head. and my long illness af-
forwards. and every trace of her van
. ished out of my mind, / forgot her
, utterly, l knew I had forgotten some
! thing. ! was always trying TO remem-
Der what. but I could not grope my
, | way through the thick darkness. Once
l had a gleam. recollected the place
I she used TO live in. and Louise and
!, | started of there together. but when
4 | got to IL, the house was no longer as
!. | remembered il: she must have left II
: for there was an auction going on. and
became bewildered and everything
i faded away again in my mind. / could
: not remember her in the least. Lat
: terly. since l have been engaged tc
K Aggie. have suffered from the mosi