The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1910-06-02


following year. When Cerisse was
only eighteen she was married to Har-
old Harcourt. " HON she had met -whlie
on a visit to Calcutta. He was a per-
sonable fellow. of good family and my
aunt thought her only child was max
ing a good match. The resemblance
between these four women-my Aunt
Marie. and her daughter Narcisse.
whom you know as Mrs Harold Har-
court, and my mother and her daugh-
ter Cerisse Wayne. my sister, was ap-
palling. They all had the same color
ing, the same features almost to the
fraction of inch, and the same re
markedly exquisite coloring. let
am sure that not until to-day has Mrs.
HarcOurt known that Cerisse wayne
and she were ll-blooded cousins, as
Aunt Marie brought her daughter up
in ignorance of the relatives In AFRICA
Aunt Maries idea in this was 10 pro-
tect my mother from my fathers
wrath, as he had forbidden mother 10
tell us of our aunt, and indeed we
were SO young when Aunt Marie de-
parted that we soon forgot her. Moth-
er and Aunt Marie never had any COM
nlunication after Anut Marie let for
India. Ny mother died when was
about nine. and Cerisse not quite eight
years old. Cerisse had always been
fathers favorite and after my mothers
death home would have been unpear-
able to me except for Tyoga- We had
excellent tutors in the house, and later
father sent Benoni and me to Europe
to study I took a doctors degree In
Heidelberg at a remarkably early age
thanks to the previous instruction L
had received from my father. who was
an exceptionally brilliant man. Benoni
studied with me. for while father had
subordinated Tyoga and her child, my
mother had dealt fairly with them In
the matter Of wealth
Il was at Heidelberg when Aunt
Marie came to visit me. 1t was the
year that Narcisse was married, and
three years after Cerisse, a madcap
girl of seventeen, had been sent home
in disgrace from a French convent
after a Irritation with Hackleye. who
had followed her to Africa and mar
ried her there.
Aunt Marie had gone to Africa in
search OF her sister. With her daugh-
ter my aunt felt she could safely seek
OQl ucI lWLl SASlCl dINCA tiC i0fSN "
all these years She was grief strick-
en- over the news of her sisters death.
and unwittingly let fall before my
father that IL the Tiougaley region
were some extremely valuable diamond
fields, the secret of whose location had
been made known to her husband, Capt.
De L'Enclos, by an Arabian servitor
of his Aunt Mares fortune had felt
the touch of years, and she had made
a joint reason for her African journey
an attempt to locate and work these
mines. Father. his avarice all stirred
again. strove to force her to tell him
where they were. Aunt Marie knew
him OF old and refused. Learning j
was at Heidelberg, she proceeded there.
and stopped with Benoni and me for
over a year, giving me the only happi-
ness I mad known since my mothers
death. She spoke freely to me of my
young cousin Narcisse Harcourt in In
dia, asked me to befriend her if ever
she needed it, and showed me her min
iature. so like that of my sister Ce-
risse that / could but gasp.
II went home that summer and left
Aunt Marie I'm Paris planning to re-
turn to India In the early fall. Later
the news came that she had persisted
in horrible confa grafton at charity
bazaar This was a severe blow to me-
for I had loved my aunt, and my heart
went out to my unknown cousin.
.Cerisse had the heart of a fiend
Hackleye had taught her that she was
the most beautiful human existent A
ghim Of hers was to fancy herself the
reincarnation of Venus herself. Ce-
fisse did not take kindly to the news of
her equally exquisite cousin across
seas, especially since her children. of
whom by now she had two. were, with
all due respect to their father. whom
they resembled. not particularly come
~. To satisfy herself Cerisse made q
lying trip to India in disguise, and
there began the tragic end
Father at this time became cogniz
ant that 1 knew how to reach IN
Tiougaley mines. Aunt Marie had be
sought me with her farewell breath Z,
keep this intelligence from him. / kent
NV faith with her. And as a penalty
for that faith my father subjected me
N the most cruel fortunes that forty
tends might have devised. He began
I'm the castle and ended with them IN
the 1uU6lC. AAd was nearly
dead from pain and distortion. he real
tied that / was dying and the secret
with me. Then he put forth all his un :
canny and exceptional surgical skill.
and dragged me back to life-but such
a life-such living death-for no be-
ing so deformed ana tainted out of hu-
man shape rs ever before walked the
earth.
III
Narcfsse and hated her on sight Mar
cfsse had a child too. by then, and
her one baby was as lovely as Cerisses
Two had been plain. What is more
Cerisse became violently infatua ted
with Harcourt. Narcisse's husband. She
made herself known to him one day
as he walked beneath the trees I'm the
garden, while Narcisse sat in the house
and rocked her baby to sleep. After
the first start Harcourt became inter-
ested. l know not what wiles Cerisse
used. but this Cerisse soon had Har-
court bound hand and foot. Narcisse
was ousted from her husbands heart
Cerisse had forgotten her home and
children.
Both Cerisse and Harcourt stopped
at actual murder. They began to play
q rOyal game. The resemblance be-
tween Cerisse and Narcisse made this
easy. They kept Narcisse under the
influence OF the loco blossoms-drugged
her poor mind almost TO imbecility
When Narcisse lay stupefied from the
dearly powders Cerisse paraded befo-a
the world as Mrs. Harcourt. Cerisse
was always jealous of their child tbe
little Harold, Jr
'One day Harold. Jr., fell by acct
dent into the lily pond. The poor drug
ged mother was watching him at the
time and sat by the window too stu
pefied to move or rescue him. Har-
court tried but he was too far away
at a distant corner of the garden. Har-
OLD dead, he decided II would be bes
TO leave India Hackleye and father
were growing suspicious of Cerisse'.
long absences, and Mrs. Harcourt':