Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1910-10-28

"ouiu lHHeTlL lne Dulk OF the estates
AT the time of the engagement Philip
was boy at college He returned
to find the girl whom he dimly remem.
bered grown into a woman of remark
able intelligence and beauty. They
met, loved at first sight; and, after a
desperate attempt to keep faith with
his brother, Philip avowed his love
and learned that 1t was returned. On
the day before that set for the wed.
ding they went away and were secret
ly married.
Then she is your wife," exclaimed
Brodsky. startled
The young man assented mourn
fully. she is my wife," he replied,
although her relatives are not aware
of it. In fact, the tragedy which re-
suited, and my wife's insanity, which
came on almost Immediately after
ward. have prevented me from declar-
Ing 1t. Perhaps this was cowardly-
perhaps a mere desire to shield her
name from the faint of scandal HUI
man motives are mixed at best. Well,
We were married and came back to-
gether. intending to go to Jean and
beg his forgiveness. We met him
in the garden. He came up to Rita
and placed his arm round her. She
shrank away-she chung to me invol-
UNFAIRLY, and in that simple gesture
she betrayed ALL With one cry Of
despair my brother turned and ran
into the house. followed, ran to his
room, and found myself looking into
the barrel of a pistol Before he could
fire | wrenched the weapon from his
hand. flung it upon the floor, and
turned to leave the room. AS | closed
the door | heard a report. My brother
had shot himself through the brain,
dying Immediately. Yet. even as his
eyes closed in death, the darkening
pupils transfixed me for one moment
with a look of intense malignity
That look shall never forget. 1t
haunts me, and will do so to my dying
day. for my brother died unrecon-
ciled."
How long after this did the first
signs of insanity present themselves"
asked Brodsky.
Fifteen days afterward she was
stricken with paralysis all along the
left side," said the young man. The
same day symptoms of mental aberra-
ton made themselves manifest. Slow
ly the insanity increased; she thought
she was my brother, hated me, and
tried to assault me. The paralysis in
creased likewise. until all the muscles
of the body we're involved. except
those of the left hand, which she re-
has tried to destroy-once with burn
ing, once with the scissors. And she
thinks she is my brother STILL" he
ended in a pathetic whisper.
You believe that she is possessed
of your brothers spirit?" asked Brod-
sky. bluntly.
81 don't know what to believL. In the
cold light of reason-no. Tue doctors
say ii is a delusion common to the in
sane. Buff it is not my brother,
uOW Cdu uc nave
that none except my brother and my
self can possibly have known? If it
be indeed he, | shall pray for the day
when he will pardon me and cease to
torture her in revenge"
WAS your brother a man who
would torture a woman?" asked Brod-
sky.
MY brother was the incarnation Of
chivalry and honor" the young man
answered.
"And yet you think that after the
uneventful change called death he
would be capable of so changing as to
wreak an ignoble revenge upon her?''
Philip Richepin was amazed But if
the character does not change after
death" he began, and hesitated
Brodsky caught up the thought.
MY dear fellow, character Is not
the creation of a moment; the charac-
ter of each of us is the product of
millions of incarnations. beginning
with the unicellular amoeba and end
ing God knows when. where. and how
Some eocene pig may be the ancestor
of the gourmand. some dog of the 10y
al soldier. some lynx of the crafty
Death does not perceptibly modify the
character: in fact, 1t brings 1t out the
more strongly. the artificial circum-
stances of life being removed"
still he hates and upbraids me-
said the young man. II have begged
him to pardon me, to listen-but he
will not hear. he asks to be set free
from his dungeon. in which he thinks !
have confined him."
His dungeon?" repeated Brodsky
slowly. Then he probably does not
know that he is dead"
"What?" We both cried.
The doctor turned to me.
please in agine that | suddenly pull
a pistol from my pocket and blow out
my brains" he said. You fall to the
ground; presently you awake from a
sort of dream to find yourself still in
this room You see me and hear me
say: My hoy, have just killed you
Perhaps you have somehow, possibly
through desire, acquired the body of
our friend here. Would you think you
were dead?"
"Then you think my brother is ig-