Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-08-30

Trendon paced nervously backward
and forward over the floor, and knew
that the old desire had come back
upon him, stronger because of thu
unwonted abstinence which ne had
practiced in the days following the
last terrible debauch. Clamoring and
tinvincible, it descended upon the bar
riers of restraint which he had sc
carefully builded, and swept away his
qualms and scruples like driftwood
floating before gale. Too we'll he
knew the futility Of giving battle; tc
the full he realized the depths of his
servitude, and in that moment Of
faltering, life became to him as worm
wood and gall, bitter and nauseous
He was dreadfully sober, insuffer
| ably so. If only the waves of rising
impulse might smother the voice Of
conscience-if only he might partake
of the forbidden, without suffering
under the chidings of that watchfu]
monitor which, ever mindful of q
mans nobler aspirations, would drive
him on to their fulfillment, then, he
fen, the struggle would not be one
half so fearsome.
Mechanically he took his hat from
the rack, made his way down the
stairs, and was about to open the
door, when the figure of woman in
terposed. A comely woman, with an
indescribable charm Of look and man
ner, but now in the throes of some
painful agitation. White and tremb'
ling, with dark, appealing eyes, she
stood before him, speaking low, coax
ing words into his ears, and clasping
his arm in soft restraint.
"Grace," he murmured.
Don't go, Charles. Not again. Re-
member your promises to me. Think
of the last time, dear, and do not go. "
Her words came upon him buokenly,
but with force visibly affecting.
Gently he shook off her restraining
grip, feeling that to answer her was
to go mad. Why must multitude of
obstacles oppose the qualification
which every fibre of his being craved
with Unsuitable, unreasonable demand?
Why must the barrier loom so large?
The perversity of it all struck him
deeply-even within his own body
were warning factions, each implac-
able and untiring in it's warfare. True,
he had resolved never again to lie
wrapped in the honey-sweet lethargy
of opium. But that resolve had been
born of the awful moment of despair
which undue indulgence in the drug
had brought upon him. The thoughts
of man in that period of reaction
were not the thoughts which came
with the tense cry for stimulation. He
mentally decided that he was COM
posite being, two men of widely differ
ing temperaments, loathesome and
abhorrent to each other, bound up
within the feshly tenement of one.
While the power of one waned, the
other doomed up Titanic and uncon-
querable, obsessing with irresistible
might, casting the other personality
into utter allegiance, unable to mani.
fest its life, insensible and thralled.
1t was the lower part of his nature
which had risen up dominant, and for
the time prudence and restraint were
lulled into passivity.
All this passed through his mind
with the lightning swiftness of
thought. He awoke from this maze Of
reflection with a start, and noted the
wan face and beseeching eyes before
him. The voice, pulsing with the
earnest fire of her pleading, still
rang in his ears.
When he answered, his voice, too,
was low. The words came with pain.
full conciseness, in a rapid but calm
succession.
Don't speak to me, Grace. You
don't understand-you can't. Do you
want to drive me mad? am not my
self. l will come back-soon. 1t is
for the best. Let me go, I say"
Cannot you trust me, your wife?
Why do you come back from these
absences so downcast and weary?
What is it that puts that strange fire
into your eyes, and why do your hands
tremble SO? Charles, If you must 60,
let me, your truest friend, come with
you.''
mo. And do not follow me. You
must do as say. Sometime will
explain ALL
She would have said more, but he
thrust her from him, and rushed out
into the night. The frigid blast Of the
wind struck him with a sudden chill.
It entered his mind that the night
was cold and icy. He had put on no
great-coat, and ere he had gone q
block he was numb and shivering.
With chattering teeth and quaking
body he made his way down the de-
serted street, and walked for many
blocks, suffering what to his sensi-
tive flesh was agony. Strange" he
murmured, noting the disQuietude of
his thoughts, ''how physical suffer-
ing reacts upon the mind"
Once or twice it occurred to him that
his wife might be following, and he
glanced with apprehension behind
him, but no one was to be seen In any
direction, only the gray bulk of great
buildings, misty and shadowy in the
midnight atmosphere. At last he
reached side street, down which he
turned. Not soul was visible on
either side. There was no illumina.
ton save moonlight From somewhere
ochon6 tho vOico NJ a man rovi1inG