El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-06-24
The Herald's
Daily Shert Stsry

had courage enough to ask her why
she was sad She smiled and said
she was not well"
New Years eve came and as usual
I came here about o'clock She sat
embroidering something while I pre-
tended to read while waiting for you.
An hour passed and still another, and
you did not come. 1 saw how she was
trembling with uneasiness, and l
trembled with her. 1 knew very well
where you were and was afraid you
would forget the hour of midnight.
She had stopped embroidering and l
no longer pretended to read. The
silence was resting heavily on US both.
Suddenly 1 saw a tear glistening under
her eyelashes and fall upon her en-
broidery. I stood up quickly, and was
about to go out to find you. But she
stood. up. too. and cried: Where are
you going? There was an expression
Of unspeakable anguish in her face.
want to go and find Franz I re-
Piled
Then she almost sobbed: do not
go. 1 beg Of you And. coming over
TO my chair. she put her hands on my
shoulders and hid her tear-stained face
on my bosom. I felt my whole body
treble. But I overcame my emotion
comfort so much.
"A few minutes later you came. You
did not notice my confusion: your
cheeks were burning and your eyes
aglow. After that night, I was so
changed that I was almost afraid Of
myself at times. Since the moment
1 had felt the pressure Of her arms
around my neck, the star had descend
ed from the sky and had become
beautiful, warm-haerted woman. / de-
spised myself. called myself a traitor,
and to make amends decided to sepa-
rate you from the woman you
money. and she accepted the amount
I offered her to break Off her relations
with you"
'Krouz Donnerwetter," the old friend
interrupted him.
so 1t was you who made Blanca
write the touching farewell letter in
which she wrote that she had to give
up my love. although it nearly broke
her heart to do So"
yes, it was I who made her do it.
but listen. I had the thought that this
action would restore my peace of mind,
but 1t did not. Nader than ever, the
thoughts whirled through my brain I
buried myself In my work. and it was
then I wrote my book on the immor-
tally Of the idea But I found no
peace. A whole year passed and New
Years eve came again Once more I
was sitting with her III this room. You
were at home that night. but you
were asleep on a divan In the library.
You had come tired from lively din
ner in the Army club. I was sitting
next to her, my eyes fixed on her pale
face when the memory came back
to me with irresistible strength. I
wanted to feel her head against my
bosom once more, 1 wanted to kiss her
just once and then drop out Of your
lives. Our eyes met and I thought ]
saw in her eyes that she understood
what I felt. Then I could restrain
myself no longer. I threw myself at
her feet and buried my face in her
lap.
II lay thus perhaps for two seconds.
motionless; then I felt her cool hand
on my head and heard her say in her
gentle voice: Courage, dear friend?
And 1 stood up and looked about all
confused. She. took a book from the
table and handed it to me. I under
stood. 1 opened the book and began
reading. What did I read? I do not
know; the letters danced before my
eyes. But gradually the tempest in my
soul calmed down and. when the clock
struck u you came in to wish us a
happy new year.
From that day I gradually recovered
my piece Of rind. I knew that my
love was nof returned, and all that
could hope for from her was pity. The
years passed, your children grew up
and married. and we three grew old
You gave up your fo1lies, cared moth
Ing more for women and lived for her
alone. as I did. / did not cease loving
her. that would have been impossible,
but my love was tranformed. You
often laughed when you heard US talk
philosophy. but if you had known how
our souls mated then you would have
been jealous
And now she is dead, and perhaps
we shall both have Joined her before
another New Years eve comes. 1t is
high time that 1 make this confession
and say to you: Franz, 1 have once
wronged you Can you forgive me-?
He held out his hand towards his
friend, who said gruffly:
'Oh, nonsensei What have I to for
give you? This secret you have just
confessed I have known for a long
time. She herself told me 40 years
age. and, now I will tell you why I
continued running after women until
was almost an old man; she had
confessed to me once that you were
the only man she had ever loved"
The other stared at him amazed, and
the old clock struck the hour Of mid
night once more.