Omaha daily bee., 1912-08-18
Charmed
Equally by
Three Famous
Each
Ready to Be
His Bride..Un.
able toChoose
Between Them,
and Crazed by
lndeCision, the
Lieutenant Had
toBloW Out
His Brains

among the living. He was not seen that
evening by any Of his friends After un.
packing his trunks and rearranging his
wardrobe, his valet was dismissed for the
night.
Next morning the Lieutenant's lifeless
body was discovered lying full length on
the Persian rug before the mantel in his
sitting room. Near it had fallen the re-
volver with which he had blown out his
brains. AS mentioned at the beginning of
Countess Irma, of Mile. Renouardt, and of
Mile. Lorraine, stood side by side on the
mantlepiece.
A quantity of cigarette ash Uttered the
mantelpiece, and was trodden into the Per.
sian rug. The Lieutenant was an inveter-
ate smoker of cigarettes. 1t was plain, by
these signs, how he had spent the evening,
after unpacking and restoring to the man
telpiece his photograph of the Countess Ir.
ma, now fanked by those of Renouardt and
Mile Lorraine-the three most beautiful
women in the world, each Of whom he
loved to the point of madness-and each
ready to become his wife!
AS he gazed into the three pairs Of pic.
tured eyes-smoking furiously and dropa
ping cigarette ash on the mantel-the imp
of indecision in his brain developed into a
monster. How was it possible for him to
decide? He loved them all equally, each
was ready to give herself to him. How
could he renouce the other two? He paced
backward and forward, treading cigarette
ash into the Persian rug.
When the Lieutenant realized fully that
decision was impossible, the one possible
solution of his difficulty occurred to him,
His revolver was handy, and he did not
hesitate to use it.
For some reason best known to them.
selves, the relatives of the unfortunate
young man have not favored the publica-
tion in Vienna newspapers of the above
details of the cause of the suicide The
official explanation, while temporarily
deranged," has suffced.
NV SbuAOOpo OIdChd l0lL Nl6Qud ills
mediately, going to her country estate in
the neighborhood of Warsaw, where she
denies herself to, all visitors It is whis.
pered in Vienna society that she Is
broken-hearted-but that her pride will
eventually come to her rescue, for she Is
one of those who cannot deny the evi.
dences furnished by the suicide chamber
that either one of two famous Paris
actresses might have become her success
full rival. And that is reflection which
would hardly permit spirited Polish
noblewoman to languish very long.
There is no doubt that Mile Renouardt
and the charming Lorraine were sincerely
shocked by the news of the tragedy
though they have since endeavored to
create the impression that they never seri-
ously considered the impetuous matri-
monial propositions of the young officer
They are consistent in this; otherwise
they would naturally resent his uncere-
monious departure without waiting to
learn their decisions.
SIuu6HIS Ol pSyCuoloSy, DOlH IN fdrlS
and Vienna, who have the outline of the
story as told here, agree that any per.
fectly sane young man of the tempera-
ment of Lieutenant Hoffschneider, in
similar circumstances, would logically be
expected to solve his problem in the same
tragic manner. A prominent biologist, in
this connection, is quoted as observing
fresh and emphatic suggestion of modern
physical decadence among the 1eisured
class, due to the exaggerated importance
given nowadays to the subtleties of the
tender passion. Over-trained minds and
nerves sap the physical bulwarks pos
sessed by savages and by those who lead
the simple life, and leave sensitive organ
izations open to just such tragic episodes
as ended the career of Lieutenant Won
Hoffschneider.