The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1913-05-09

confesses his cheat. He loves mel
He lays at my feet an immense and
tragic love He has carried
me off for love! He has I'M
! prisoned me with him, underground
for lovei But he respects me;
he crawls, he means, he weeps,
And, when / stood up, Raoui, and told
him that | could only despise him II
he did not, then and there, give me
my liberty he offered it
he offered to show me the
mysterious road Only
only he rose too and | was
made to remember that, though he
was not an angel, nor a ghost, nor a
genius, he remained the voice
for he sang. And | listened
and stayed! That night. we
did not exchange another word He
sang me to sleep.
When | woke up, | was alone, ly-
ing on g sofa in simply furnished
little bedroom, with an ordinary ma
hOgany bedstead, lit by a lamp stand
ing on the marble top Of an old Louis
Philippe chest of drawers. | soon dis
covered that | was a prisoner and that
the only outlet from my room led to
very comfortable bathroom. On re-
turning to the bedroom, | saw on the
chest OF drawers note, in red ink,
which said, My dear Christine, you
need have no concern as to your fate
You have no better nor more respect
full friend in the world than myself.
You are alone, at present, in this
home which is yours. | am going out
shopping to fetch you all the things
that you can need i felt sure that l
had fallen into the hands of a mad
man. | ran round my little apart
ment, looking for way of escape
which | could not find | upbraided
myself for my absurd superstition,
which had caused me to fall into the
trap. | felt inclined to laugh and to
cry at the same time.
This was the state OF mind in
which Erik found me. After giving
three taps on the wall, he walked in
quietly through door which | had
not noticed and which he left open.
He had his arms full or boxes and
parcels and arranged them on the bed,
in a leisurely fashion, while over
whelmed him with abuse and called
upon him to take off his mask, Ii 1t
covered the face of an honest man.
He replied serenely, You shall never
see Erik's face. And he reproached
me with not having finished dressing
at that time of day; he was good
enough to tell me that it was two
O'Clock in the afternoon. He said be
would give me half an hour and. while
he spoke, wound up my watch and set
it for me. After which, he asked me
to come to the dining-room. where a
nice lunch was waiting for us.
Il was very angry, slammed the
door In his face and went to the bath
room When | came out again
feeling greatly refreshed Erik said
that he loved me, but that he would
never tell me so except when | al
lowed him and that the rest of the
time would be devoted to music.
What do you mean by the rest OF the
time?' | asked. Five days. he said,
with decision. | asked him if | should
then be free and he said, You Will be
days are past, you will have learned
not to see me; and then, from time
to time, you will come to see your
poor Erik He pointed to a chair OPP
posite him, at a small table. and
sat down. feeling greatly perturbed.
However, | ate few prawns and the
wing of a chicken and drank half a
glass of tokay, which he had himself,
he told me, brought from the Konigs-
berg cellars. Erik did not eat or
drink / asked him what his nation
atty was and If that name of Erik
did not point to his Scandinavian
origin. He said that he had no name
and no country and that he had taken
the name of Erik by accident.
After lunch. he rose and gave me
the tips of his fingers, saying he
would like to show me over his fiat :;
but | snatched away my hand and
gave a cry What ] had touched was
cold ana, DIT lHe same TINE, DOny anu
7 remembered that his hands smelt OF
death. oh, forgive mel he moaned.
And he opened door before me.
This is my bedroom, if you care to
see It. 1t Is rather curious His
manners, his words, his attitude gave
me confidence and | went in without
hesitation [ felt as If [ were enter