The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1914-01-23

| forgot to mention that he bore thal
name, also). II was the singer girl oi
the bar-room. How she discovered
where he lived remained an unsolved
mystery. She came to thank him. And
he, taking a kindly interest In her
drew from her her life's story. She
felt that she had talent and had aspira
tions to become a singer of note. The
wretched life that she was forced tC
live nauseated her. She had nothing
In common, except misery, with those
among whom she was forced TO live
they nothing in common with her. II
she but had the chance, she knew
that she would succeed, but the stern
necessity of winning daily bread forced
her to waste her talents instead of cul
tivating them.
"Her tale moved him deeply and
awakened his sympathy, so 1t was ar.
ranged that she had better quarters I'm
a different section of the city, She
longer had to sing for a living;
removed that necessity. She
placed in the hands Of the besi
structors in the city. Her adv =
ment was immediate and rapid. In
less than year she was metamur-
phosed into a cultured, refined b. /.
ligent woman. On certain aftern, ons
she would visit him and receive in
struction in English. Their relai ons
of benefactor and protege and ten Ter
and pupil soon changed to firm friend
ship. She delighted and hewitt ned
him with her new born elegance and
innate coquetry. When she was by
him his happiness was complete his
desires satisfied. When she was ava,
he was dissatisfied and lonesome, an I
would count the days until she would
visit him again.
FINALLY one day they were mar
ried quietly For a year he lived as in
a dream, basking in the warmth of her
passionate love.
about this time 1t became neces-
sary that he should take a triple had
taken them before-into the interior
to look after some mining interests.
The trip usually took seven or eight
days, and was exceedingly rough and
fatiguing For this reason it was de-
cided that he leave his wife at home
much as he was loath to leave her So
after an affectionate leave taking, he
departed, leaving his valet to care for
the house, as he was accustomed TO do
in such cases.
when a third of the distance to the
mines had been covered, it was found
that the bridge over a small river had
been washed away, making it impos-
sible 20 move forward for at least two
weeks. Rather than wait the time
there, he retraced his journey to spend
the time waiting at home.
Arriving there, late the third night
after leaving, he entered the front door
quietly. lie made as little noise as
possible. wishing to bathe and refresh
himself before apprising his wife of his
early return. He went to the back
part Of the house, where the valet's
room was situated, in order to have him
prepare his bath. He was somewhat
surprised to find the room empty, but
thinking that the man had made use of
the opportunity and had taken a night
off, he decided to tend to his own
wants. He entered his den and struck
a light-so far he had not done so ex-
cept in the Wallets room. He was
dumfounded at what he saw. The
room was dismantled, stripped bare Of
everything except the furniture and
heavier, larger curios. His heart
stopped beating, a cold sweat broke
out and stood in great beads upon his
forehead The thought rushed madly
through his mind had the friends of
the man he had murdered discovered
him and wreaked vengeance upon him
in his absence? His wife! He sick
ened and grew faint at the thought Of
what fate had overtaken her! He
shook himself, trying to shake off the
fear that clutched at his heart.
No, no, it cannot be that, he said
to himself. 1t is only a rearranging Of
the furniture which have come upon
"Reassured slightly by this meager
hope, he stepped into the next room.
His reinsurance fled from him as the
waters of Erie flow over Niagara. 1t
was stripped even barer than the first
In a frenzy of fear he hurried up the
stairs. AS he reached the landing, he
stopped as if transfxed.
"A silvery peal of laughter issued
over the transom of his wife's bed
room, followed by the deeper laugh of
a man. 1t was his wife and his valet
with a cry, he sprang across the
hall and burst open the door. He
reeled for a moment at the sight that
be beheld. His beautiful, innocent wife
was sitting on the lap of his trusted
valet, clinking glasses with him. She
shrieked and fed from the room; the
man, drawing a revolver, fired point
blank at the awful countenanced figure
within the doorway. The bullet stopped
the onward rush for moment, but
only for moment; it had not struck
a vital part. With the inarticulate
roar of wounded animal, which came
from the depths of his outraged being,