Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1914-05-01

tnat seems almost unnOly.
She had loved her handsome. way
ward husband He had hurt her deep
ly more times than she chose TO re-
member during the six years of their
| married life, but she had loved him
In spite of the wounds up to the in
slant when she stood beside his dead
body in the cold little room at Bur.
toms inn. She went there loving him
as he had lived. yet prepared. almost
foresworn. to loathe him as he had
died, and she left him lying there
alone in that dreary room without
spark of the old affection in her soul.
Her love for him died in. giving birth
to the hatred that now possessed her.
While he lived 1t was not in her pow
en- to control the unreasoning, resist
less thing that stands for love in wom-
an: he was her lover, the master OF
her impulses. Dead. he was an un-
wholesome, unlovely clod. a pallid
thing to be scorned. q hulk Of worth
less clay. His blood was cold. He
could no longer warm her with It; 1t
could no longer kill the chill that his
misdeeds cast about her tender sensi-
tiveness; his lips and eyes never more
could smile and conquer. He was a
dead thing. Her love was q dead
thing. They lay separate and apart.
The tie was broken. With love died
the final spark of respect she had left
for him in her tired. loyal. betrayed
heart. He was at last q thing to be
despised. even by her. She despised
him.
She sent the car down the slope and
across the moonless valley with small
regard for her own or her compan-
ions safety. II swerved from side to
side. skidded and leaped with terri
flying suddenness, but held its way as
straight a. the bird that flies. driven
by q steady hand and q mind that had
no thought for peril. A sober man at
her side would have been afraid; this
man swayed mildly to and fro and
chuckled with drunken glee.
Her bitter thoughts wero not Of the
dead man back there, but of the live
years that she was to bury with him:
years that would never pass beyond
her ken. that would never die. He
had loved her in his wild. ruthless
way. He had left her times without
number in the years gone by. but he
had always come back. gaily unchas-
tened. to remold the love that waited
with dog-like fidelity for the touch of
his cunning hand. But he had taken
his last flight. He would not come
back again. 1t was all over. Once too
often he had tried his reckless wings.
She would not have to forgive him
again. Uppermost in her mind was
the curiously restful thought that his
troubles were over, and with them her
own. A hand less forgiving than hers
had struck him dead.
Somehow, she envied the woman to
whom that hand belonged. It had
been her divine right to kill. and yet
another took 1t from her.
Back there at the inn she had said
to the astonished sheriff:
Poor thing, II she can escape pun
ishment for this. let 1t be 90. l shall
not help the law to kill her simply
because she took It In her own hands
to pay that man what she owed him.
I shall not be the one to say that he
did not deserve death at her hands.
whoever she may be. No. shall offer
no reward. II you catch her. shall
be sorry for her. Mr.. Sheriff. Believe
me, I bear her no grudge."
But she robbed him." the sheriff
had cried.
From my point Of view. Mr.. Sher-
III, that hasn't anything to do with the
case" was her significant reply.
"Of course. am not defending
him."
Nor am I defending her." she had
retorted. 1T would appear that she 10
able to defend herself"
Now. On the cold. trackless road. she
was saying to herself that she did
have q grudge against the woman
who had destroyed the life that be-
longed to her. who had killed the
thing that was hers to kill. She could
not mourn for him. She could only
wonder what the poor. hunted. ter
rified creature would do when taken
and made to pay for the thing she had
done.
Once, in the course of her bitter re-
Elections. she spoke aloud in q shrill.
tense voice, forgetful Of the presence
Of the man beside her:
Thank God they will see him now
as I have seen him all these years.
They will know him a. they have
never known him. Thank God for
that!"
The man looked 1t her stupidity and
muttered something under his breath.
She heard him. and recalling her wits.
asked which turn she was to take for
the station. The fellow Topped back
In the seat. too drunk to reply.
For q moment she was dismayed.
frightened. Then she resolutely
reached out and shook him by the
shoulder. She had brought the car
to full stop.
Arouse yourself. mani" she cried.
DO you want to freeze to death?
Where II the station?"
He Strengthened up with an effort.
and. after vainly seeking light in the
darkness. fell back again with . grunt.
but managed to wave his hand toward
the left. She took the chance. In
I'VE minutes she brought the car to .
standstill beside the station. Through
tho ~SnAov ahn aa~ a man 18th h.