Western Kansas world., 1915-06-12


his lips parted
She waved her hand in the direction
of the Buddha- Have you never petit
toned your too solid friend over there
to unravel the mystery for you? In
the quiet OF certain lonely. speculative
hours have you not wondered where
you had seen me before-long, long
before the night in London? In all the
years that you have been trying to
convince yourself that Frederic is not
your son, has there not been the vision
Of"
What are you saying to me? Are
you trying to tell me that you are Ma
tilde?"
If not MatiIde. then who am I.
pray?" she demanded
He sank back, frowning. 1T cannot
be possible. / would know her a thou
sand years from now. You cannot
trick me into believing But, In
Gods name, who are your" He leaaed
forward again. clutching the edge of
the table. BY heaven, / sometimes
think you are a ghost come to haunt
me, to torture me. What trick. what
magic is behind all this? Has her
soul, her spirit, her actual being found
lodging place in you, and have you
been sent to curse me for"
I She rose halfway out of her chair.
leaning farther across the table. Yes,
James Brood, 1 represent the spirit of
Matilde Valeska, if you will have it So
Not sent to curse you, but to love you.
That's the pity of it all. 1 swear to
you that it is the spirit of Matilde that
urges me to love you and to spare you
now. 1t is the spirit of Matilde that
St1 dc Io&x r. 4 ID
it is not Matilde who confronts you
here and now, you may be sure of that.
Matilde loved you. She loves you now,
even in her grave. You will never be
able to escape from that wonderful
love of hers. If there have been times
and heaven knows there were many,
1 know-when 1 appeared to love you
for myself, 1 swear to you that 1 was
moved by the spirit of Matilde. Il
| am as much mystified, as greatly puz-
| Zled as yourself / came here to hate
you, and 1 have loved you-yes, there
were moments when / actually loved
you"
| Her voice died away into a whisper.
For many seconds they sat looking
| into each others eyes, neither pos
| sessing the power to break the strange
spell of silence that had fallen upon
them
mo, it is not MatiIde who confronts
you now. but one who would not spare
| you as she did up to the hour of her
death You are quite safe from ghosts
| from this hour on, my friend. You
| will never see Matilde again, though
you look into my eyes till the end of
time. Frederic may see, may feel the
spirit of his mother, but you-ah, mol
You have seen the last of her. Her
blood is in my veins, her wrongs are in
my heart. 1t was she with whom you
| fell in love and it was she you married
six months ago, but now the curtain is
lifted. Don't you know me now, James =?
Can your memory carry you back
| twenty-three years and deliver you
| from doubt and perplexity? Look
closely, l say. 1 was six years old
| then and
Brood was glaring at her as one
stupefied. Suddenly he cried out in a
loud voice: Heaven help me. you
are-you are the little sister? The
| little Therese?"
She was standing now, leaning far
over the table. for he had shrunk down
| into his chair.
THE little Therese. yes! Now dc
| you D0Sln TO see. NOW DO you Degln
| to realize what 1 came here to do? Now
] do you know why 1 married you? Isn't
it clear to you? Well, 1 have tried
to do all these things so that 1 might
break your heart as you broke hers
came to make you pay!" She was
! speaking rapidly, excitedly now. Her
voice was high-pitched and unnatural
Her eyes seemed to be driving him
| deeper and deeper into the chair, fore
ing him down as though with a giants
hand. THE little, timid, heart-broker
| Therese who would not speak to you
nor kiss you, nor say good-by to yor
| when you took her darling sister away
| from the Bristol in the Kartnerrins
more than twenty years ago. All, how
1 loved her-how l loved heri And
how 1 hated you for taking her away
from me- Shall 1 ever forget that wed
| ding night? Shall ] ever forget tie
| grief, the loneliness, the hatred thai
dwelt in my poor little heart thai
| night? Everyone was happy-the
whole world was happy-but was 1.
was crushed with grief. You were
taking her away across the awful sea
and you were to make her happy, sc
they said-ai-e, so said my beloved
joyous sister. You stood before the
altar in St. Stephens with her anc
promised promised-promised every
thing. 1 heard you 1 sat with ny